Throughout history, the typical face-to-face learning system has been the only means of education. However, due to the rapid advances in technology, there has been an increase in the number of institutions offering online courses in the modern day. “Total student enrollment in distance education courses went from 754,000 in 1995 to 1.6 million in 1998 (Harasim, 2000), and over 3 million students enrolled in distance courses in the 2000-2001 academic year (Waits and Lewis, 2003). By fall 2007, 3.9 million students were taking at least one online course (Doyle, 2009)” (Lei, S. A., & Gupta, R. K. , 2010). Although there are benefits to both learning from a conventional education and an online system, technology-based education is the better choice because of the equality, flexibility, and accessibility it offers. Many critics of online learning often argue that distance causes a lack of communication between teachers and students. However, these face-to-face interactions between teachers and other students are not completely lost in online learning. With technology evolving constantly, the face-to-face interactions seen in traditional learning can be mimicked by online courses. As a matter of fact, there are many interactive platforms such as Blackboard that allow teachers to bring online learners together and keep them engaged in discussions. “Blackboard provides a structured format for teachers to post announcements, assignments, course documents, faculty credentials and course notes for easy student access” (Beard, 2004). Additionally, these interactive platforms offer discussion boards, virtual chat rooms, and direct chat with the course instructor to increase communication. In a classroom setting, the student that projects their voice the loudest will have the attention during discussions. On the other hand, online classrooms are much more balanced because each student has the ability to relay their information to the discussion board without having to be interrupted by other students. Furthermore, another benefit to online learning is the flexibility it offers compared to traditional learning.
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Technological learning provides students with the ability to mold education into their time schedule. “When carefully planned, constructed, and monitored, Internet-based courses can effectively address many of the same learning goals of campus-based instruction, while allowing students to engage in their learning experiences asynchronously, or according to whatever daily schedule their other personal and work obligations allow” (Davey, 2004). Online courses do not have a specific time schedule for classes to be held; therefore, students are able to fulfill their time commitments while also pursuing an education. Although discussions, chat-rooms, and teacher-to-student interactions have set schedules, the rest of the coursework is free from time restricting deadlines. Due to its asynchronous nature, online learning has been often dubbed as a joke instead of being noted for its flexibility. However, students are required to maintain discipline and focus in order to successfully achieve credit for the course. Therefore, online learning maintains standards that provide an educational atmosphere. Conversely, traditional learning has set class times and strict attendance policies. Its synchronous nature undermines the ability of students to commit time towards other activities such as working or specializing in a certain activity. Providing that students have other activities to complete on a regular basis, the accessibility of online learning vastly overshadows that of the traditional learning system. Students often take on jobs throughout college in order to pay for their education, but often have a tough time balancing their
Technological learning provides students with the ability to mold education into their time schedule. “When carefully planned, constructed, and monitored, Internet-based courses can effectively address many of the same learning goals of campus-based instruction, while allowing students to engage in their learning experiences asynchronously, or according to whatever daily schedule their other personal and work obligations allow” (Davey, 2004). Online courses do not have a specific time schedule for classes to be held; therefore, students are able to fulfill their time commitments while also pursuing an education. Although discussions, chat-rooms, and teacher-to-student interactions have set schedules, the rest of the coursework is free from time restricting deadlines. Due to its asynchronous nature, online learning has been often dubbed as a joke instead of being noted for its flexibility. However, students are required to maintain discipline and focus in order to successfully achieve credit for the course. Therefore, online learning maintains standards that provide an educational atmosphere. Conversely, traditional learning has set class times and strict attendance policies. Its synchronous nature undermines the ability of students to commit time towards other activities such as working or specializing in a certain activity. Providing that students have other activities to complete on a regular basis, the accessibility of online learning vastly overshadows that of the traditional learning system. Students often take on jobs throughout college in order to pay for their education, but often have a tough time balancing their