Is Online Education Good or Bad - Essay Example

Module Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education Online education, which is also referred to as e-learning or distance learning, allows students to be able to benefit from lessons without having to sit in an actual classroom. While many people are of the view that this learning method assists more students to benefit from a higher education, the fact is that online education offered by universities with no bricks-and-mortar complement has more than just one fault. The whole concept of providing lectures online was probably meant by its creators to function as an educational substitute in cases of students who could not be able to, for one reason or another, reach their classrooms. It is doubtful that online courses were ever meant to take over from traditional classrooms. Main thesis: Online-based universities with no bricks-and-mortar complement offer substandard education because they are mainly concerned with gaining profits instead of providing students with appropriate academic instruction. INTRODUCTION Learning is a basic constituent in a person’s general personal as well as working life. In the past, students would attend ‘bricks and mortar’ classes to attain an education before entering the workforce. While this is still the main trend in the acquisition of education, the latter part of the 20th century has seen more students take advantage of courses that are offered online. There are many universities today that offer lectures online for students who may be unable to attend classes for one reason or another. There are also online based colleges that promise degrees for a much less price than traditional bricks-and-mortar institutions. The online courses offered by bricks-and-mortar institutions are, for the most part, genuine because they identify with the recognized universities that offer them. Moreover, there are the online-based universities that offer all their lectures online. Many of such institutions are not usually accredited. The online environment provides numerous opportunities for people situated in different parts of the world to be able to benefit from various educational courses. Indeed, its original objective was to provide a more cost-effective way for people without the financial resources required by traditional colleges to be able to benefit from a college education. Moreover, there are people who have established universities online that claim to offer courses to all people at cheaper prices than those of bricks-and-mortar universities. For most such institutions, the delivery of high quality education is not an important objective. There are different factors that illustrate concerns about such institutions. Some of these include: The Role of Commercialization in Online Education. Lectures from online-based institutions are not appropriate for students because these institutions are mainly concerned with benefiting from commercialization, and are, thus, quite self-serving (Anderson, 45). Even though it is not a fact that is admitted often by the chief academic officers of online-based universities, most officials of such institutions are mainly concerned with the bottom line. This is because they get rewarded for creating policies that result in higher enrollments, greater retention of registered students, and higher levels of success. According to Noble, “universities are aware that they can get and keep more students by offering online courses which are cheap in comparison to traditional classes”, (Noble, 26). This is why they charge more for the introduction of newer courses which they then add to the curriculum. So far, online education from online-based institutions is the fastest growing industry in the for-profit sector (Donaldson, Agra, Alshammari, Bailey, Bowdoin, Kendle, Nixon, and Wressell, 49). It has also been aggressively promoted by for-profit universities and colleges. It is marketed because it saves costs by delivering lessons to thousands of students simultaneously, thus decreasing instructional costs. According to Heller “online education satisfies its customers by making the entire process of acquiring a higher education convenient and very cost effective” (Heller). For all colleges that are for-profit, their main responsibility lies in making the most of shareholder value. This means that they are forced to value profits over the quality of education being delivered whenever possible. Lower Standards of Education. Online based for-profit colleges also tend to lower their entry points in order to allow as many students as possible to be able to take advantage of their services. As stated by Londrie, this will obviously result in inadequately educated graduates coming from such institutions at the end of the degree programs (Londrie). The reality is that when teachers and educational institutions aim to deliver lessons in the most efficient manner, to all who can afford to pay for them, the quality of education is compromised (Lemann). Online-based institutions also tend to perceive students as customers and not students (Boettcher and Conrad), 152). They provide for what their consumers require rather than establish definite educational standards that the students have to meet before being accepted as part of the student body. This means that the educational standards of these institutions have to be lowered to make sure that every person who can pay for a course gets through the academic program and graduates. The sheer number of online degrees on offer today has caused a ‘degree inflation’ that has had unfavorable results in the job market. The many online graduates also cause the denigration of the more traditional degrees. As more and more people sign up for online courses, traditional degrees in actual classrooms start to be viewed as programmes that bring about unnecessary expenses. Most online based universities with no bricks-and-mortar institutions also appear to be more concerned with getting students to enroll in their schools and apply for financial assistance than in ensuring that students are eligible for the courses being offered. The Rochville University, for instance, was recently revealed as a fake university that has, in the past, taken advantage of many gullible students (Boettcher and Conrad, 46). This particular institution had numerous advertisements posted online along with testimonies from different graduates praising its academic standards. Another reason why online based institutions can contribute to the lowering of the standards of education is because most students are not usually aware of just how much more discipline and hard work is involved in making a success of studying by themselves. They are more likely to shun the added responsibility of studying for more hours by themselves after their daily online lectures. Once a student is enrolled in online-based universities, the next step is to sign in for the classes. According to (Boettcher and Conrad, 63), instructors from online-based institutions, in many cases, are also unable to adequately supervise their students. This is mainly because both the lecturers and students may not be adequately prepared to face the issues that come with online education. For instance, online lecturers are usually not ready to deal with the exaggerated expectations that most online students have of their teachers. Most students feel that online education is easier to participate in than conventional classes. