Essay: Some universities now offer their courses on the internet so that people cqan study online. Is this a positive or negative development ?
It is a fact that online courses are becoming a common feature of university education. In my perspective, despite a number of inconveniences, Internet based learning should be considered as a very welcome development.
On the one hand, critics of less drirect interaction tend to point out a combination of reasons. Frist and foremost, student may not have the oppotunity to engage face-to-face with their lecture, and will instead have to rely on written forms of communication. Similarly, students who study online do not come to direct contact with each other, and this could have a negative impact on peer support, discusstion and exchange of ideas. One way of explaining this is that , whereas young adult in university on traditional courses can attend to seminars and even disscuss their subjects over coffee after lessons, online learners are restricted to chatting throught website frorum areas. Another compelling reason is that, these learners may also lack the motivation and element of competition that face-to-face group work brings.
One the other hand, in spite of the downsides given above, I believe that online university courses should be considered as progress. The primary reason is that, they allow learner study in a flexible way, meaning that they can work whenever and whenever is convenient, and they can cover the material at their own pace. Furthermore, the cost os university education can be greatly reduced, while revenues for institutions may increase as more students can be taught. Finally, online learning offers open access to anybody who is willing to study, regardless of age, location, ability and background. To illustrate, my Uncle, who is 65 years old, has recently enrolled on an online MBA course in a different country, which would have been impossible in the days before internet- based education.
In conclusion, I believe that althought recognise the possible disadventages of online learning, online university courses is worthwhile development because result and the way to education to be more positive that this trend brings.