Background of online education
The entire world has been going through a pandemic for the past couple of years. This has not only caused a serious number of issues in the day to day lives of people but also the students have been affected from different schools and universities to a large extent as well. Taking into consideration the adverse effects of the pandemic it can be said that the colleges in universities have been also affected to a huge extent. However, the students have been facing these difficulties and have adapted to a specific lifestyle for the past couple of years due to the pandemic. Hence online classes have become a regular thing for them. Several students have wanted to get a part time job or to travel to on some money in this time of crisis. Not only that but also there have been serious adverse effects other than just the closing of the universities such as people have been going through tremendous amount of economic crunch which meet them take a step backward before thinking about investing in educational degrees anymore (Archibald 3). During this time of pandemic people in the society have been afraid of attending any mass gatherings especially the students were afraid to attend the classes in person and colleges had to cancel all the classes and start the online procedure of education. During this entire discussion of the pandemic and the effects of the pandemic on the life of students it has also been seen that many researchers have come up with their analysis and researchers about how the effects have been cruel and gruesome for the students from all over the world. Debates have also arisen about the fact that whether this online mode of education is of some benefit, or it is having disadvantages of its own. If a debate is taken into consideration, it can be also mentioned that debates have both advantages and disadvantages.
If the advantages and disadvantages of the debate is taken into consideration, then there can be several questions that can be asked in the literature review part of this assignment:
- What are the main advantages and disadvantages of online education?
- What are the techniques involved in the online mode of education?
- How has the online mode of education affected the students in a negative way?
- What do the benefits of the student get from the online mode of education?
To understand whether all the issues that have been addressed and all the benefits setup in talked about are true or not in regard to the discussed issue it is also important to look at the background story of the discussion. Starting point of online education have been there persisting in the educational field but only came into the limelight ask dark pandemic to hit the world. Students were not being able to attend the classes and the universities had to shut down just for the safety of the people so that the disease does not spread. That was then when the Online education came into the limelight. Also advantages in the disadvantages are needed to be discussed when talking about the discussion of online education. Online education has been seen to be beneficial to many students and also have had disadvantages too as well. However, if taken into consideration there are students who are slower than the other still wins on online education, and that has helped them to learn and study at their own pace (Colvard 264). There are also people who are not very good with people’s interaction and interacting with the crowd is like a trigger for their anxiety. This issue has also been resolved in the online mode of education.
Advantages of online learning
There are umpteen number of Advantages for online learning for students. Online learning offers flexibility to the students and the students who are lagging from the other students can actually learn at their best. Not only that but also the recorded version of the classes in the lectures that they are attending can also be seen by the students again and again so that they can understand better. Similarly, there are also students who are anxious to mingle with a crowd and this is one of the best advantages what they get when the take up the courses online. Time management becomes better and that is another advantage of the students that they get while taking up online learning (Kim 40). A student can manage his or her time in a better manner while doing online classes. There are many students out there who work on a part time basis to earn some money was supporting their education can manage the time better if the online mode of education is taken into consideration. Who are taking up online education actually learn the importance of Online Verbal Communication and it also becomes easier for them to interact in a better manner? The perspective and the global reach become much vaster when it comes to online learning. Since learning process is held online students from different backgrounds are collected in one meeting and the teacher is teaching which improves the cultural diversity of the class and helps students to understand the cultural diversity the world better. Not only that but also the learn how to respect each other’s cultural backgrounds. Learning new technical skills is another benefit that the students can get when online classes are considered. As the online classes are held with the help of Internet hence different kinds of applications and software are used for the online classes to be held properly. This not only helps the students to understand the technology in a better manner but also gives them an opportunity to get friendly with the new trends in technology as well. The students also developed a critical thinking perspective while attending online classes. This is one of the major reasons why the students get to interact with different kinds of people coming from different cultural backgrounds who have perspective about the world in different points of views. Learning about different points of views from different people gives summer perspective of how to critically analyse the world and to come up with a view of their own. Therefore, online classes can be actually beneficial for students in many ways whatsoever. Another major advantages the affordability of the course is when taken online. Online courses are very affordable then the offline courses and saves a lot of money of the students (Mitchel 9). Hence from a bigger perspective it can be said that online learning actually helps the students to achieve their education and save a lot of money.
As the debate between online classes and the advantages and disadvantages is considered, there are several disadvantages as well in parallel to the advantages. The main disadvantages r the inability to focus on the screen the technological issues faced by the students and the sense of isolation. Not every student is technologically sound and there can be difficulties in handling the technology while taking up an online class. Hence these technological issues can cause a lot of problems while taking an online course and that adds up to the disadvantages of online learning. Not only that but also constantly sitting in front of a screen and trying to focus on the class is not always a very good idea and can also make a student lose his or her focus from the study. That becomes another big disadvantage when the online learning is talked about. A student might feel isolated while taking up an online class and sticking to it (Svrulga 2). This is the reason why the students are not being able to interact with the classmates or go to a social gathering and hence the isolation and the problems regarding it keeps in. The sense of isolation can be a bit dangerous as it might make the student lose his or her focus and make him depressed to some extent as well. In addition to that it also becomes very difficult for the student to manage the screen time. Constantly sitting in front of a laptop or looking into a phone can actually damage their eyes and cause health issues that would be beyond repair. Hence it is very difficult for the students to overcome the health issues related to the screen time. They never understand how much screen time there as online learning should be always includes looking at the laptop or the phone screen constantly. Student can also lose patience while sitting in front of a laptop all day long. As online learning requires a lot of patience as it includes sitting in one place at a stretch, it can be difficult for the students sometimes to focus on the class and be attentive as well. All these disadvantages run parallel to the advantages that online learning has got to offer to the students. Hence the amalgamation of both advantages and disadvantages have been discussed about by many researchers and analysed properly in order to understand the good parts and the bad parts of online learning.