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Students of online colleges tend to expect their lecturers to be more tolerant of their mistakes, and also feel entitled to getting good grades. They also tend to imagine that they will be able to understand whatever they are studying without putting more effort in their studies than they would in a normal class. Even though it is an established fact that the popularity of online courses is spreading, studies conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics have proved that online student retention remains at 50%, while that of traditional bricks-and-mortar institutions stands at 75% (Donaldson, Agra, Alshammari, Bailey, Daniel, Kendle, Nixon and Wressell, 93). The fact is that online education is more suited for mature adults who understand the importance of completely restructuring their lives in order to have enough time for studying seriously on their own. Online courses necessitate a remarkable self-discipline, technical competence, and academic ability. The more mature students also understand that online lectures inevitably burden the student with many more responsibilities than is the case in conventional classes. Young adults or teenagers are usually blissfully unaware of such realities when they choose to sign on for online courses. They actually expect to be able to score higher grades while allocating lesser time for their studies. Online lecturers may not be able to accommodate their numerous faults or be able to correct them individually, particularly through an online forum, as online education has stipulations that call for time management. Unlike what happens in conventional classrooms, lecturers have to stick to the given timetable; and expect their students to be fully attentive during class as they do not have the option of repeating lectures that were not well understood. They also cannot postpone examinations to accommodate unprepared students. Some Advantages of Bricks-and Mortar Institutions with Online Courses. Even though online based institutions can be perceived as being inadequate, the traditional universities that offer online courses are quite helpful. They can support students in the development of critical thinking skills and abilities. In principle, online education is a praiseworthy endeavor since it tries to make college education available to all who seek it. Indeed, subjects like those which are information driven are more suited to online instruction than those in which a teacher or lecturer has to practically demonstrate steps, as is the case with Drama classes (Mendenhall, 2). Online lecturers aim to present intellectually stimulating discussions that are interspersed with quality learning experiences that take into account team as well as individual learning activities. Instructors have to promote online settings that support critical inquiries and the diversity of thought. A study conducted by Wickersham and Dooley established that online students tend to exhibit more critical thinking skills than students in traditional bricks-and-mortar institutions (Wickersham and Dooley, 187). Student discussions in some online educational forums are monitored to make sure that students feel free to share openly with others in different geographical locations. According to Kassop, “Students make use of written suggestions to share conceptual information with their lecturers and colleagues. This process does support the development of metacognitive and cognitive abilities due to having the chance to reflect before reacting to any comments and suggestions. In general, online discussions conducted through written messages can allow a more thorough intellectual inquiry than is possible with face-to-face dialogue which necessitates an immediate response” (Kassop 2). Moreover, this does not really provide a valid reason for the online courses being better than traditional classes as there are obvious factors that exist in online lectures and not in traditional classrooms, and that benefit students. For instance, online discussion forums can equip students with better critical thinking skills than are found among traditional classrooms because of a number of reasons. First, online discussions remove the barrier of nervousness that plagues many students in face to face contexts, and allows them to express themselves without the fear of seeing unfavorable reactions from others. Also, online education allows students more time to think about their responses to different issues and how they wish to express these points. The Glut in the Educational System. It is not the ultimate dream of every person to attend a college or university. Some individuals are unable to bloom in traditionally academic environments, and instead thrive in more ‘hands-on’ situations. Many people have skills and abilities that lie in the vocational realm, which according to ‘Professor X’, “is a much feared and often unexpressed reality in American society” (Professor ‘X’, 7). Moreover, online education from online-based institutions seeks to corroborate that acquiring a college degree is what makes a person become creative, innovative, and of use to society. The truth is that being creative or innovative comes from a person’s individual ideas as well as interactions with his or her settings. The existence of online-based institutions exerts more pressure on people who are not interested in getting a college education to do so. Today’s society has been influenced to believe that a college education makes the difference between living in poverty and living in prosperity. Indeed, propagandists like ‘The Lumina Foundation for Education’s Jamie Merisotis, have often stressed that ‘knowledge’ is power; meaning that those who do not have it are powerless to attain success (Donaldson, Agra, Alshammari, Bailey, Bowdoin, Kendle, Nixon, and Wressell, 48). This has resulted in the increase of student enrollment in low-quality online colleges, even as others are founded to cope with the demand. This trend has also resulted in a glut of students who have graduated from online-based colleges and universities. Even though the need for skilled employees has risen in the past few years, the supply of new graduates has risen even faster (Donaldson, Agra, Alshammari, Bailey, Bowdoin, Kendle, Nixon, and Wressell, 52). To make matters worse, the newly graduated students are usually not ready for practical responsibilities as most of them were students of mediocre online colleges that had no way of practically teaching them about the requirements of the jobs they would find upon graduating. