They note, "No more giving up a career; no more driving hours each week to the nearest campus. All you need is contemporary communications equipment and the motivation to succeed in your courses" (Auburn University, 2002). Students who need to take occasional classes for certification or license renewal also have much more accessibility to relevant classes. If they are parents, this allows them the flexibility to work, attend school, and still take care of their family responsibilities. Another writer notes, "This means that parents can attend to their children, then sit down to class; working students can attend classes no matter what their work schedule might be, folks that travel for business or pleasure can attend class from anywhere in the world that has internet access" (Coleman, 2005). As noted, online classes offer increased accessibility for handicapped students as well. Thus, accessibility is clearly the most important benefit of online education. Online classes offer so many plusses; it is difficult to see how they could possibly come under criticism.
Of course, there are contentions that online classes offer drawbacks for some students. One of these alleged drawbacks is the lack of motivating forces for some students. Some opponents say students need the structure of an organized classroom, with specific class times and attendance. They may not be motivated to complete an online course because they do not motivate themselves to work on the course in a sensible amount of time. This may be true for a small minority of students, but this drawback is easily overcome. Many online classes no longer completely depend on the motivation of the student to complete the course. These courses are organized over a specific period of time, and the student must submit coursework throughout the class or risk being dropped from the class, just like traditional on-campus classes. Students who lack the motivation to complete a course entirely on their own can enroll in one of these time-specific courses, which encourage them to compete the work in a timely manner. Thus, motivation can be eliminated as a drawback if the student chooses the correct course. Another aspect of this alleged drawback concerns the interactivity of the course. Since most courses include many interactive elements, they keep even unmotivated students interested and alert, which leads to more motivation to complete the course. Courses also often contain requirements, such as posting a specific number of messages in the course message boards each week, to indicate the student is online and participating in the course. By giving structure such as this, the student has more requirements to complete the course, which leads to more interactivity and interest between students, the instructor, and the course materials. It is interesting to note that despite perceived drawbacks, more students are enrolling in online classes than ever before. Another writer notes, "In spite of the drawbacks, however, many new and returning students are opting to study via distance learning and are finding it to be a very rewarding experience" (Norman, 2005). Thus, the positive aspects of online classes far outweigh the perceived drawbacks for students.
Another interesting drawback some critics mention is difficulty with e-mails between course instructors and students. This might seem surprising, considering how common e-mail messages have become in today's world. Yet, one journalist notes, "Some distance-education professors say they are surprised at how often students misinterpret messages online" (Young, 2002). While some professors might not have mastered the art of the e-mail message, most online students comment they feel they have much more communication with their instructors, and have not had problems with the tone or content of e-mails in their classes. In fact, most students indicate the online and e-mail environments are more conducive to communication, rather than less conducive....
Already, the instantaneous availability of thousands of references within a few mouse clicks has dramatically increased the problem of academic plagiarism on high school and college campuses. Off-site students, especially those whose course require no real-time audio/visual participation, have no worries about an instructor suspecting that plagiarized work is different in quality or style from the student's in-person class contribution. The combination of online resources and the anonymity and remoteness
Teachers often make this task easier by using group work or asking students to discuss ideas in partners. Some who believe that online education is not as beneficial as land-based education often suggest that this type of discourse is unavailable in virtual classrooms. This, however, is not the case. Virtual classrooms often have discussion boards on which students can post questions and topics and respond to other students. Just
Persistence (also called retention) is defined as remaining enrolled in the institution, presumably until degree attainment or completion. Online courses can help students achieve this, because they provide options for learning that were previously not available to them (Drennan, Kennedy, & Pisarski, 2005). Satisfying and rewarding interactions with the formal and informal academic and social systems of the institution lead to greater integration and persistence (Tinto, 1975). However, teachers of
Online Education Find three articles (in newspapers, journals, or online) that discuss the value, soundness, or impact of online education. Over the last several years, online education is becoming increasingly popular. This is because there a number of benefits touted as a way to help address critical issues inside the education system. However, there are also many challenges that are having an impact upon these solutions. To fully understand what is
The Benefits of Online Education Introduction To a degree, all educational institutions have migrated some of their services online, taking advantage of new media and new technologies to improve service delivery, cut costs, and enhance the learning environment. From eBooks to cloud-based collaborative work projects, the online environment adds depth to the classroom and expands opportunities for students from different backgrounds including those with special needs. It is therefore no surprise that
Students should consider online education, because there are many advantages to it. Littlefield (2014) notes several key advantages to online education, including flexibility, good networking opportunities, open scheduling, pacing, savings, teaching and testing options, and effectiveness. Several of these are advantages even though they are normally considered positive traits of a traditional school structure. This paper will investigate these claims to provide the reader with a compelling argument that online
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now