Why Online Education is Good: 7 Reasons
A lot has been said about online education, both good and bad. Some people believe that it is, at its very best, a poor second-rate substitute for a traditional approach to learning, and no matter how technology will develop in the years to come, it will never be able to be as effective. Others consider it a game-changer, something that will forever change the nature of learning, making it more affordable and increasing its quality across the board. Well, we firmly fall into the latter category, so here are 7 reasons why the rapid development of online education is the best thing that could have happened to all of us:
1. It Is Efficient
Everybody participating in an online course is in an equal position. At any moment, a participant can simply visit the course’s website and get access to all the relevant papers, services, and educational materials he/she needs. There is no need to distribute them and keep track of who receives what. Students who cannot visit school or college for some reason do not miss classes anymore – they can get access to everything they need from home.
2. It Is Independent of Time and Location
As long as students can connect to the Internet and have access to the websites hosting their courses, they can go on with their studies from anywhere. On the one hand, it means that students and educational institutions are no longer limited by geographical locations. An educational institution can offer its services to students no matter where they live, be it in another town or even in a different country. Students can study while traveling and moving about: e.g., you can receive an assignment to write an argumentative essay, go to another town for personal business and work on it on the go, sending the resulting paper for evaluation when it is convenient. In addition, online lectures and other types of educational materials can be recorded to be used later on, which means that students are not tied down to any specific time to work on them.
3. It Is Affordable
Compared to traditional educational institutions, many online sign a pdf alternatives are considerably more affordable. You can buy plenty of cheap courses, and some of them are even available free of charge. This, by the way, does not mean that their authors are any less professional than the people working for traditional colleges. In addition, we do not just speak about the costs of education per se. When you study online, you do not have to pay for a lot of other things, such as transportation and accommodation, which takes a lot of pressure off your wallet.
4. It Can Be Self-Paced
One of the main problems with traditional education is that students have to depend on the rest of the class in terms of the speed at which they progress in their studies. If one student has problems with writing his/her English essays, the teacher either stops to help him/her (thus forcing other students to wait) or proceeds regardless (thus leaving the struggling student behind). Alternatively, a student who already has enough knowledge on the subject to write a full-blown dissertation has to waste time while less proficient writers from the rest of the class try to catch up.
When you purchase an online course, you usually see a “self-faced” label on most of them. You can study the courses of this type at any speed you like: if you need extra time in order to understand the new material better, suit yourself. If you want to go over some parts of it fast because you are already familiar with them, it is your call. If you suddenly have a lot of other responsibilities to deal with and cannot dedicate as much time as usual to your studies, feel free to slow down.
5. It Allows for Better Time Management
Most college-age students have to juggle their studies, family responsibilities, personal affairs, and work. Doing this in a traditional educational environment can be quite complicated because you have to make several independent schedules work alongside each other somehow. Using an online educational service makes managing your time quite a bit easier. You are free to build your own custom schedule that does not have to depend on the days and times of specific classes. Instead, you can proactively work on your education: plan ahead, complete assignments when you have time to work on them, and learn how to use your time in the most effective manner. If you have no time to work on a particular assignment, or if you are not a very good writer, you can always delegate it to an online essay writing service and proceed to deal with the tasks that matter most for your future success.
6. It Forces You to Master New Technical Skills
The value of education primarily depends on how much it improves your chances of getting a high-paying job. In these terms, an online degree has an advantage because the very fact of earning it means that you have certain technical skills and the ability to develop them. If your resume says, “I received my degree online”, for an employer it means that you have basic troubleshooting skills, know how to use common project management and communication tools like Trello, Basecamp, or Slack, and have experience of remote work (an important thing in the pandemic era). Most businesses these days are interested in employees who have these kinds of competencies.
7. It Makes for a Broader Perspective
Compared to traditional colleges and schools, online degrees have a much broader range of participants. You can expect students not just from across the US, but from all over the world to participate in them, which means that class discussions will see a much greater diversity of perspectives, improving your critical thinking and cross-cultural understanding.
Of course, online education has its drawbacks – but all the advantages it brings about make it a clear win for everybody, both students and teachers.