For a long time, people have thought of learning to take place only in classrooms. Only 50 years ago, it was impossible to imagine today's high technological advancements both in computers and online, so distance learning based on the Internet seemed quite strange and away from real life. However, with the rapid development of technology, especially computer and fast on-line infrastructure, distance learning is getting more popular than before, and it is taking the place of traditional classrooms. Many eudcators and experts start to conceive of the advantages of distance learning such as cost effectiveness and time efficiency, and various functions of distance leaning, if several conditions are met such as well developed online infrastructure and advanced computer hardware and software.
Most often students choose to take online courses because they are very effective in terms of both time and money. Students do not need to go to school to attend 1 hour long class. In my experience, whenever I went to my university to take 1 hour classes, which necessitated at least 2 hour' commuting time, I felt that it was a kind of waste of time and money. However, in the online courses, we can save commuting cost and save time. In addition, it is possible to doing several jobs at the same time when the lecture or courses are not essential for me. Sometimes, I do several jobs in my computer when I take the online courses that I already knew the whole process, but I have never experienced that doing the multiple jobs are distracting myself. Rather, it was helpful for me to organize my works, and I could save a lot of time and money.
Besides the effectiveness of money and time, now it is possible to choose one particular course before taking it with the help of sample video clip. You may have experienced that some professors or courses were quite different from my initial expectations or predictions. If that's is the case, you have to spend the extra time and money to change the course. However, in distance learning, almost all courses display sample lectures to help students learn how the lectures are organized and what the lecturers are focusing on. Moreover, due to the rapid development of computer hardware and software as well as rapid data tranfer speed in online cable, we can enjoy vivid lectures as if we were in the typical classrooms. When something is wrong with the lectures or when you have a question, you can ask the questions in real time or post them on the website that is updated in real time. Lastly, because of expansion of online education, there are a hundred of thousand of online courses available, ranging from a small driving school to linguistics to Aristotle philosophy. Consequently, the fact that matters is not which educational method or means is good or bad, but how effectively we can use the distance learning because it is inevitable social requirements.
Although some may argue that neverthless, the traditional classroom settings have advantages over the distance learning such as instant reply from teachers and better atmosphere for studying, we are living in the 21st century that requires us to keep up with the fast changing social environment and there is no exception. Therefore, it is rather absurd that some only stick to the traditional classroom settings even though there are many alternatives available on hand. |