Pros And Cons Of Online Education

Many students have a difficult time choosing between online education and traditional education. Both styles of education offer advantages and disadvantages to the student. There are many things to consider when making this life altering decision, such as, cost, convenience, time, social interaction, and technology. This information is meant to inform prospective students looking to further their education of the pros and cons of both online education and traditional education. Taking the steps to further your education is a big decision and one that should not be taken lightly. One should weigh all of his/her options and be well informed and certain of their choice before taking that leap.

Contrary, to what others have stated about online college classes, I found that there are many advantages and disadvantages for those who choose to advance in their career. Online college courses have become worldwide allowing individuals like me to make their own decisions on how to manage their college courses. Before I made a decision to take college courses online I had to be sure I was up for the challenge. Online college classes require the same amount of commitment as the traditional colleges. As I made the decision to attend online college courses I also explore every element of life factors and different skill techniques to help me succeed in my college classes.

Online classes provide more flexibility than do traditional ones, making them more convenient for many students. Online classes allow you to attend school but also work, so you can fulfill all your important obligations. This has been the answer to many people's quest to further their education while still meeting their family and work responsibilities.

“No Short Cuts in Long-Distance Learning” by Bill Maxwell is an essay published in the Tampa Bay Times, in 2011. In this essay the author writes about the negative effects of post-secondary education online, and gives advice on what community colleges can do to improve the graduation rate of online students. The essay has some weaknesses, but is very informative.

In today’s society, so many people are continuing their education beyond high school. We realize that in order to make a decent living, a degree is most likely a requirement. In some cases even a bachelor’s degree is not enough to qualify for many positions. Nevertheless, thanks to technology, we now have the option to learn online or in a traditional classroom setting. There are very few differences between the two, and students need to understand that as much time and energy will need to be devoted to the online courses as on a campus. “A 2010 meta-analysis and review of online-learning studies concluded that online learning was as good as or slightly more effective than traditional face-to-face instruction” (Mendenhall, 2011).

Online education increases the likelihood of procrastinating, which reduces students’ learning effectiveness. When taking an online class, students have no time constraint for homework and exams. Because of no sense of urgency, students have a tendency to procrastinate. More specifically, they may read the materials and do the homework in very last minute, gradually influencing their learning performance in a negative way. As Smith explains, “there will never be the watchful eye…of a professor, nor the pressure of an exam time limit that is about to expire…” It seems that without a real instructor, there is no one to ask students to come to class on time, no one to remind them of handing in homework, no one to preach them to prepare the upcoming exam, and no one to require them to stay on the coursework. Does it sound good? Take me as an example. I used to take several online courses. Without instructors’ supervision, I often submitted my assignments at last minute and put off readings that were not covered in the assignments and exams. Before I realized it, weeks had gone by, I had not finished any assignment, and exam came. Due to the failure of completing reading and writing assignments during the learning process, I got poorer academic performance. Compared to students studying in the classroom, those online students like me may waste a larger part of study time and not access any of the course material until the day before the final. Thus, the effects of

Online college courses are almost becoming traditional for students. Some may perceive that a student does not receive an equal education when taking an online class. People tend to think that if a teacher is not directly giving the information about the subject, the course learning experience is different or unjust. This assumption is wrong according to the perception of many online course takers. Online college courses offer students the advantage to learn on their own time. The skills that a student learns in self-discipline, scheduling to complete graded assignments, and advantages learned with technology gives online classes equal education experience compared to classes on campus.

If college is seen as the final milestone in American culture where one transitions from an adolescent to an adult, college must prepare them for the real life. In many unprivileged societies, going to class on a campus may not be a luxury they can afford. That’s where online education comes in as an exciting alternative. Colleges and universities should offer more fully online courses because it can benefit tech savvy students, busy scheduled students, and students with physical or social disorders. Online courses are stress-free and with online tools it is much easier to learn at their pace. Whether they have to work during the day, or take care of a child, going to strictly scheduled events may not be an option for them. Therefore, to be able to complete their education online on their own time, may be the more practical approach to maintain their current living standard.

Learning is more than just receiving information. Traditionally learning was to be in campus, where students would interact with one a another, there were no other ways for learners to get educated beside going to the classroom and listening to the instructor. Nowadays the Internet has brought different ways for people to receive information, such as getting education and degrees online. A few years ago online education was never thinkable, and yet it has become to reality and it is widely expanding with popularity. Online education is a type of educational instruction that delivers learning to individuals to their own homes, and it is getting very popular among nontraditional student and others. Individuals prefer online education

Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of

Online education is a type of distance learning. The student is taking courses without attending a school or university. Instead, online students and teachers interact over the Internet. Online classes can teach students educational responsibility. By forcing them to access the online portal to participate in reading the textbooks/lectures and doing the assignments. Technical abilities is also learned with online classes. Students who lack the tech savvy knowledge can learn how to navigate through the online environment. Being able to access the online portal at any given time of the day is one other benefit to online education. Though online education may seem beneficial, there are more negatives than

Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.

Education has undergone significant changes because of the development of information and communication technology over the 21st century (Lin & Jou, 2012:2). As a convenient and inexpensive way to gain knowledge while pursuing higher education, online learning, a form of training or teaching that takes place over the Internet, has been considered as an alternative to traditional classroom learning (Zhang et al, 2004). This essay will argue that even though online learning has benefit such as flexibility which could outweigh traditional learning, traditional classroom learning might still not be entirely replaced. This essay will discuss positive and negative aspects of online and traditional learning in terms of four criteria:

Debates between the validity of online learning gets more popular as the days go on. Most high schools offer online classes to students wanting to receive a class not offered at the school. Some students take online classes in order to get ahead in their college careers, or the student holds a grudge against the school’s choice of a teacher. Traditional learning has been used for decades, and will continue to be used in future generations. Most schools offer online classes, but will encourage the student to focus on a traditional class. Online courses seem to have benefits, but none of these benefits match up with a regular class. Many students find it easier to understand the work and focus on what they are doing when put in a classroom. Students should stick with face-to-face learning because it helps the student to socialize and work better with others, the student does not have to worry about disciplining themselves, and with the student teaching the material becomes harder to learn.

In many schools, online classes are becoming more available to students. Recent studies show that the use of online classes has been rapidly increasing over the past three years. Currently, there are a total of 6,700,000 students enrolled in all different variations of courses