The Benefits Of Online Classes Essay -- Essays Papers

Breaking news just in, it has been confirmed that â€Å"in support of creating standards for online learning, the U.S. Department of Education [will be] providing 1.8 million dollars to the National Center for Accessible Media† (Bricout 4). This seems to be an appropriate announcement that could have been made on any news channel back in 2001. As most do not realize, the internet and education have been linked together extensively for a period of time. In fact, online classes have already assumed a role in college bound student’s lives. The question is whether professors and universities are willing to take the extra step in making the internet the primary source of communication for the classes they teach. This piece will provide an insight to the benefits of online classes from several different points of views. Despite the few cons that exist, there are many benefits of an online course, most of which contradict the factors used to belittle it. Using the internet as a primary source of communication is faster, simplistic, and can pertain to each individual or group (Bricout 1). Provided there are no technical problems, using the internet seems to be â€Å"less hectic† (Caris 3) and allows a certain type of freedom. For example, students who are shy are no longer scared to participate in discussions because their identity is somewhat anonymous. However, not all is anonymous because the constant responses from a professor create a sense of presence that keeps the student on task and concerned with their own work. Many students enjoy working online because their thoughts are written previously and they have time to edit or prepare before sharing instead of being put right on the spot. According to T H E Journal... ...d October 3, 2004 from http://itdl.org/journal/Jan_04/article03.htm Daughenbaugh, R., Ensminger, D. Frederick, L. & Surry, D. Does personality type effect online versus in-class course satisfaction? In Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference. Retrieved Octover 3, 2004 from http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/ proceed02/3.html Lavelle, E., Theordore, P., & Yuliang, L. (2004). Experimental effects of online instruction of teacher’s concerns about technology integration. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Muhammad, E.E. (n.d.). To tech or not to tech that is the question. Retrieved October 3, 2004 from http://servercc.oakton.edu/~tingxiu/octe/octe1/Proceedings /Muhammad.htm Wade, William (2004). Why I teach online. T H E Journal. Retrieved October 3, 2004 from http://www.thejournal.com/magazone/vault/A5009C.cfm