Online OR Traditional Education: The digital revolution has significantly altered the way we live. It has changed the day to day methods of functioning for people around the world. Whether you are thinking about buying a product, socializing with a friend or if someone can take my exam, online platforms will have you covered. The internet has changed everything from health care systems, our social dynamics, business, politics and everything in between. Bill Gates once described the internet as, “town square for the global village of tomorrow.” That tomorrow he talked about has clearly arrived. Around some reports, over 60 percent of people worldwide are regular internet users.
Since online culture has been becoming rampant around the world, it was only a matter of time until every aspect of our life was going to be influenced by it. For the complete history of humanity there was only one way of transmitting education, which was through face to face learning. However, in the last ten to fifteen years that has changed. Now we can study a subject from the comfort of our home while sitting behind a screen. This might sound like nothing special, but if we look at it while keeping history in perspective, this is a revolution.
Online Education and the New Issues:
During the period of COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns around the world, more and more people adapted to online learning. Universities around the world have adapted to this system of teaching for the time being. Online education system is here to stay, and it will grow in popularity as time moves forward. Due to its completely unique approach to learning in comparison to traditional systems, it is a great alternative. Around six million Americans are pursuing academic education online and 68 percent of overall online education students are professionally experienced. An interesting benefit of online education is low student to professor ratio in comparison to traditional education. This means that online students get better attention from their professors due to fewer students.
This brings up the question whether online education is a better option to study than traditional education. There is clearly no easy answer to this question. Traditional education is clearly not a weaker system of studying. It has been around forever and there are many legit reasons for its popularity. However, it might be also wrong to call it a superior medium to online education. The truth lies somewhere in between. There are various benefits that online education has over traditional education. Similarly, there are benefits that traditional education has over online education.
Benefits of Online Education over Traditional Education
Flexibility
Online education has the advantage of having a medium that is clearly way more flexible. What you need to take an online class is a computing device with a working internet connection. This means that you can take an online class at home, at a café, at a library or any other place. The only requirement might be to sit in a quiet place where you could focus on the lecture. There is great flexibility in online learning that can never be matched by traditional systems of learning. Since this flexibility is a result of the medium that is being used to transmit education. Apart from the flexibility of location, online education is quite flexible in many other ways too.
Many online education platforms offer the option to hit pause. This means that in case you have to leave a class in between then you can do that without missing out. Since you can continue it from wherever you left.
Time Saving
Online education is surely going to be more time saving than traditional education. Think about it, let’s assume you are studying at a university that is at one hour travelling distance from your home. If you have a class at 8 then you will have to get up at 6. Eat breakfast, take a bath, decide what clothes to wear, leave the home by 7 and then commute for an hour. That’s two hours of time getting wasted. Then there is tons of meaningless conversation that you will have to indulge in before and after the class and then commute back home.
Any average student is wasting at least three to four hours of their day in the traditional education system. Online education is convenient and time saving in this regard. You can get up in the morning and start taking the class. There is no commuting time or any other time that is getting wasted.
Affordable
Another massive advantage of online education is affordability. This is no surprise that higher education is super expensive across the world. Students have to pay somewhere between 10,000 to 40,000 dollars every year for traditional education at a decent enough institute. This is not a price most students could afford to pay so they have to take loans. The loan they are taking for their education is added mental pressure that is going to be in their mind during academic years.
Even if you can afford the price, one must ask the question: is that price worth paying? Has the internet already outsourced so much of the knowledge for which we had to travel to university libraries in the past? So you are paying thousands of dollars for something that is available online for free? In case you are thinking you are paying for the degree that adds credibility, then degrees can be earned online too. In addition, the majority of online learning options are far more affordable than traditional education.
Worldwide Study Option
If you are narrowing down your options of study to traditional education, then your options will be limited. There are only going to be a limited number of universities near your home offering the program that you want to study. There is a solution for that problem. Online education opens the world of options for you to study. Let’s assume that you are living in the UK, you can take part in a business course being offered in New York from your home. That is something that traditional education can never offer. Again, this has to do with the medium being online. Since you will be studying online, nobody is going to care where you reside. As long as you are interested in a program you can take part in it no matter where it is being offered in the world.
