Reasons Why Students Prefer Online Learning and Education

One of the main reasons that many people choose to learn online is the flexibility that it provides. When do you get your final college exam? When you prefer! While your instructors may set certain times for weekly or live classes, you determine when and how long you study.

Since many students already have a major schedule to go to, learning online is very flexible for those with a hectic schedule. While you might not be able to do many things in the class, such as reading textbooks, assignments, etc., there are many activities that you can do while you are at home, which is a part of your regular classwork, too. For instance, many online programs provide mock tests and quizzes so that you can get a feel for the material before taking the real test. This can help you tremendously!

Virtual Classroom

One of the benefits of learning online is the easy adjustment to classroom dynamics. Although you will not be in a classroom, the teacher is in a virtual classroom with you, so the student behavior is often the same. The student performance is based on many factors, such as self-motivation, attention span, etc. With a classroom course, the teacher may give more attention to certain students, depending on their grades, and there are no real interpersonal interactions. This is seldom the case with online education unless the course is so challenging that the student gets frustrated or angry.

Traditional Classroom

Some experts would say that online courses have a disadvantage over traditional classroom teaching because of the classroom dynamics. If you are in a classroom, you can see your students’ reactions to your teaching. If there is a problem, the teacher has to address the issue with his/her students immediately. However, with an online learning course, there is no direct observation. The teacher has to take immediate action when problems arise, and there is no way to examine how the problem was handled or whether the student got a solution to the problem.

Knowledge and Skills

There is also the issue of personalized learning. One teacher may be highly qualified in a traditional classroom, while another is not. This causes an unbalance of knowledge and skills. It is not uncommon for one teacher to spend a lot of time teaching a subject, while another person gets to do the same thing, and the two people do not communicate with each other. The whole class suffers because the quality of education is lowered because of the unbalance. An online classroom provides a great opportunity for everyone to learn because of the greater variety of teachers available.

Advantage of Online Education

Another advantage of online education is that it provides more cost-effectiveness and flexibility. Traditional courses can be expensive, especially for distance learning. With online education, the fees are lower, and students have more options as far as learning methods are concerned. For instance, a student who wants to learn about medical transcription can help from a distance learning medical transcription class. Or a student who wants to study computer engineering can pursue his chosen course via an instructional modality such as video tutorials. The list of advantages of online education is endless.