While some people supported online courses, citing them to be most helpful, others maintained that traditional classrooms are more effective. Although I can see the merit of online education, I believe that the latter option produces more beneficial results.
Firstly, a traditional classroom provides teachers with better surveillance capabilities than a digital one. Despite having little effect on diligent students, this forces their lazier schoolmates to focus during class whereas an online classroom wouldn’t be able to replicate such an effect even with active cameras and microphones. Secondly, face-to-face contact helps build stronger bonds between classmates and teachers. Though online interactions are more convenient, they still aren’t comparable to offline meetings in terms of memorability. A real-life acquaintance would make anyone feel more connected and personal, thus creating stronger bonds in comparison with an online friend.
On the other hand, online education also provides certain advantages. One of these is the convenience of not having to travel distances to get to schools and classrooms. With just a device and internet connection, one can study anywhere that they want to and this opens up new possibilities that would have been impossible before because of physical limits. An example would be lectures given by a professor in one country to students in another, which usually wasn’t possible because of geographical differences. An additional advantage of online education is the separation of troublemakers from other students. Bullying and inappropriate behaviors, such as smoking, unfortunately are present in a lot of traditional classrooms. This kind of behavior will be much less prevalent in online settings because of a lack of physical contact, therefore leaving little space for it to spread.
To sum things up, though I recognize the many benefits of virtual classrooms, I am still adamant that traditional classrooms provide a better foundation for education.