Online Vs. Traditional Education

Online Vs. Traditional Education

Steven L. McClain

COM/155

January 26, 2012

Christopher Miller

Online Vs. Traditional Education

Online education may well be the end to the traditional brick and mortar education. With the technological advances of the Internet and the lack of capacity of traditional colleges to meet the demand for higher education, online education is becoming increasingly popular. While generally providing no individual attention, online schooling is more convenient than traditional schooling because of student time constraints and a more accommodating learning environment.

Student convenience and accessibility play an important part in choosing an online education. Having the ability to stay-at-home contributes considerably to savings in both time and money. Not having to drive your car or take public transportation, use gas, put up with traffic, and poor weather conditions all contribute to the appeal of online education. As a traditional student, you can spend a significant amount of time and money getting to and from campus. With the ever rising costs of transportation, maintenance, and traffic difficulties, depending on your location, this can be considerable. As an online student, the ability to stay home means significant savings in housing expenses. According to the “University of Washington” (n.d.) website, the costs of living on campus are $9,771.00 a year, when compared with a student staying at home with parents, costs only $3,318.00. Accessibility issues are also a problem that today’s students face. Traditional colleges are confronting a challenge of trying to supply education to an overwhelming demand for higher learning, which they cannot provide. Online colleges provide an alternative, which is not restricted to campus or classroom size and is immediately accessible, with the widespread growth of the Internet. Hence, online students benefit from substantial savings of time and money because of transportation and the ability to attend a college not limited by campus size.

Flexibility is a major contributing factor to the popularity of online education. Online students have the unique opportunity to have access to their learning environment 24 hours a day. Having this flexible class schedule allows students to finish their courses in a timelier manner and reduce stress, which can be reflected in their schoolwork performance. Also, in the online environment, students generally are able to work ahead and complete assignments that a traditional student may not have an opportunity to do so. Traditional students have to follow the college campus schedule and may not be able to take a required class because