November 10 2015
Children still start their learning the traditional way in a school, but now adults have a choice of whether to go to college or university or complete their education online. The world wide web has provided many conveniences to the people. It is now possible to shop for anything from groceries to other household items without leaving the house.
The internet is also used for research and social networking and now people can obtain a higher education from the safety of their own homes.
Education: Traditional Versus Online
Whilst the traditional method of education – that is attending school, college, university – has been established for centuries, the online form of education is a reasonably new phenomenon. However, this is a welcome addition to people who could not obtain a higher education by attending college or university for reasons of finance, lack of time or other family commitments. Nevertheless, there are pros and cons to both traditional and online learning.
Traditional Education
The upside of traditional education is that when people attend college or university, they meet a lot of students and can interact with and share their learning experiences. Another advantage of the traditional way of learning is the daily lessons with teachers or lecturers where students can have their questions answered. When undertaking a traditional course one is aware of the time-line till the end of the course, unless one chooses to differ the course for a period of time.
The downside of attending a college or university is the time one has to allocate to attending campus, travel time and expenses. In addition, if one has a family to take care of, then finding time to earn an income could be a problem. In a college of university the learning modules have to be completed within a set period time.
Online Education
The main advantage of an online learning system is the ability to learn the same things and obtain the same degrees as those attending a college or university, without having to leave the comfort of the home or office. When learning online there is no additional time or expense involved in traveling and the time-line is flexible and the learning can be paced to suit the lifestyle of the learner. People are able to hold down a job, care for their families and obtain a higher education at the same time.
Lack of extra discipline could be the downside of online education for many people. There are no set times for classes, lectures or discussions and one has to find the time to keep up with the online tutorials. There are no other students, teachers or lectures to interact with, discuss problems or raise questions on a face-to-face basis.
The advent of the world wide web has provided many people the opportunity to obtain a higher education which they might not have been able to do under the traditional method for a variety of personal reasons. It is important that people consider the pros and cons of a traditional education versus the online method of learning prior to making a decision to embark on a course.
