Advantages To Online Learning

The biggest advantage I see to an online learning environment is my personal example in that it enables me to complete my degree in an environment that works well with my personal life. For example, the degree I am seeking is offered here in where I live, however, the classes meet twice a week and the times are usually 3:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon. I currently work full time and have two children, so these times do not work at all with my personal life. The online learning environment offers flexibility for people who work or have other obligations outside of their education. So convenience is my motivation factor.

The article in the NY Times notes that “the study’s major significance lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing – it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction” (Lohr, 2009, pp. 3). The article further goes on to discuss the new technology available for using in online instruction, but it does not share why the results of online education is showing higher results. An article that I found is not related to the study noted in the NY Times article, however, it does offer the same opinion in “that online education can be as good as, or even of better quality than in-class sessions, with the ultimate effect being a better learning experience for the student” (Singh & Pan, 2004, p. 304). This article goes on to discuss six advantages for the student: Convenience, feedback opportunities, learner control, increased instructor contact, interactivity, and accessibility (Singh & Pan, 2004, p. 305).

Motivation is something often discussed regarding online classes, but I think this is something harder to predict. Students who have achievement motivation (Moreno, 2010, p.348) are more than likely going to be motivated to perform well regardless of the learning environment while “some students will be left behind in any learning environment” (Singh & Pan, 2004, p. 304). It is the responsibility of the instructor to structure the class to engage the students and both the NY Times article and the Singh & Pan article agree that the online environment “providing learning experiences that are more tailored to the individual students (Lohr, 2009, pp. 6) and “the instructor should construct the Web-based online course to satisfy the needs and desires of the individual student” (Singh & Pan, 2004, p. 306).

To close on a personal note, one thing that I think college teaches students is time management, which is an important tool that will be used no matter what path your life my take. I did my undergraduate work on campus and now (quite a few years later) I am doing my graduate work online. Both environments still require the student to learn and practice time management so this benefit of higher education seems to be shared regardless of your physical geography.

References

Lohr, S. (2009, August 19). Study finds that online education beats the classroom. The New York Times. Retrieved from

Moreno, R. (2010). Educational Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Singh, P. and Pan, W. (2004). Online education: Lessons for administrations and instructors. College Student Journal, 38:2, 302 – 308. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text database.