Online vs On-Campus Study - Essay Example

The online course through pre-structured follows an asynchronous structure which is quite opposite to the Campus course which is a face–to–face synchronous course with potentially greater flexibility. The online course has one or two instructors and is team-taught, whereas the campus course has only one instructor.

In an online course, the participants take the easily available courseface-to-face and no attempt is made to see that students are assigned to courses according to their talent or ability. The Campus course gives the students opportunities to discuss with their professors and other peers which course would be suitable to study.

Where studying for the course is concerned, the participants of the online courses spent fairly more time on studies each week, whereas the campus participants spent much lesser time. In an online course, though the atmosphere is conducive to learning, yet the classroom is not as lively as a campus classroom where students and professors conduct lively face- to-face discussions and interactions.

Qureshi et al. (2002) noted that distance education students were less motivated than their on-campus peers. Others have expressed concern that online learners experience motivational problems as evidenced by high dropout rates (Cheng-Yuan, 2000). Researchers think that online students are more self-paced and enjoy greater autonomy, unlike on-campus students who are restricted by a lot of rules and regulations.

By enrolling themselves in online courses, the students procure greater technological experience and have a much better knowledge of how to handle computers which is quite opposite to the traditional campus courses. The participants of online courses were more driven by intrinsic motives without looking forward to the traditional rewards of a regular class, but on campus, participants prefer to embrace a more collaborative style of teaching-learning and obtain the rewards of the class.

But after all said and done, whether it is online education or traditional campus education, the success of the teaching-learning process depends greatly on the extent of seriousness displayed by both the student as well as the instructor.

List of differences

Online Course                                                 Campus Course
Asynchronous and pre-structured                   Synchronous with greater flexibility
The instructor can’t be seen                            Face-to-face instruction
One or two instructors                                     Only one instructor
Not many options were given                          Wide range of options offered
Spent more time on studies                             Spent less time on studies
No face-to-face interaction                               Face-to-face interaction
No lively classroom                                          Very lively classroom
Less motivated                                                 More Motivated
Enjoy more freedom and autonomy                Restricted and do not enjoy autonomy
Greater experience in technology                    Lesser experience in technology
Driven by intrinsic motives                                Driven by collaborative motives
Do not expect rewards from the class              Expects the rewards of the class