Online Education

  
Is online education an advancement in technology that will bring opportunities for students or is it just a substitute for traditional teaching methods? Having the opportunity to be in a time period where the internet is so easily accessible, it makes sense that teaching methods are advancing with technology. Technology is not going anywhere but forward and it is necessary to use this tool to one’s advantage and continue to move forward with it. Online education is becoming popular and Study Driver should allow its students the option of taking online courses. Online education allows students to experience a new way of learning. 
Online Courses
No more sitting in a classroom full of people that one barely speaks a word to, now students are given the opportunity to sit at the comfort of wherever they like and really focus on what they are being taught. Focusing on the information that is being presented can be really difficult because students are tired from all the studying they did the night before or a fellow students phone next to them keeps buzzing and ones train of thought is lost. Taking online courses can be a more positive alternative because students are allowed to choose the right environment for them to learn and focus. Not only does online learning allow students to choose the right environment to learn in, it also gives them the freedom of deciding what time they want to take their course. 
Online learning provides students the opportunity to a flexible schedule. With online courses students can work and still manage to get through college because they have control of their schedule. A study conducted by bestcolleges.com surveyed 295 online program administrators and 1,500 students stated that 73% of students enrolled in online courses had enrolled in regards to their job and employment reasonings. Not only does online learning allow students to maintain a full time job they can also take a class in the comfort of being in ones pajamas. Online courses provide students with access to quizzes and tests, submission and analysis.
Traditional Classrooms 
Feedback is returned to the student which will help the student improve and will be provided tips that will better prepare the student for the next time around. Having the advantage of giving feedback electronically allows the professor to grade in a quicker manner and help students in the exact areas that are troubling the students. Although feedback is provided in both traditional and online courses, online courses have the advantage because the feedback can reach the student quicker. Being in a traditional classroom does not teach students the responsibility and the importance of learning because it is just a cycle to them; go to class, sit in class, and leave class. Many students in traditional classrooms believe that their only responsibility is attending class and write down “important” points the professor stresses to study. Students that take traditional classes depend on the professor to tell them what to do and what to study. Taking an online course requires one to be more self-disciplined and responsible. 
Self-motivation
Studying online requires self-motivation and time management skills because students no longer have a professor or someone who is physically there telling them to focus on deadlines. Online learning allows students to become more independent and self-disciplined it prepares them for the real world and having those qualities will distinguish them from others in a workplace. Not only do online courses prepare students with qualities that they would not learn in a traditional classroom, they are also cheaper. Students pay a tuition fee, an online application fee, possibly book supplies, and few other little things they may need but they save so much money. 
Students save themselves the expense of gas, a parking permit, on campus housing (which ranges from $8,000- $10,000), so much money is being saved. Many students dread taking out student loans and online courses now can help avoid taking out such large loans or any loans at all. Students are given a variety of different courses they can take by enrolling into online classes. Enrolling in online classes allows students to focus on the subject they want to pursue as a career. So many students are limited to what college to attend because their major is not offered or its too far away from home. Not only do online courses provide the advantage of a variety of different courses they also allow one to get through the courses quicker than a traditional class at a college. Students are not the only ones receiving benefits from online education, the professors are as well. Professors can provide an individual pace for their students. 
As a professor, one can upload a video of the lecture or a presentation that students can refer to when they have questions. In a traditional classroom professor make it noticeably clear that they will explain the material once and if the students learn it then they learn it if they do not then they are at a disadvantage. In traditional classrooms students go to the extreme of recording the lecture just so they can refer to it, with online classes that is no longer necessary. For professor’s online education brings a reduction of workload. Professors have the advantage to focus more on the students instead of focusing on grading every assignment they have assigned through the semester. Professors have more time to put together a lecture that will have all the information necessary to pass an exam. It also makes it easier to put together an exam and grade an exam. 
Conclusion
Online education allows teachers and students to keep track of assignments and the time of their submission which avoids the dreaded conversation that one turned in the assignment on time but the teacher never received it. Online education provides practical benefits for professors and students. Individuals that are set on taking traditional classes or professors that teach traditional classes say that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages of online courses for multiple reasons. These reasons begin with online classes being more work, or the requirement of self-discipline, and continue with claims about little to no face-to- face interactions in online courses. Online courses require more reading and assignments than traditional classes because students are depending on themselves to learn the material which does lead to “more work”. Students are not necessarily teaching it to themselves but in order to grasp onto it and learn it one needs to do deeper readings and assignments that require more thought process.