No matter how much I stand up to the online education haters, they still have a lot to say about the “less impressive, less strenuous,” interactive internet platform classes so many students are taking these days. I do admit, it gets a bit frustrating attempting to refute the critics and show them t (full story below)
No matter how much I stand up to the online education haters, they still have a lot to say about the “less impressive, less strenuous,” interactive internet platform classes so many students are taking these days. I do admit, it gets a bit frustrating attempting to refute the critics and show them the error of their ways.
Because of this, I took to the HackCollege blog today to settle the topic once and for all. I’ve outlined the most popular myths of online learning, typically perpetuated by people who have never taken an online class or those who don’t know how the format works.
Classroom Lectures are Better than Online Courses
Call it being old fashioned, but some believe that online coursework is a subpar form of education, and that students should be sitting in large lecture halls, listening to a professor talk at them for several hours for an optimal learning experience. I say “talk” at them because rarely do students get to talk back in such large classes. I don’t doubt that some people find value in the traditional form of education and may even learn best that way. What I don’t agree with, however, is making the argument for a one-size fits all education. Online learning, just like sitting in a classroom, largely depends on the assignments and the effort one exerts in their studies. That’s really all there is to it. A person will take from their studies what they are willing to put into their studies.
Online Learning Is For Lazy Students
People tend to assume, unjustly, that online learning is an easy way out of a much more difficult, conventional college experience. I am highly annoyed by that notion, and am here to firmly state that nothing could be further from the truth. There are deadlines, papers due, projects that must be done, books that must be read, and homework that must be finished.
Procrastination? Well, the punishment for that remains the same as it would be anywhere: a big glaring F. There is no easy route, even when it comes to online or distance education.
Employers Don’t Value Online Learning
Often, employers don’t ask how you got your degree or what your GPA was. When it is a concern, they generally list it in their job postings. However, seeing “online degrees not welcome” listed on job posts has become increasingly rare over the years. Other than the few employers I’ve seen abroad looking for master’s degree or higher level educators, it is unusual for employers to specify that online degrees are not welcome.
Online Learning Is For Cheaters
I’ve never had to turn in a paper online or in person that didn’t require me to first submit said paper to an online plagiarism checker or some other software to verify the credibility of my work. Since the work a person does online still goes directly to the professor of the class, cheating isn’t something I recommend and not something anyone would likely get away with. So, for those of you out there thinking online learning is for cheaters, think again.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article–part fact-based, part personal experience, part rant against the critics of online learning. Hopefully, you learned something. If you did, great! Give us a shout and let us know.
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