Pros And Cons Of Online Education

Online courses have become more common among colleges and universities. About thirty percent of all college and university students are enrolled in at least one online course (Bergstrand, Savage, 2013). Online classes provide flexibly for students, allowing them to work more hours or care for their families. Studies have found that there is no drastic difference in student achievement whether they are enrolled in traditional classes or online classes (Bergstrand,2013). This article will analyze the experience of taking an online class as a student and will provide information from a sociological perspective.

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.

In today's highly developed era, the whole thing is being prepared for all intents and purposes. Letters are at this time delivered all through electronic files, phone calls can be made with film over the Internet, and increasingly more persons are currently operating distantly from home. Persons no other can picture a era when communication wasn't done in a split second.

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.

With the advancement of new technology, more students enroll in online courses (Spring), but this action alarms some who do not agree with online education. College Sophomore Alexander Spring’s editorial, “Online Learning: The Ruin Of Education,” argues “Online education turns a center into a diploma factory.” However, he experienced online education for only a brief period of time. Instead of providing statistics to support his proposition, he based his entire article on his own negative personal experience. Furthermore, Spring merely presents the harmful aspects of online learning, without acknowledging the benefits online education possesses. In his argument, he said this about his experience, “I had the horrific opportunity to experience online learning for a few weeks.” Contrary to Spring’s beliefs, online learning possesses many positive advantages.

Writer Bill Maxwell, in his essay “No Short Cuts in Long-distance Learning,” explains the pros and cons of online learning. Maxwell stands heavily on traditional classroom settings rather than the new technological way of earning a degree. As the demand for education in the work field, America has been pushing online classes, even though the dropout rate is extremely higher. In this article, Maxwell uses quite a few statistics in order to inform the reader why he is not a big fan of online classes. One of his argumentative statements was that research shows that many students taking online classes do not graduate, or further their education to a university as often as community college students. This essay was an easy read, but if he had used

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).

In an Internet forum for students earning their degrees online, a worried student queries her counsellor about the legitimacy of online courses. “Are online degrees the future of education?” the student asks. The counsellor replies, “Online courses are not the future—it is right now.”

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.

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

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:

Obtaining a college education in these times is more than being sure you don’t stay out too late partying so you aren’t late for an 8 am lecture; many students are balancing full-time lives on top of a full-time course load. When it’s no longer a wild night out hindering one from making it to the test on time, but a 7 month old baby demanding a diaper change at 3 am, that’s when alternatives start to become appealing. While traditional learning options alone have been successful for many years, these days, online courses offer the busy student flexibility and control over their education, at the same time sacrificing beneficial in-person communication and demanding a certain degree of self-discipline to succeed.

Andrew Simoncelli once said, “Students who take online classes must be motivated, independent learners.” This is relevant because independence and motivation is what it takes to succeed in an online course. Online learning will not only expand what students learn, but will also bring a number of positive changes in the way students are taught. Courses online have changed everyone’s look at learning all over the world. It allows more opportunities for observers to learn online rather than learning in class. Another affirmative of taking an online course is flexibility and convenience. Students who would like to experience some of these ideas should look into an online class!