Traditonal Education vs. Online Education

Distance Education vs. Traditional Education Now days, with technology generously available, schools are opting to implement online classes into their traditional teaching curriculum. As a result of this our society is divided in two different ways of thinking on the education. Some believe the modern method is better than the traditional method of teaching but yet these two methods are both successful. Personally, I believe both methods should balance one another instead of attempting to substitute one another; this way their purpose of educating will be far more successful. Online education, also called long distant learning, can be defined as a new method of learning through a computer network. This modern way of teaching gives students an opportunity to take classes online. Bill Gates recently predicted that in five years most colleges will be providing online education. “The self-motivated learner will be on the Web,” Mr. Gates said, speaking at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe. “College needs to be less place-based.”(Steve) Online courses allow students to access course content, including reading lists and library materials, at any time. This flexibility of online courses is primarily important for students who have young children, who are caring for ailing or elderly family members, who have full-time jobs, or who live too far from campus. Flexible hours are also beneficial because it allow students to work at their own speed; taking courses either part time or on an accelerated schedule. According to the article in the New York Times, titled “Study Finds That Online Education Beats Classroom,” the SRI International for the Department of Education, conducted a research on online versus traditional classroom teaching from 1996 to 2008. Most of the studies were conducted in colleges and adult continuing-education programs. Over the twelve year span, the Department of Education found that, on average students doing some or all of the

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