Rhetorical Analysis Of Online Learning By Mark Edmundson

[source 2] Leon Samuels say that students can learn more from teachers who masters of their subject matters

Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera and professor at Stanford University, gave a talk at TEDGlobal in 2012. The audience involved a variety of people with different backgrounds and levels of understand of technology. Nonetheless, she ensure the topic was well suited to the entire audience.

In his 2011 article, “Reliance on Online Materials Hinders Learning Potential for Students,” David Smith attempts to build upon student’s obligated online interaction to make a case against online classes. Smith first shows how much today’s learners must use online materials by using the example of his own Alma Mater. By referencing his own experience at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, with MyRED and EBSCO search engine, Smith lays the grounds for the focus of his argument. He then attempts to use what seem to be personal examples of experience with online coursework while begging the question through repeated examples. By failing to establish the credibility of his facts, attempting to force his own

Online courses have started within the past 30 years as a means of learning. With increases in Internet use, many U.S. schools offer online classes. Because of the main disparities amid online course and face to face instruction, numerous questions have been brought forth in regard to the quality of online courses. This research will help American college students to understand the difference between online classes and face-to-face courses, and give them an idea that how effective that online classes are. Therefore, the leading research question of this study is what advantages and disadvantages of

Lipman states, "The conventional wisdom holds that teachers are supposed to tease knowledge out of students, rather than pound it into their heads." This is an example to some that may read this article, that could be anyone who is interested in our education system.

Currently, students around the country, even the world, have the choice to either attend a class face-to-face with a teacher inside a classroom or computer-generated classes in online colleges or Universities. Even though they are similar, the differences between the two are somewhat remarkable. Obviously both types of learning require instructions and some form of assessment and they differ in terms of the learning process and communication.

Tom Gilman, an academic librarian at Yale University, composes the article, “Combating Myths About Distance Education,” in the February 2010 edition of Chronicle of Higher Education. Gilman focuses all of his ideas onto what people currently misbelieve about online education, and then, contributes information that could provide evidence that online education is still a challenge and beneficial to students and faculty. He initially informs his audience on the type of difficulties that professors could have if they come from just physical classroom teaching styles such as, “changing the schedule of what is to be covered and altering assignment deadlines can cause chaos” (102). Gilman decides before this statement that teachers in physical classrooms

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 order for students to be able to take college courses online, they need some type of way to organize themselves and push themselves finish their work since their teachers really can’t (Bird). In a physical classroom, teachers are able to move around and be able to answers questions right then and there, but with online schooling students would have to wait a while to get a response from their teachers if they have questions (“Key”). The dropout rate for online schooling in very high, mostly because students don’t know how to prioritize their school schedule and don’t know how to be self motivated (Bejarano). Learning independently is very challenging, and students may become discouraged when they have to face challenges with learning online by themselves (Bejarano). Online learning would not be a good option for students that can’t self motivate and can’t focus

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.

However, advocates of classroom learning believe the online method isolates the students from one another as well as their professor minimizing the overall value of taking the course. They also claim that students learn better when working together with their instructor and their fellow classmates. Students learn better when they are given the opportunity to ask questions, join in class discussions, and they move the process of learning forward through their participation. Face-to-face advocates firmly believe that this kind of interaction is not possible over the Internet; and for many types of education, e-learning will never meet the potential of live human interaction in the classroom. An article in the New York Times titled, “Second Thoughts on Online Education,” backs up the points made above. A recent research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, comes to the conclusion; “A rush to online education

“It has been said: not all learning takes place in classroom. Compare and contrast knowledge gained from personal experience with knowledge gained from classroom instruction. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?“

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.

On the other hand, an online course permits students the option and availability to enroll in a vast array of course choices regardless of their location. In so doing, it allows a student a unique opportunity to further their education anywhere in the world. After all, if one is in the United States or on a military base in Japan students can still attain an education from their home country and in their mother tongue via the Internet. However, lessons that take place in a physical classroom are confined to that location. Thus, students situated within the nearby vicinity of the school building typically can access the instructor’s lessons. Consequently, this creates a clear disadvantage to any student residing outside of the classroom’s surrounding area.

One of the biggest issues that students have to overcome in a face to face class is the fear of doing well. Steinberg notes,