The Pros and Cons of Online Education Degrees - Essay Example

Pros and cons of online education degrees There has been a steady increase in the people going back to learning in order to earn graduate degrees from online education programs. However, there has been a heated debate over whether the online degree programs are of benefit to the students, institutes and the society as a whole. For students, online degree programs are a matter of flexibility and convenience however; they are not for the computer illiterate learners and often result in socially inactive individuals. Similarly for the institutions, online learning programs relieve them of administrative burdens but are become a nuisance if the programs are not tailored for online environment. The society also benefits from the online programs in terms of reduction in unemployment and increase in literacy rate nevertheless;most of the employers tend to prefer traditional degree holders over online graduates. At first look, the advantages and disadvantages of an online education program seems to be a question of accessibility and convenience, both for the students and the institutions offering these programs. But the question that many critics ask is that are the students trading convenience for quality of education? Statistics depict that students are successful completing the online education programs however; there is also an indication that they are lagging in course completion rates. Moreover, even with the growth of online programs, assistance from academic remains low. According to the Sloan Consortium survey in 2012, approximately one third of students pursuing higher education also take at least one online course for completion of their degree (Poisso). Similarly, as per figures provided by Babson Survey research group, students pursuing at least one online study program has increased for the ninth consecutive year (Poisso). Finding an online education program is also not a tedious task these days. Many colleges and educational institutions regularly advertise online degree programs on their websites along with prerequisites and requirements for enrolment. Students just have to sift through the websites to find a suitable program. According to experts, the biggest advantage for online education is the factor of convenience and flexibility for the students (Cohan and Honigsfeld 120). Students are able to complete their course work in theirown time and in their own pace. This flexibility provides them with a chance to balance schoolwork with their personal and family obligations. This in turn allows them to take more online courses and spend more time at home than at school. The online teaching staff can also benefit from this flexible arrangement as they can balance out their personal obligations with professional duties e.g. mentoring students and research. Moreover, the prospect of both teachers and students staying home for education purposes also provides a chance to cut transportation related costs and hassles. Many proponents of online education programs also believe that online students are able to re-watch and re-read the lectures and study materials which enable them to master their subject with more time at hand (Keengwe and Onchwari et al. 217). The repeat exercises and online discussions with other students helps the students achieve a satisfactory level of proficiency in their subjects. This is especially true for the students taking online English course as a foreign language or any of the students who tend to lag behind or struggle in any particular area of study. Moreover, it also helps those students who are juggling between household responsibilities and, part-time jobs and college classes. Another advantage of the online education programs concerns with the motivation of the students (Kats 348). According to studies, asynchronous education engages more students as they tend to be most productive when they are freshest. Moreover, the online grading tools which provide immediate feedback to the students regarding their performance also enhance motivation of the learners. As for the students, online education degree programs are also sometimes a blessing for the institutions. As the students are getting more and more interested in studying from their homes, online degree programs can in fact reduce pressure on the facilities that institutes provide by freeing up a lot of space in the classrooms. Fewer students mean less administrative costs, less campus rush and more time for the faculty to administer research projects. Moreover, such courses also enable the teachers to track student’s data regarding their performance in the online program and in turn improve the design of the course. The society also benefits from the online programs in a variety of ways. As a result of online educations, nation’s youth tend to become more productive as they are studying and balancing their responsibilities towards the society at the same time. Moreover, these programs also provide educational access to the group of individuals who are undeserved by higher education institutes, thus increasing the national literacy rate and reducing unemployment (Clothey and Weidman et al. 260). For example, these programs can be accessed by the students and faculties with disabilities and help them get the education which they deserve but otherwise are unable to get due to physical limitations. As in online learning, the learners enjoy a certain degree of anonymity, the issue of bias against gender, disabilities, age and physical appearance is mainly curtailed and students are judged on their ability to perform in the