Whether you are an undergraduate, graduate, or transfer student, you have a variety of options for pursuing a degree. There are hundreds of majors, minors, and concentrations to choose from, as well as multiple options to earn a degree, such as online or in-person classes.
This is why, online schooling is becoming increasingly popular. Massive open online courses and free virtual learning opportunities were made available to the public in the first ten months of the epidemic, reaching more than 180 million learners. Even before the pandemic, the e-learning market in the United States will have increased to $6.22 billion between 2017 and 2022.
Furthermore, businesses have embraced eLearning for employee training. Corporate eLearning will create income improvements for most firms in the next years, and its popularity will continue to grow.
If your situation or preference calls for online learning, what are the pros and cons of you should know about?
Let’s have a look at the top pros and cons of online learning that incoming college students must know:
Pros of Online Learning
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Better Accessibility
For many students, in-person learning environments aren’t particularly accessible. It might be difficult for them to get to class, hear what others are saying, or read course material from a screen or whiteboard.
Online coursework can be more adaptable, flexible, and friendly. Students with and without disabilities can:
- Use technologies like screen readers and voice-to-text software to access learning materials
- Make digital text more readable by changing the font or size
- View lectures and discussions with subtitles
- Create a distraction-free and trigger-free environment
If you’re not sure what adaptive technologies could work for you, talk to your course provider.
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Learn at Your Own Pace
On-campus classes have specific times and places, and assignments have certain due dates, no matter what. If you fall behind or miss a few sessions, it’s hard to catch up.
That doesn’t work for everyone—and it doesn’t have to. With online courses, you view lectures and complete assignments at your convenience. You can:
- Go back and review material you’re unsure about
- Slow down or rewind lectures
- Attempt assignments more than once
With the flexibility of online courses, it’s easier to master concepts before moving on to new ones. You can even pause a course and complete an introductory tutorial or class if you find yourself struggling with the material.
Meanwhile, you build self-discipline and time management skills as you carve out study time and balance school with other responsibilities.
In addition, there are a lot of online learning tools that are now available for us to use that further helps learn at our own pace.
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Unmatched Convenience
From high school to higher education, most in-person learning requires you to arrange your life around school work. In community colleges, students travel an average of 10 miles one-way to attend class.
Commutes like these cut into work, study, and family time, and can cost upwards of $1,800 a year—more than the cost of books.
Commuting to class also means rearranging your out-of-school life—changing work shifts, finding childcare, and so on. With distance learning, all you need is a reliable internet connection and a computer with internet access.
You can learn from anywhere at any time, even when life gets busy.
Cons of Online Learning
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Inability To Focus On Screens
For many students, one of the biggest challenges of online learning is the struggle with focusing on the screen for long periods of time. With online learning, there is also a greater chance for students to be easily distracted by social media or other sites.
Therefore, it is imperative for teachers to keep their online classes crisp, engaging, and interactive to help students stay focused on the lesson.
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Technology Issues
Another key challenge of online classes is internet connectivity. While internet penetration has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years, in smaller cities and towns, a consistent connection with decent speed is a problem.
Without a consistent internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity in learning for the child. This is detrimental to the education process.
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Sense of Isolation
Students can learn a lot from being in the company of their peers. However, in an online class, there are minimal physical interactions between students and teachers. This often results in a sense of isolation for the students.
In this situation, it is imperative that the school allow for other forms of communication between the students, peers, and teachers. This can include online messages, emails and video conferencing that will allow for face-to-face interaction and reduce the sense of isolation.
Conclusion
Online degree programs have exploded in popularity since 2020. COVID-19 unquestionably accelerated these trends — but even with the pandemic now ebbing, online learning is here to stay.
In fact, the demand for online education is growing, according to research from the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which reports that there’s been an “11% increase in total enrollment for largest online universities” — and at the same time, a 3% decrease in enrollment overall.
In other words, even with fewer students enrolling in colleges, online enrollment is still creeping upward, highlighting a steady cultural shift toward web-based or virtual models of learning.
Online classes offer a great way to further your career, train for a new one, and learn something new. They’re ideal for self-motivated people who need education to fit their lives, not the other way around.
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