Ask a roomful of average college students about their experiences in today's university structure and you'll likely hear a barrage of complaints ? tuition costs are too high, the application process is too difficult, class lengths are too long and books are too expensive. Staff cutbacks, a lack of teacher aid, housing difficulties and transit distractions make obtaining a degree within traditional means difficult.
One of the biggest barriers to attending traditional brick-and-mortar institutions is the inability to set a class schedule that meets the demands of a student's work and family life. Compare this to the ease of creating a schedule that allows time for work and raising children that online colleges permit, and it's no surprise that traditional higher learning is seen as exclusive.
Traditional College ? Pros
- The physical, face-to-face interaction with peers and faculty provides a rich, ?real life? experience and aids in the development of social skills and future business connections
- Accreditation in one's chosen field is widely regulated, and a diploma or certification will hold weight outside of the classroom
Traditional College - Cons
- Rising tuition costs prevent many from attending their first-choice school
- Tuition loans create an enormous stress on students and the economy
- The slow pace of the traditional education system is often at odds with cultural changes
Online College ? Pros
- It's generally easier to enroll in an online degree program
- Greater ability to choose courses that fit into a student?s existing ?real life? schedule
- A wider variety of all-level courses is available
- Web-enabled resources provide a multimedia experience for the student
Online College ? Cons
- Less physical connection to peers and educators may lead to a decrease in valuable ?life? skills when entering the workforce
- Fewer jobs available for educators due to automation in course delivery and distribution
- Software technology still needs improvement
Online Learning and Accreditation
There is one large pitfall to online learning ? many courses offer no accreditation and do not count toward a degree. Many schools offer certificates of course completion but nothing more.The good news is that colleges and universities are trying to remedy this by offering online students the necessary accreditation for their work. The New York Times reported that students taking online courses through Coursera, a startup providing online courses, will now receive college accreditation for five of its online college offerings by the American Council on Education, the leading umbrella group for higher education.
Other online education offerings are similarly gearing up their courses to enable students to receive accreditation as well; the online educational group Udacity has paired up with the state of California to begin offering a trial run of for-credit online courses and may expand it, depending on performance.
Is This the End of Brick-and-Mortar College?
In California, online education is rapidly moving forward, and with it may come some massive changes in the way higher education is bought and consumed. Gregory Ferenstein of TechCrunch.com believes these new trials of online colleges in California will help hasten the end of traditional college.The end result, writes Ferenstein, is that "a few Ivy League universities (will) begin to control most of the online content, as universities all over the world converge toward the classes that produce the highest success rates. (In addition), learning on a college campus (will) return to its elite roots, where a much smaller percentage of students are personally mentored by research and expert faculty."
Online education has enabled access to a college education to those who may not have sought it otherwise. As this ever-shifting Internet education model grows, the traditional model in which students obtain their degree may fall by the wayside. How colleges and universities respond to this trend remains to be seen.
Author Bio:?
Murray Lunn is a freelance writer specialized in content marketing for online businesses; his work includes business blogging, product development, and brand development.
Source: http://www.e-junkie.info/2013/02/premium-online-learning-vs-traditional.html
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