What are the differences between online education and traditional education?

Today, the outbreak of Coronavirus infection led to the change from traditional
to online education. The online education is becoming a vital part of the
education, almost all Universities and school offer distance education, or online
courses. Online education can reach a broader student audience address the
need of learners in better ways and save money. While in traditional education
allows students to interact each other in and outside of school. Since both types
of education are , the purpose of this essay is to compare the differences and
advantages of the need for online education. The difference between traditional
and online education is especially noticeable in three dimensions: access to
learning, classroom space, and the possibility of implementing innovative
teaching practices.

One of the characteristics of online education is flexibility; ability to take classes

in any place with an internet connection at any time of the day or night. Being
able to study when and where you like affords the students from all walks of life
with availability of obtaining a degree. For example, full time works who can not
rearrange their schedule to make traditional class times or a young mother who
is unable to attend traditional courses due to a lack of a babysitter. On the
contrary of traditional classes are inflexible and much more teacher centered
classroom. The advantage of traditional courses consists in offering students
direct contact with teachers. Face to face communication allows students to ask
questions concerning their classes and immediately answers.
As result,

In contrast

On the other hand, the advantage of traditional courses consists in offering

student direct contact with teachers. Face to face communication allows
students to ask questions concerning their classes and immediately get the
answers they seek. Students are also able to meet with their classmates,
developing friendships and fostering teamwork. The proponents of the
traditional classroom model believe that the face-to-face contact allows students
to enjoy the ability to learn with others and to know their instructors (McDonald,
2002). Indeed, learning in front of the PC may not be compared to the charm of
going to lectures, living in the campus and visiting student parties, however, all
of this has little to do with academic performance. The proponents of online
learning argue that the latter offers students more time for digesting the
information they receive and responding. They also claim that, while attending
distance courses, students are able to better develop the skills needed in
conducting open discussions, where each of the students receives more of an
equal standing in comparison with a face-to-face discussion. This happens due
to the fact that online students can make their responses around the clock with
no restrictions, which enhances motivation and involvement on the learner's
part.
Also, online classes provide an easy access to peers all over the world, which
facilitates the establishment of a scholar networking for the intellectual
exchange and collaboration purposes (McDonald, 2002). This has a profound
impact on the professional life of the faculty, since it is no longer limited to
geographical limits, when choosing collaborators.
The second significant difference between online and onsite education is
classroom space. The very concept of the online learning has facilitated the
invention of another, more suitable term learning space. Online learning has
been revolutionary in the world of education, creating an opportunity for
collaboration, discussion and building a community among its participants,
without being bound to the limits of a physical classroom. Usually faculty is free
to choose between several online applications to encourage interaction through
synchronous or asynchronous methods. Such methods work to extend class
discussions, offering students the ability to delve deeper into a specific topic,
affording students the opportunity to discuss a reading or build off of a lecture.
This type of collaboration between students in the same class, students who
may reside in different states or even in different countries the whole world over
is possible only through the use of the virtual classroom (Barab, Thomas &
Merrill, 2001).
The third significant difference between the two reviewed educational
methodologies is the application of the new online teaching practices
considered to be unusual for traditional education. Online learning strategies
are known to involve innovational pedagogical technologies that greatly
facilitate the process of Learning. Such practices, as asynchronous and
synchronous class discussions; constant commenting and answering questions
of the classmates; application and document sharing were never or rarely used
in the on-site courses before. In a traditional class, document sharing involved
printing numerous copies of documents, thus involving additional costs.
Collaboration and discussion in a group were limited by classroom space,
restricted to a standard lesson time and to the opportunity of being heard and
seen in the classroom (McDonald, 2002). Acquisition of these practices by the
online education programs has turned them into an efficient and fascinating way
of learning.
It is possible to see that there are different benefits to both the traditional
education and the online education offered to students in this day and age.
There are some individuals who are unable to work without direct classroom
instruction; they are auditory learners, not visual ones, and for them the
traditional classroom will be the place in which they are able to shine. Other
students are visual learners, finding the traditional classroom tedious and
boring, with the auditory lectures a waste of time as they have already read all
of the material covered in the lecture. These visual Learners excel when placed
in an online classroom, as they are able to work at their own pace as opposed
to the pace of the teacher or professor. While it cannot be stated that one
method is better or worse than the other, it can be stated that one method
will.be better for some students than it will be for others, allowing college
students to get the most out of their college experience and providing them with
the availability to do it their own way.
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