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently revealed that more than half of the millions of jobs created in the last decade do not require a college degree (Wickersham and Dooley, 190). In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has affirmed that approximately 80,000 bartenders, 320,000 waiters, and 18,000 parking lot attendants have college degrees (Wickersham and Dooley, 191). Such students may have ignored their preferred vocations to study subjects that did not guarantee better jobs in the first place. Having lacked opportunities, these victims of a hyped but impractical American dream return to their previous vocations, or their parents' shops or factories after graduating. They also end up taking up jobs that could be done by any person, such as those that entail serving at fast food restaurants. Online education causes a glut in the job market. Employers who are constantly presented with bachelor’s degrees will start to overlook non-graduates even for positions that require semi-skilled labor. For instance, if a financial establishment has to pick between a non-graduate and a graduate as a teller, it is more likely to settle on the graduate. Since the salary will remain the same, both the graduate and the non-graduate will suffer from this choice. The non-graduate will have to keep searching for a job, and the graduate will have to struggle to sustain himself on a low salary while also paying off his student loans. Even when students who are dispassionate about attending college gain admission into online colleges, many times they gain no benefits. Courses from online-based institutions are more likely to prompt adolescent behavior in disinterested parties. The reality that the advocates of online education pay no heed to is that it is easier for a student to pay no attention to views that might be contrary to his or her own while hiding behind a computer screen. Such a student will chat with friends, check e-mail, or view music videos and other web sites instead of concentrating on the work. According to a survey conducted by the National School Boards Association, 60% of students who use social sites for networking purposes also discuss educative topics in them (Noble). This, though, is hardly a reassuring revelation for most lecturers. It is an established fact that the biggest distraction that online students face is the internet’s capacity to provide immediate access to thousands of engaging and often addictive websites. According to (Donaldson, Agra, Alshammari, Bailey, Bowdoin, Kendle, Nixon, and Wressell, 37), for most students, the desire to escape to social media sites like ‘Twitter’ or ‘Face book’, where the online student can learn about subjects that are much more engrossing and compelling than ancient history. Moreover, any time that is spent on entertaining social sites tends to slip away without the learner even noticing it. CONCLUSION Apart from the problems that come with the commercialization of online education, most traditional learning institutions, or even employers, will not even recognize credits or degrees from online-based universities. A research study, Hiring Practices and Attitudes: Traditional vs. Online Degree Credentials, was conducted in 2010. Its findings were that while 91 percent of the polled employers said they would hire online graduates with online degrees from recognized bricks-and-mortar university institutions, a mere 42 percent of employers said they would hire students with online degrees from online-based universities. In addition, many online-based institutions are not accredited. If a student receives a degree from an institution that is not accredited, it stands to reason that the student will remain unemployed. This means that, for the most part, many online courses from online-based institutions are basically worthless, and are making a lot of profit from unsuspecting students. Students ought to be allowed to specialize in the areas that they feel comfortable with. It is also important for students as well as parents to be informed of the importance of consulting sites such as that of the Department of Education in order to verify the colleges and universities that are accredited before making a choice about which institution to enroll in. The subsidization of vocational schools would also go a long way in encouraging students who are vocationally inclined to pursue their real interests. Works Cited Anderson, Terry. The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Auckland: Athabasca University Press, 2008. Print. Boettcher, Judith, and Rita-Marie Conrad. The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Donaldson, Jonan, Eliane Agra, Mohammed Alshammari, Andrew Bailey, Daniel Bowdoin, Megan Kendle, Lauren Nixon, and Lisa Wressell. Massively Open: How Massive Open Online Courses Changed the World. New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. Heller, Donald. “American universities represent declining value for money to their students.” The Economist, 2012. Web. 17 Jun. 2013. . Kassop, Mark. “Ten Ways Online Education matches, or Surpasses, Face-to Face Learning.” The Technology Source Archives at the University of North Carolina. May/June 2003. Lemann, Nicholas. “The Cost of College.” The New Yorker 2012. Web. 20 Jun. 2013. . Londrie, Keith. Disadvantages of Online Education. 2013. Web. 18 Jun. 2013. . Medenhall, Robert. “How Technology can Improve Online Learning- and Learning in General.” Online Learning - The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2011. Noble, David. Digital Diploma Mills. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2003. Professor ‘X’. “In the Basement of the Ivory Tower.” The Atlantic. 2008. Wickersham, Leah, and Kim Dooley. “A content analysis of critical thinking skills as an indicator of quality of online discussion in virtual learning communities.” The Quarterly Review of Distance Education 7.2 (2006): 185-193. Read More