Thursday, December 6, 2012

Is traditional schooling or online better?


In the day and age of electronics and our fast paced world, you would think that online schooling would be the choice of school for most people.  First of all, who has the time to actually drive to the school and sit in a class for 2 hours then drive home?  We have spinning class, grocery shopping, work, yoga, errands, and work again… all in the same day.  Physically going to school sounds too exhausting.  

                I know many people feel that online schooling is “a piece of cake” and that there is little work to be done, but it is my experience it is just the opposite.  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the amount of work I need to get done in such a short period of time.  There are participation deadlines to meet and an assignment every week.  Emailing the teacher with questions and then waiting for a response can get frustrating.  While most instructors are very good about responding quickly, it’s not the same because I wanted to finish the assignment now, but I can’t until I get my question answered.  

                Traditional schooling can be just as frustrating with deadlines and assignments due, however the teacher is there face to face.  Students interact with each other face to face and get the experience of “human contact” and learn to enhance social skills.  

                The question of which is better is hard to answer.  Each person has different needs and different circumstances.  A young freshly graduated high school student may benefit more from traditional schooling.  Since many “beginners” are really just getting out of their shell and out into the real world, they need to learn social skills for the career they are intending on pursuing.  Traditional school gives a person opportunity to enhance social skills and to also learn coping skills.  

                Online schooling offers convenience to a busy person.  Many people cannot afford to quit their employment to continue an education.  Many online students also have families at home that they are taking care of and going to traditional school (along with work, etc) would take away much needed time that needs to be spent elsewhere.  Since online schooling can be done in the comfort of your own home, a person may not feel like they are gone from home all the time.  

                Both traditional schooling and online schooling each have their own kinds of benefits which need to be weighed out and researched when a person is looking into going to school for the first time, or continuing an education that was started years ago.  

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