Online v/s Traditional Education - Essay Example

Developments in high-speed internet and computer technology contain boundless promise for changing human life. This promise includes fundamental changes to the way we educate our children, our young adults, and even working people looking to gain new skills. Advertisements for the Apple iPad show individuals tracing star constellations on their touch screen, learning about the cosmos, while advertisements for Cisco technologies depict an elementary school classroom in America “visiting” a Chinese elementary school classroom using high-speed broadband communication. These enhancements to education are clear benefits to their recipients, and the adoption of technology in the classroom (or even complete replacement of the classroom) poses questions for the future. The internet has revolutionized the educational system with online classes becoming popular among students. With options of time management, personal attention and activities, students are more inclined to experience the college atmosphere. Technology results in changing perspectives of the functions of education at a very fundamental level. On one level, it empowers students to take charge of their learning by combining a fascination with the novel and unfamiliar and a need to know. On another level, technology increases media richness. Rather than reading text from a textbook, students are able to research the content on the internet, perhaps watch a video clip about the topic, and engage a topic in a richer way. This topic of introducing technology in a classroom, of course, has immediate relevance to the need for technological adeptness in a competitive business environment. Increasingly, companies rely on a higher quality workforce to deal with the challenges and opportunities posed by technological advancements. A more techno-dependent work environment, in turn, serves as a motivating factor for students to become more techno-savvy, in order to better meet the labor market demands for skilled workers. With these benefits in mind, it is not wonder why the early 21st century is witnessing a transformation occurring in the format of the typical classroom. Online education is not only a benefit to young people; the online classroom incorporates adult learners, including those for whom English is a second language, as equal participants in a discussion. These individuals, who would have trouble finding a traditional classroom of people like themselves, can find a community of people with the same interests and same skills more easily though the internet and learn from each other through this richer medium. Nevertheless, while an online-only classroom can serve as a unifying factor for adult learners, there is something to be said about the benefits of a traditional education for a younger generation. Traditional college campuses have not disappeared because young adults gain from a college experience beyond the material they learn in their courses, which they could easily gain from an online class. The traditional classroom offers campus experience and social development that an internet resource cannot provide (Keefer). The reason why online education appeals to young and older students alike is that it accommodates a work/school schedule and offers a wider variety of subjects than a traditional education. With respect to an accommodating schedule, online education is lower cost and more convenient than travelling to a physical location (Dillon). Together, with these cost savings and the ability to budget more time for work or family, online education presents new opportunities for adult learners. In addition, online education is wider in scope; that is, there is the prospect of a much wider swathe of subjects online with experts from all over the world, which may benefit younger students who do not have as much exposure to the global context of many topics (Adams and Corbett). Such an opportunity for worldwide information to be shared facilitates self-development, educational goals, and even employment opportunities. Another point of difference between online and traditional education arises with respect to student motivation. Although using technology motivates students because it is dynamic and interactive, a traditional classroom encourages personal attention from the instructor and more attention on the part of the student as well. Instructors are able to address problems that a student is having as they happen and in-person; students are able to keep focused and not distracted when they are not in their homes amongst other responsibilities. In some cases, this presents a distinct advantage for actual learning on the part of the traditional student, who is able to maintain more focus in an environment devoted solely to learning. Returning to the concept of media richness, a traditional classroom clearly presents an extremely rich environment for communication. The extent to which an online classroom can provide this kind of extremely rich, face-to-face interaction between student and instructor is small. If an online classroom consists only of written text, even if it is written in a conversation way, this is a relatively media poor way of communicating that does not go very far in promoting a student’s mastery of a subject. Even online colleges with voice seminars cannot match the media richness of in-person communication, which includes body language and gestures that actually communicate more than the words being spoken. The traditional classroom is characterized by its in-person nature that an online classroom cannot yet duplicate. However, it is conceivable that in the future, an online education will be able to mimic the experience of sitting in a traditional classroom while retaining its advantages of openness, convenience, and lower cost (The Economist). As mentioned previously, the advancement of technology presents limitless promise, which means that nearly anything is possible so long as it can be developed in a way that is not prohibitively costly. However, the development of technology applies to the traditional classroom in ways that it can be enhanced by computers, data transfer, and so on. While an online classroom could be more medium rich, the traditional classroom could be made more convenient by technologies that allow information to be more accessible from home. In spite of these differences, online and traditional modes of education possess a number of similar features. For instance, both provide a platform for attaining higher education. Because both mediums are a stage for the exchange of ideas and concepts, they both function as a means toward the intellectual development of students. Given that some students prefer the society of a traditional classroom while other students prefer the lower cost of online education, the two techniques may differ in the method but they achieve a roughly equivalent result. In that sense, both empower students with knowledge that they can apply to the real world in solving problems. By spreading knowledge as a social asset, one could argue that regardless of what medium education takes place in, society benefits because of an overall increase in the intelligence of its members. Looking at the comparison in that way, one begins to see the two methods more as two sides of a coin, rather than two separate columns supporting the culture. Technology raises many questions and concerns about the future of education, as it exists in both a traditional and online format. Clearly, both forms of education have their advantages and disadvantages, and neither is fundamentally better than the other is. Whether one works better for a particular student is a matter for the student, whether he or she is an adult learner or in middle school, to decide for himself or herself. Accordingly, it would be wrong to advocate for one method of learning at the complete expense of the other; alternatively, it seems the best method is one that combines the convenience offered by new education technologies with the social benefits and attention-centered traditional classroom. A web-enhanced traditional classroom is high in media richness while giving students the option to take information with them. The technology in the classroom provides engagement for students, along with the social atmosphere of a class. While online-centered education is advantageous for students searching for convenience and balance, a wide middle-ground is a more attractive option for most. Works Cited Adams, Jennifer and Alexia Corbett. "Experiences of Traditional and Non-Traditional College Students." 10 May 2010. University of New Hampshire. 7 October 2011 . Dillon, Sam. "Public Schools Begin to Offer Gym Classes Online." 2 August 2005. The New York Times. 8 October 2011 . Keefer, Julia Evergreen. "Online Learning vs. The Traditional College." 15 December 2006. New York University. 7 October 2011 . The Economist. "The future of higher education: How technology will shape learning." October 2008. The Economist Intelligence Unit. 7 October 2011 . Read More