Free from Social Conundrums
Traditional education comes with some challenges, many of which can be avoided totally if you are learning online. There is the added pressure of performing socially in traditional education. Since your teachers will be grading your course, you will have to maintain a certain persona around them. Your social impression around your teachers and peers is going to be very important in deciding how you perform in traditional education. If you happen to be an introvert, then this is going to be a problem for you. This is not the case with online education. Of course, we are not saying that there will be no social challenge involved, however it will be fairly limited. In many ways, this only levels the playing field. Since no matter how socially extroverted you are, your academic performance is going to decide your grades only.
Benefits of Traditional Education over Online Education
Face to Face Connection
Online system has provided us with this great facility to connect with people from a distance. However, there is a certain familiarity in face to face connection that can never be achieved through online connection. Therefore, it can be argued that the level of emotional investment that your instructor has for you in a traditional class is much more than what you will get online. Online learning has a certain sense of detachment which can never be made up for. Face to face connection of traditional education is a massive advantage. It is not just the face to face connection with the teacher but also peers that matters. Higher education is quite complex and traditional learning makes it significantly easier. There is an emotional connection to a place and people that cannot be achieved with online learning.
More Hands-on Approach
If you are studying some subject that requires hands on approach to learning, then online courses might not be an option for you. Online education fits perfectly with the theoretical learning system. However, even theoretical courses require some degree of hands-on learning that can never be achieved in online education. For example, if you are studying to be a chef, or a nurse, or anything vocational, then you should have a class environment. That class environment and hands approach is easily achieved in traditional education. However, it is not possible with online education.
Scheduled Learning
The flexible time schedule of online education might be a great advantage for some of us. However, most students will lose the motivation to study when they are aware that they delay the class. To complete a degree where time scheduling is flexible can be super challenging because one has to self-motivate for that. The traditional education is totally in contrast to that because it is extremely scheduled.
Your instructor will need the work by a specific time, and you will have to take the class at a certain time too. You cannot say that I am going to take my exam whenever I want. This strict schedule will keep you on your toes and at times it will stress you out. However, it might be beneficial for you in the long run because ease can be destructive. Having a strict schedule will motivate you to perform better and to get the degree on time.
Competitive Environment
Online education, despite all its advantages, is not going to be that competitive in nature. Why is that? Because you are not going to be that much connected with your classmates. Humans are by the very nature of evolution very competitive creatures. Competition drives us to perform better and to push through when the going gets tough. As we have mentioned before, traditional classes have a strong culture of face to face connection. When you are sitting in a class, you are in a communal environment. The sense of community and immediate rewarding system drives people to function better and be more motivated. Online education can never replicate the competitive nature of traditional education. Thus, this is another great advantage of traditional education.
Access to More Facilities
No matter how expensive an online education course you might be taking, it will never have as many facilities. Traditional education happens at education institutes. You must visit the institute to take classes or take my exam. These institutes have loads of facilities for students. The amount of facilities might vary from one institute to another. However, they are still going to be way more than you would ever get in online education. Starting from the library, to labs, and different departmental activities taking place, there are loads of facilities in traditional education. These facilities help you in enhancing your skills and knowledge beyond your program of study.
More Prestigious Options
The first university for traditional education was formed in Italy in the year 1088. However, this traditional mode of education has been practiced by humans from even earlier times. The history of traditional education is rich. This means that the system is going to be way more effective because it has been tested for years and years to become more efficient.
Therefore, the degree you earn from a traditional university is going to be way more prestigious. In addition, in most cases the quality of education will also be much better with traditional education. This does not mean that online education is not effective. There are some brilliant online learning options available that will significantly enhance your knowledge and qualification. If you are a student wondering if someone can take my exam for me, then there are various services available online. One thing that should be mentioned about online education is that it is the future. As time moves forward, online education is going to become the norm. Therefore, this way of learning is surely a great option for any student.
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