Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard are some of the most renowned universities in the world. Going to an ivory tower has always been the dream of many because it is seen as a passport to a brighter future. Tertiery education in contemporary times are no longer restricted to the four walls of classrooms. Many programs, be it undergraduate or postgraduate, are being offered either on a partially or fully online basis. This scenario has generated a lot of debates surrounding its pros and cons.
There are numerous advantages of a fully online degree course, chief of them being the fact that students can now get their scrolls at a fraction of the cost. Completely virtual lectures permit students to learn from the comfort of home and therefore eliminate the needs to relocate to another city, which can be costly. This also means a marked decrease in costs of living as students no longer have to spend extra pennies on rent, food and transportation.
On top of that, virtual teaching and learning processes are typically more flexible. In other words, students get to enjoy greater freedom as they can learn anytime anywhere from their fingertips. Since the classes do not follow a fixed and rigid schedule, slow leaners can process the information and then digest it at their own pace. For those from underprivileged backgrounds, it is a win as they get to work in the daytime to pay tuition and study at night. Undeniably, this form of learning enhances the accessibility of higher education to all walks of life.
However, this trend is not without its loss. Having online classes deprive students’ chance to fully immerse themselves in campus life, which adds colors to their journey to becoming a job-ready graduate. To elaborate, being present in-person at university offers a wonderful opportunity to expand their network and build lifelong friendships across a wide arrange of majors and interact with international students from overseas more easily. Furthermore, it is the co-curricular activities on the campus that readily instill transferrable skills such as teamwork, negotiation, public speaking among the students. Soft skills like these are what the employers are looking at, amid a competitive labour market.
The advent of the Internet and its attendant inventions have heralded a new era in higher education. The experience of attending university, is undoubtedly a transformative one. Thus, I am of the opinion that physically going to college for bachelor’s degree is necessary while online postgraduate education should be optional.