Some universities offer online courses as an alternative to classes delivered

on campus. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

In this day and age, online courses are being provided by many universities as another choice
to their students to acquire knowledge. Therefore, I will discuss this trend’s pros and cons and
subsequently conclude with my perspective.
On the one hand, we could not deny some visible advantages that online courses bring to
universities together with their students. Firstly, it is convenient for students who live far
away from schools to attend classes, which will not only be a time-saving learning model but
also allow students to be flexible in their schedules. In this Covid-19 period, for instance,
many online learning platforms are encouraged in America to limit the interaction from
students and teachers to fight against that contagious disease. Secondly, learning through
websites instead of directly participating in class could somewhat save an amount of
expenditure for studying. For example, many English centers reduce the tuition fee for online
courses by 50% in comparison with the costs of the face-to-face ones.
On the other hand, we also should not overlook this trend’s disadvantages in the quality of
teaching. When students join a virtual classroom, it could be difficult for them to discuss with
each other and therefore, lack interaction between friends. However, peer support which is
not easily attained while studying online plays an indispensable role in anybody’s learning
experiences. Apart from that, students will encounter difficulties in concentrating on the
lessons due to the existence of many distractions from the Internet; therefore it such
distracting sites could badly influence on their studying outcomes.
In conclusion, I believe that this is a positive development owing to two aforementioned
benefits that online courses could bring to learners and also teachers.
Nowadays, some employers think that formal academic qualifications are
more important life experience or personal qualities when they look for
new employees. Why is it the case? Is it a positive or negative development?
In this knowledge-based society, when it comes to recruitment, many employers prefer
formal qualifications to hands-on experience and the employee’s character. There are two
main reasons behind this phenomenon; from my perspective, this is a negative development.
From my perspective, I believe two reasons lie behind this phenomenon and
view/regard/consider such qualification preference as a negative development.
Formal qualifications are essential to some employers these days when they consider an
applicant due to two primary reasons. Firstly, having academic certificates and degrees shows
that candidate has acquired necessary theoretical knowledge and been through vocational
training. In that case, that applicant will become more reliable to some recruiters when they
have important tasks to assign. Furthermore, void of academic training, some employees
would face difficulties in completing their missions, which might consume more time than
the ones equipped with skills learned from schools and universities.
Although we could not/it could not be denied deny the importance of formal qualifications, I
believe that this is a negative trend owing to several reasons. If the employers focus on
formal qualifications, it would probably narrow the job opportunities to some people who can
not afford to complete their studying journeys. It would be a loss for many companies that
people who have more life experience might be more resourceful than the others based on
what they have achieved from real life. Moreover, this trend can somewhat make the
applicants only focus on beautifying their academic profiles and overlook their bad
personalities, which hinders them from effectively co-operating with their colleagues.
In conclusion, the significance of formal qualifications could override the hands-on
experience and personal qualities to many employers due to the aforementioned rationale;
however, from my view, it is a negative trend.
Prefer (v): like
Preference (n): liking
Refer (v): mention
Many people say that universities should only offer places to young
students with the highest marks, while others say they should accept people
of all ages, even if they did not do well school. Discuss both views and give
your own opinion.
While it is believed that only young students with the highest scores should be accepted to
universities, the other claim that people of all ages and marks could also have a chance to
approach tertiary education. This is one of the typical dilemmas facing many universities
nowadays; therefore, I will discuss both views and conclude with my standpoint.
On the one hand, there are two main reasons behind the opinion that universities should only
offer courses to young students with an excellent transcript. Primarily, when it comes to the
youth, many schools would think that they are not only energetic but also potential and easy
to train. Moreover, achieving the highest marks can somewhat imply that they are painstaking
and responsible for every task assigned at their former schools. In that case, these students
could deal with the immense workload at universities, which enhances the quality of
undergraduates.
On the other hand, the view that people of all ages should be approved to study at universities
regardless of their previous marks could be reasonable in some aspects. Firstly, permitting
every age of students to follow university education would create diversity in the learning
environment. In other words, young students can learn hands-on experience from their adult
classmates and older students will have chances to open their minds and fathom the younger
generations. Secondly, high marks are no longer needed while people can be the sparkling
star by their talents. Many Australian colleges, for instance, require foreign students to
express their skills apart from studying and solving exercises to get a 50% scholarship or
more.
In conclusion, I concur with the second opinion because it could probably provide students
with a diverse environment and encourage learners to be confident and proud of their talents.