Traditional vs. Online Education - Report Example

Traditional vs. online education Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Education is an important aspect in the development of many economies. There have been changing perspectives in the education sector. Traditional education has changed is gradually getting phased out of the education sector. This is because there is changing societal demands leading to changes in the way people live (Beck 2009). Another factor which has led to increased changes in the education sector is due to increased levels of technology. Students can now learn online and they don’t have to visit physical classrooms to access education. In this regard therefore, this research paper will focus on the main aspects in the traditional education and the main aspects in online education. The report will further provide the pros and cons of both traditional and online education. Effectiveness of traditional and online education Like said above, traditional education is where the students have to attend the physical classes to acquire education. In this traditional education, the learners acquire education through physical education. There is face to face contact between the students and the teachers. The learning has to take place in a physical environment (Beck 2009). The learners attend lectures and they take notes for the lecture. This technique of learning is mostly applied where the students have plenty of time to attend lectures. It was applied in the early years when it was a must that a student had to attend classes for lectures. Traditional education was most effective in the early times when the level of technology was low. The students had to travel long distances to acquire education since there was no means of accessing the education online (Beck 2009). Even in the current society, there are societies where the level of education is still underdeveloped. This implies that the students have to attend physical classes to acquire education. It is therefore applied in developing countries which have not effectively developed in terms of education. In addition, another effective situation in which the traditional education is still appropriate is where the students want to learn traditional aspects which cannot be provided online education (Beck 2009). For instance, art education can only be learnt through physical contact between the student and the teacher. This implies that traditional education has to be effective. There are various methods in which traditional education was implemented. The first method is through lectures and direct instructions. This is where the students attend classrooms to acquire education. There is physical contact between the students and their lecturer (Beck 2009). Another method of traditional learning is listening and observation. This is where the learners listen to stories and myths and observe how things are done. The learners are encouraged to observe how things are done and from this situation they can learn. Online education on the other hand is where the students can access education online without attending physical classes. The students can access the educational materials online without visiting the physical facilities for learning like libraries and classrooms (Dutton 2002). Due to increased technology levels, students can now access the education materials online hence they don’t have to attend lectures to learn. Globalization has also led to increased interaction among students who come from different places in the world. Through online learning in higher education, students can enroll in overseas Universities and learn while at home country (Dutton 2002). This is because the students and the lecturers can interact online. In addition, increased societal demands the students can now work and at the same time advance the skills. Students are able to access education through online hence it is most effective where technology is high and there is high demand for working employees to increase their skills. Differences between traditional education and online education The first difference is the context of learning. There is a difference between the classroom education and online learning. In traditional education, the students are expected to converge in physical classrooms to acquire education (Tanabe 2004). In the online education, the students learn and access education without going to physical classes to attend the lectures. They can learn through online suing the internet through computers. The lecturer and the student don’t meet physically in any given place but they interact through the internet hence there is no physical classroom. Another difference between traditional and online education is independence vs. collaboration. In the traditional education, the learners interact collaboratively since they attend physical classes. During the lecturers, the students are able to interact. This is because traditional education is conducted by face to face communication (Tanabe 2004). During learning the students can be able to form groups which they use in discussing the assignments and this improves the collaborative approach. On the other hand, online education practices independent approach. The students are not able to collaborate with others since he or she learns from anywhere. There is no physical environment where the students can meet to learn hence each student is independent. The similarities between traditional and online education is that they both involve both the students and the learners. There must be a student and the lecturer for education to take place. It doesn’t matter where the learning takes place but there has to be a teacher and the student (Dutton 2002). Another similarity is that they help to shape up the character of the student. In this effect, they both contribute to the development of the student and equip the student with relevant skills. Pros and cons of traditional and online education The first advantage of traditional education is that the learners are provided with the opportunity to interact and in the process they will learn to improve their socialization skills. This is because the learners gather in a physical place where they can meet new students who come from different places and interact (Tanabe 2004). In this regard, the students are able to learn how other people live in the world and learn to appreciate other people’s culture. Traditional education enables the student to learn traditional methods of teaching as well as acquiring skills in traditional education. This is because traditional education helps the students to learn subjects which cannot be offered online like art crafts. In this effect, the student will be able to uphold the traditional learning system (Tanabe 2004). In addition, traditional education enables the students to acquire more skills. This is because through traditional education, there are extra lessons which are offered and which cannot be offered online. For instance, there are various clubs in the school like drama club and debate team (Tanabe 2004). These clubs help to improve the experience of the student in terms of communication skills and building personality. On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of traditional education. In the first place, there is less focus. This is because there are many activities which take place in traditional education. These activities can be opportunities but can also lower the focus of the student (Tanabe 2004). It may be hard for the student to focus on what he or she wants to achieve due to availability of many activities in the school. Another disadvantage is that there is less freedom for the students. This implies that the student has to attend classes for some hours daily. This limits the student from attending other issues like working to earn some cash. The advantages of online education include reduced tuition. The fee which is paid by a student who learns online is relatively less as compared to traditional education (Hughes 2004). In this effect, the learners who come from low income families can be able to acquire the education since they can afford online education. It also provides the student with an opportunity to personalize his or her education. The students will be able to learn new ways like accessing web education materials and interacting with the lecturers online. Therefore the student will able to develop a learning schedule which suits his or her needs (Hughes 2004). It is also flexible to learn online. This is because the students can access the leaning materials online and can make arrangements with the lecturer on coursework. It is easy for the student to change the learning mode the materials are made available online hence can be accessed any convenient time. The disadvantage of online education is that online education is associated with reduced funding of the programme (Hughes 2004). The programmes which are used to offer online education are very expensive and if there is no enough funding, it will be hard to offer online education hence the education may be interrupted. Another disadvantage is that online education is associated with low quality of education. This is because the students are not attended like in traditional where the lessons which require practical experience are not implemented effectively (Hughes 2004). For instance tailoring lessons are not effective through online learning hence it may lead to low quality education provided. Conclusion Education in the modern society has been fundamental to every individual. There are dynamics in education and the traditional way of learning has been transformed. Students nowadays can learn online without attending physical classes. The advantages of traditional education include students can learn practical work and improve their experience as well as increasing their socialization skills. The drawbacks are; the student is limited in focus and there is lack of focus by the student. The advantages of online education include it is less expensive and helps the students to personalize their education. The disadvantage is that it may lead to low quality education and students do not acquire practical skills like tailoring. References Beck, R. H. (2009). The Three R's Plus: What Today's Schools are Trying to Do and Why. U of Minnesota Press. Dutton, J., Dutton, M & Perry, J. (2002). How do online students differ from lecture students? Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 21-40. Hughes, J. A. (2004). Supporting the online learner. Center for Distance Education. Athabascau's Open University. Canada. Tanabe, G. S. (2004). Going back to School . New York: Super College LLC, 2004. Read More