Band 6+: Some universities offer online courses as an alternative to classes delivered on campus. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

In the modern era, distance learning through online courses is provided for students as a replacement for lecture-based classes. From my perspective, this policy has both merits and demerits.

On the one hand, learning without face-to-face interaction can cause communication degradation and negative emotions. Initially, distance learning can not develop communication in students. After an online course, home students can barely socialize to make friends and enlarge their social circle, which leads to a lack of social and communication skills. Furthermore, universities can offer an ideal learning environment, whereas houses are not always suitable study locations. Distraction from surroundings can cause low focus while studying, contributing to bad feelings during lessons.

On the other hand, online learning can bring profound potential in terms of convenience and flexibility in studying. The paramount importance of distance learning can be listed in its convenience. Without travelling a long distance and even missing class due to traffic jam, students just need to use their computers to study. This, therefore, brings a revolution to the basis of lecture time. Moreover, distance education enables learners to comprehend new knowledge at any time because online courses have no time limit for their videos. For instance, Focus is a website helping divide study and break time with different modes for online learning students, which is highly recommended by many distance learners.

Instead of choosing genuine online courses and offline lectures, students can combine both of these options for better efficiency. For example, students can learn some subjects that require high concentration in college, while others can be comprehended effectively by taking online courses.

In summary, I wholeheartedly agree that online courses have both drawbacks in the lack of communication ability and negative feelings and benefits in comfort and flexibility. In addition, the harmonious combination of online and offline courses can bring the utmost productivity.