Flexibility in online learning
Most of the issues regarding higher education have been trending recently in different parts of the world. Taking higher education into consideration the debate can be in such a way that includes all the issues related to the higher education that is faced by the students. As higher education is highly pricey in different parts of the world it has been a huge problem for the students to pay the fees. Tuition fees for colleges in universities is sky high and is difficult for the students to pay all the time. As the offline classes of colleges in universities have been held for so many years now it has been seen that the difference is quite clear as the pandemic has hit and the online classes have started. The differences between the offline classes in the online classes are such that it saves a lot of money for the students. It was then when it was understood by the students that the offline classes of colleges in universities were way too expensive for them to afford. It was much more available and affordable for the students too record for the online learning courses and complete their higher education. This becomes one of the very big reasons why online classes have been liked by students from all over the world. Not only that but also higher education is becoming an issue for many people with the passage of time as the prices are high and not every person can afford the expensive tuition fees that are taken by the colleges and universities for higher education. sometimes just to afford the educational bills the students also must run into death’s which causes them problems regarding their future as well. in the article the anatomy of college tuition the author has talked about the unusualness of higher education (Kim 64). Not only that but also one of the major reasons why the writer has talked about how the disadvantages have taken a toll on the students and their mental health is also addressed different parts of other articles as well. Many researchers have analysed in researched about the topic how to students have been suffering due to the sky-high prices of the courses that they are taking. The difficulties in affording the courses both in colleges and universities have been a major trending issue in the field of education nowadays. Some students work in part time jobs just to earn a little bit more money so that they can afford their education. Hence it sometimes becomes difficult for them to manage the time properly and that becomes another major issue while pursuing a degree from a college or in university. All these issues that have been lurking in the field of education for quite some time now had been resolved by the onset of online classes as the pandemic had hit us. Once the online classes had started it became easier for the students to understand the difference between the online classes and offline classes and did it end to like the online classes more. the students have understood the clear differences in the tuition fees for both online and offline classes they’ve also understood that time management becomes easier when opting for online classes and they do not have to leave their part time jobs in order to attend the fulltime offline classes.
Improved time management
Many students who aren’t very financially stable but are still taking and offline course in some university or college has to give a lot of money to the university or the colleges tuition fees just to afford the force that he or she wants to take. Not only that but also sometimes students also have to take student loan and debt in order to approach the college for the degree that they want to pursue. This not only becomes a difficulty for the students to handle the debt and loan but also becomes an extra burden which takes over their life satisfaction. A student who is working in a part time job and also pursuing a degree from an online or an offline course is already going through a lot of stress and the stress of extra burden that comes with the student debt that they have to pay to the bank for affording the post that they want to take becomes an extra headache (Webber 9). It’s not only wipes out the satisfaction of their lives but also gives them huge amount of anxiety because they need to repay the loan as soon as possible. Hence if a student is trying to pursue education from a bigger angle or perspective, he or she does not get the satisfaction that should be there for a student to be calm and reserved while taking up a course and learning something new. Therefore, it becomes a major issue while talking about the student satisfaction.
Conclusion
Summing up the entire discussion that have been taking place about the online and offline classes and the differences and the issues related to it can be summed up in a way that talks about the advantages and disadvantages of offline classes and how the tuition fees of colleges and universities have been becoming sky high with the passage of time. It is not possible for every student to be able to afford the prices that the universities are one thing for pursuing a career. Taking up a course in offline or in online learning process gives the students of clear perspective about the differences of online classes and offline classes. Offline classes aren’t required to be paid in lump sum amounts of money to take up a course while on the other hand online classes are cheaper and affordable for the students. There are also differences like time management. If a student is taking an online class it becomes easier for the student to manage his or her time even if he or she is doing a part time job it becomes easier for them to not lag behind new class and also do the part time job simultaneously.
Archibald, R. B., and D. H. Feldman. “(PDF) The Anatomy of College Tuition.” ResearchGate, 1 Apr. 2012, www.researchgate.net/publication/265050110_The_Anatomy_of_College_Tuition.
Colvard, N., et al. “The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics.” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2018, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1184998.pdf.
Kim, Jinhee, and Swarn Chatterjee. “Student Loans, Health, and Life Satisfaction of US Households: Evidence from a Panel Study.” Journal of Family and Economic Issues, vol. 40, no. 1, 2018, pp. 36-50.
Kim, and Tamborini. “Are They Still Worth It? The Long-Run Earnings Benefits of an Associate Degree, Vocational Diploma or Certificate, and Some College.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, vol. 5, no. 3, 2019, p. 64.
Mitchel, M., et al. “State Higher Education Funding Cuts Have Pushed Costs to Students, Worsened Inequality.” Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC) | Texas Association of Community Colleges, 2019, tacc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2019-11/state_he_funding_cuts.pdf.
Svrulga, S. “Is College Worth It? A Georgetown Study Measures Return on Investment — with Some Surprising Results.” wap.cqdw.net/about-mma/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/WP-article-re-Georgetown-study.pdf.
Webber, Douglas A. “Are College Costs Worth it? How Individual Ability, Major Choice, and Debt Affect Optimal Schooling Decisions.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015.