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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 education is beneficial for many students and a powerful force in the education system.
First, a little bit of history. Online education developed with the emergence of the Internet, since that streamlined the ability of people to learn no matter where they were. Before the Internet, distance education was much more limited, for example, in remote locations, for prisoners and in other situations where physical attendance at an educational institution was difficult. As technology has improved, so too has the capability of online education. Today, with the synergies between different media technologies (video, online textbooks, etc.) and different forms of social media online education is a rich experience indeed, and the better the technology gets the richer the experience will get as well. The time is coming when online education provides...
This supports the idea that networking opportunities are strong with online learning -- networks are so much online now anyway that an online school network is really no different than any other social network.
The flexibility of online education has always been one of its main drawing cards. Some of the early adopters of online education were working adults, as the online program allowed them to perform the coursework whenever they had the opportunity to do so. This flexibility has proven very attractive to many students, who must juggle their studies with work, family and other aspects of their lives. In a world where we are constantly pressed for time, online studies allow people to complete degrees at their own pace, which is a tremendous benefit over traditional education programs that leave little time for other things.
In addition to flexibility, financing is another big benefit of online education. For many people it is hard to finance a traditional degree, because you have only time for maybe a little part-time work during school, summer jobs seldom pay well and student loans only defer payment. An online school will also offer student loans, but more important is that anybody can take courses while they are working, which means that they can pay for their school with their earnings, and therefore get a degree without taking on crippling debt. Add to this that you do not need to relocate, so you can control you costs much better with an online degree.
Much has been made about the quality of online education, whether it is good enough, but…
References
Allen, I. & Seaman, J. (2004). Entering the mainstream: The quality and extent of online education in the United States. Sloan Consortium. Retrieved June 13, 2014 from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED530061
Littlefield, J. (2014). 10 reasons to choose online education. About.com. Retrieved June 13, 2014 from http://distancelearn.about.com/od/distancelearning101/tp/10-Reasons-to-Choose-Online-Education.htm
Parker, N. (2004). The quality dilemma in online education. Athabasca University. Retrieved June 13, 2014 from http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch16.html
Online Education -- Research Method Response Initial Research Methodology I relied exclusively on online sources to conduct the research for this project. The first source that I consulted was the database archived on the website maintained by the former print magazine, U.S. News & World Report that ceased its hardcopy print publication last year. I selected that as the starting point for my research because I was aware of the long-term annual
Online Education Outline Online and traditional education may share numerous academic techniques, but online education better assists students by proposing format according to their skills, interests and requirements. Online and traditional education can offer student-centered, teacher-facilitated learning opportunities. Students can work independently or in groups on projects and assignments. The teacher provides guidance and answers questions. Online and traditional education offer many of the same degree options. Students can choose a program that best fit their
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