Benefits Of Online Education Over Traditional Education

By Author: William Cook
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When you hear about the numbers of people getting an online education of some kind, all the way from self-help courses to college degrees, you've got to figure that those seven or eight million people must have a lot of different reasons. Some have one reason and others have many, and it's because the benefits of online education over traditional education are numerous and different. There are benefits for everyone, whatever their interests or goals.

In no particular order, here are a dozen benefits of online education over traditional education. It is likely that several will appeal to you or apply to you and your situation, but you may discover others that become important after you start an online class of some kind.

1. Class materials are available "24/7," so you can read (and re-read) all the lectures and recommended texts any time, as many times as you want. And you can do so without being distracted, when you are best prepared.

2. You can take classes no matter what your work schedule is, and enjoy real flexibility for all the other things you do. You are not locked into bad class times.

3. ...
... Online learning is pretty much a definition of "student-centered teaching" and some other modern approaches. Every student has his or her own way of learning, so maybe you can learn by seeing and doing while others do it by hearing and watching. All ways work!

4. There are not the regular geographic barriers, so you don't have to settle for the classes offered at schools within driving distance. This is very valuable for vocational education students, and professional working people, too.

5. People who study these things say that online education can increase "bonding" and positive relationships among students, as well as between students and teachers. Chat rooms, videophone calls and other modern connections make for more kinds of learning environments.

6. You benefit from a bigger selection of courses, teachers and schools, since over 80% of American colleges and universities offer some type of online education materials. These programs are rapidly becoming as respected as "regular" offline degrees.

7. Instructors might be more approachable in a virtual setting. Students can use chats, e-mail and videoconferencing discussions and forget about the posted "office hours."

8. Since online instructors can be just about anywhere on Earth, you have the opportunity to learn from people who are using their knowledge in some rare business situations. The fewer experts there are in a certain field, the more important online education is, as that rare knowledge will now reach many instead of a few people.

9. In computer learning, strong personalities won't dominate the talking as easily as in classroom situations. This increases the student participation as well as the range of opinion, because everyone gets a chance to contribute.

10. Online courses over the Internet allow you to do research and communicate with other students with the same technologies that are important for working in 21st century business. You will get better at using modern technology while learning about subjects both old and new.

11. There is less prejudice among students and teachers, because there are no racial types, genders, ages or other characteristics immediately attached to somebody. Your identity is based on what you think, not what you look like or where you sit in the classroom-and the same goes for everyone else.

12. You can take time to gather your thoughts and make good decisions. You can think longer about what you want to say and add your comments when you are truly ready.

This new way of learning, called distance learning, online education or e-college, is growing in popularity because it fills a real need for a lot of people. Whether it's flexibility, reduced cost, more choices or some combination of these things, online education will keep growing and getting better. To some observers, online education is exactly what the Internet was made for, and is its greatest advantage to today's, and tomorrow's, world.

Technology keeps getting faster, better and cheaper, so greater learning opportunities will mean more people learning more things to create more new things. Round and round it will continue to go, and it's good for the students, the community, the country and the global community, too. In fact, online education is one of our planet's best hopes for the future, since it is ignorance that leads to war. Perhaps one day we can add "peace on Earth" to this list of the benefits of online learning over traditional learning.
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