As an alternative to learning face-to-face on campus, some universities provide e-learning courses, while I believe online courses to have great benefits in several cases, I presume that this trend may have some downsides.
I’m convinced that there are a lot of benefits of distance learning. One noticeable advantage is that a teacher can deliver a single lesson to hundreds of students online. There are some well-trained tutors from many parts of the world so they can offer children better education. Secondly, online courses are usually less expensive than classes on- campus. Therefore, this is becoming an affordable option for learners in the modern age of technology. Furthermore, recorded lessons can be watched multiple times which can be effective for students. For example, the increasing use of social networks like Youtube and Facebook for online courses is the evidence for this tendency. The videos allow online learners to replay the parts they don’t understand, which a person cannot do if he or she is joining a face-to-face class.
On the other hand, delivering online curricula brings more cons than pros. First and foremost, students may lack the virtual interaction with teachers. This may make it difficult for them to take in their knowledge and seek advice and support. In addition, e-learning courses require self-discipline because their study cannot be managed by their teachers and various distractions from the surrounding environment such as noise, unstable Internet connection or notifications from social networks.
To conclude, providing online courses instead of those on-campus don’t benefit learners. In spite of the occurrence of the pros, there is no doubt that teaching in person shouldn’t be replaced.