examination and respond to the discussions and queries by the teachers. While online education degree programs offer unprecedented access to quality education and flexibility to the students, a lot of critics offer their reservations for these programs in terms of technology, the online environment and online program curriculums. Before we judge the success of any online degree program, the decision must take into account the students who can gain access to online environment for learning purposes. Inability to access online learning environment due to reasons like logistics or economic would eliminate otherwise entitled students from the program. This issue is more prominent in rural of low income neighborhoods. On the other hands institutions also suffer from the phenomenon because if the students are unable to access internet, they are lost customers for the institutions. Another weakness of the online education system is the minimal level of computer skills which the facilitator and the students must possess in order to complete online education successfully. For example both the faculty and students must be adept to navigating World Wide Web, search engines and Newsgroups. Lack of these skills by the students means failure in the course whereas, for facilitators it means collapsing of the program. Moreover, institutions or teachers who feel uncomfortable with advancements in technology and change in environment are unable to provide quality education and often slow down the accomplishment process. Such people are a misfit for the online education program and tend to stall the success of the course. Besides, the administrations and institutions are sometimes unable to properly define the objectives of online education programs and only start them in order to increase their revenues(Moore 21). Therefore they are not committed to provide quality education because they are unaware of importance of class size, proper facilitator and facilitator characteristics. Some critics also feel that many institutions providing distance learning programs ignore the need for a proper curriculum (Finkelstein 339). In their haste to attract online students, these institutions sometimes overlook the importance of qualified professionals and properly tailored curriculum. The teaching methodologies and curriculum prevailing in the classes of most of the institutions is not at all suitable for online programs where instructional models and learning structures are quite different. In an online educational program, institutions must pay attention to online dialogueamong the students to increase their participation. Simply translating traditional lecturing methodology into online learning programs would definitely hinder the dissemination of quality education. Some critics also believe that online degree programs tend to confine students to their homes in front of a computer screen and thus bar them from social interaction (Orellana and Hudgins et al. 328). Moreover, not all the courses which are required to complete a degree program are available online. It is also believed that not all the courses can and should be taught online. For example, medical profession courses requiring surgeries or face to face interactions with the patients, art of public speaking and dental hygiene where it is important to indulge in practice to learn cannot be taught and earned online. Such subjects are possibly best taught in a face to face environment to get the requisite results. Although some sort of hybrid programs can cater for the practical part of the course, it still means that online programs cannot completely satisfy the need for a student to earn an online degree. Another non-proponent of online degree program has been the employer community. Many chronic issues with online learners have made the employers distrustful of such programs. They believe that online educations institutes are mills producing online degrees while violating recruiting laws and focusing on profit making. For example the U.S. department of education fine $9.8M to Phoenix University for over-recruiting students, which was paid by the university without a complaint. In another survey, it was observed that employers preferred traditional graduates over online degree holders. About 270 managers of small and medium sized businesses were asked about their opinion on hiring traditional or online graduates. 96% of the employers wanted to hire traditional school graduates whereas, 75% chose traditional graduates over graduates from hybrid programs (Wellen). Works cited Clothey, Rebecca, John C Weidman and Stacy Austin-Li. Post-Secondary Education and Technology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print. Cohan, Audrey and Andrea Honigsfeld.Breaking the mold of preservice and inservice teacher education. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2011. Print. Finkelstein, Martin J. Dollars, distance, and online education. Phoenix, Ariz.: American Council on Education, 2000. Print. Kats, Yefim. Learning management systems and instructional design.n.d. Print. Keengwe, Jared, Grace Onchwari and James N Oigara.Promoting active learning through the flipped classroom model.n.d. Print. Moore, Janet C. Elements of quality online education. Needham, Mass.: Sloan Consortium, 2004. Print. Orellana, Anymir, Terry L Hudgins and Michael R Simonson.The perfect online course. Charlotte, N.C.: IAP, Information Age Pub., 2009. Print. Poisso, Lisa. "The Pros and Cons of an Online College Education."Collegexpress.com, 2013.Web. 2 Mar 2014. . Wellen, Alex. "Degrees of Acceptance."The New York Times, 30 July, 2006. 2006: Print. Read More