John Doe Prof. ENGL 104 28 March 2021 Online Vs Face-to-Face learning With the recent advancements of technology, there has been an increase in online learning. With online learning becoming more common due to covid-19, many schools are offering students the ability to take their classes online. Online learning has many advantages compared to face-to-face learning, but it also has many disadvantages as well. Face-to-face learning is great for students because they can ask questions when they go to class, and they don’t have to wait days for a teacher to respond to an email. Students attending face-to-face also have a set time during the day when they have classes, but students attending online classes can watch a lecture at any time throughout the day. Even though face-to-face learning has so many amazing advantages, there are also an equal amount of disadvantages to face-to-face learning. For instance, many students have to work a full-time job while they are attending college, and if there is a class that the student must take to graduate that is only offered during that students work schedule they will either have to take time off of work or not take the class until a later semester. Also, in-classroom learning you must attend class even if you are sick so that you do not miss a lecture, or get behind in the class. If there are students in the classroom who are causing disruptions, it can be hard for a student to stay fully focused on the teacher giving a lecture. And many classes are only offered as morning or night classes, and we all know how hard it is to stay awake during an eight A.M lecture after you just pulled an all-nighter studying. There are a lot of distractions in the classroom besides the other students. There are social anxieties, the ability to not sit still for several hours while a teacher teaches on a subject and there are people of the opposite sex, which we know can make it hard to stay focused on the lecture when you the only thing you can think about is your crush in your class. With the wave of new technologies, there is now an alternative to classroom learning! We are now able to attend our classes online. With this new form of education, a student is able to work full time and can go to school full time as well, which allows students to graduate sooner, and they are able to start their careers sooner. Online learning also allows those who have a hard time sitting still in a classroom to have the ability to still gain higher education. Thomas Friedmann shared about a student who had autism and classroom learning was a real struggle for him. He was able to attend an online poetry class from Penn State which made it very easy for him to start furthering his education all while helping him manage his autism (Revolution Hits the Universities) Although all of these things are wonderful, Ellen Laird put it best when she said “The honeymoon is over. My romance with distance teaching is losing its spark” (Laird 417). While online learning allows for a student to attend classes as they see fit, they must also have the ability to set time out of their day to do the homework assignments and to read the required materials. For someone who is not self-motivated and is not able to manage their time well, online learning would be more of a headache than a blessing. Online learning also does not allow for sick days and holidays. If you are able to have an internet connection, then there is no excuse for you to not have the homework done. With our generation having the internet, we have become reliant on having everything we could ever want right then as soon as we want it, with online learning this is impossible. Laird reminds her readers that “The instructor is not another version of an Internet service provider, to be judged satisfactory or not by processing speed and 24/7 availability” (Laird 419). In conclusion, “the two experiences are as different as a wedding reception and a rave” (Laird 417). Whether a student classroom learning or online learning there will be good and bad things about both. Each offers a valuable education to help further your education goals, and both have the ability to make or break a student. No matter what type of learning a student is interested in, they should always do research to find out what type of learning would benefit them the most. Works Cited Friedman, Thomas L. “Revolution Hits the Universities.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Jan. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/friedman-revolutionhits-the-universities.html. Laird, Elleln. “I'm Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider.” Expert Essays, 1 Nov. 2020, www.expertessayswriters.com/blog/im-your-teacher-not-your-internet-serviceprovider/. “Online Learning vs Face to Face Learning.” Kiwi LMS, Kiwi, startkiwi.com/blog/onlinelearning-vs-face-to-face-learning/. “Online vs. Face-to-Face Learning - Online.” UIS, University of Illinois, www.uis.edu/online/getting-started/learning-online/online-vs-face-to-facelearning/#:~:text=%20Online%20vs.%20Face-toFace%20Learning%20%201%20You,the%20class..%20Learning%20is%20convenient%2 C%20but...%20More. Ryan, By: et al. Face-to-Face vs. Online Learning: Class Similarities & Differences. www.idtech.com/blog/face-to-face-vs-online-learning.
