In this day and age, many academic institutions are offering distance-learning courses so that people can study online. In my opinion, this phenomenon has some certain drawbacks but they are completely outweighed by huge beneficial facets.
On the one hand, correspondence courses bring out a disadvantageous aspect we cannot deny. From a personal point of view, although online courses are not geographically confined, they are completely restricted in how teachers and students can engage with each other. Indeed, teachers and students can only communicate via computer screens; therefore, online courses apparently lack in-person interaction, which can be crucial in many courses. For instance, business negotiation courses can hardly ever be taught via courses on the Internet. That is because to be a skillful negotiator, you have to pay great attention to not only verbal but also non-verbal language and facial expressions of your opponents.
On the other hand, I still believe that universities should continue embracing online courses because they have substantial benefits for both students and teachers. Firstly, as far as I am concerned, the courses offered by universities are usually short-term ones. Thus, they are much more approachable for those who only want to obtain specific knowledge in specific fields. Indeed, many students now would prefer to enroll in a 3-month online content marketing course instead of spending 4 years studying marketing at a college. Secondly, regarding universities’ side, they also benefit remarkably from such practice. By monetizing these courses, academic institutions have an extra income source, which they can spend investing in the betterment of their organizations such as more cutting-edge educational equipment and modern facilities to deliver students the best experience.
In conclusion, despite the lack of interaction between individuals in a real-life setting, this disadvantage of online courses seems very insignificant compared to their positive points.