Are Online Colleges the Future of Education?
Distance learning has been around for a long while: people used to be mailed envelopes containing the weeks homework, along with some lessons that the distance learning student could use to guide them through their study. Distance learning could take the place of anything from an hour of seminars, to a semester of studies. In some packages, distance learning students could stay at home and learn their lessons at their own pace, and then go to the university giving the distance education course in order to take their examinations. Some universities now offer distance learning in order for out-of-school youth or even stay-at-home parents to earn their bachelors or masters degrees.
Another dimension of distance learning has emerged, this time in the form of accredited online colleges and universities. Instead of universities offering an online or distance learning component, there are colleges and universities that exist exclusively as online entities. Courses are designed by professors of larger colleges and universities, and in order to maintain the reputation of an online university, most online universities will recruit tenured professors or reputable ones to design curricula and lesson plans. All that students need to do is to enroll in the online college, sign up for classes, receive class lessons in their email, and then take a few quizzes or examinations online. The ease of study and the idea of working at ones own pace have made a few pundits shake their heads in disbelief, and a few other pundits label online colleges as the future of education.
How well will online colleges do in the future? At present, not all companies are aware of how good online college degrees are, so if you are applying for a job and you are going to cite your online college as the place where you earned your bachelors degree, then you may have to do some explaining (not to mention defending of the idea that you can take classes outside the classroom). Moreover, the courses offered by online colleges are limited. If you are hoping to study accountancy or creative writing, courses that are largely done on paper or through a computer, then there is little that you will need to complement your studies aside from what the online college can offer.
However, if you are hoping to study a laboratory-based course, such as something in the physical or natural sciences, or even an engineering-based field, then you will need to apply to a brick-and-mortar university in order to get the education that you need. Many online colleges will offer computer sciences and engineering courses as the greatest extent to which online colleges can go; nothing beats a hands-on laboratory if you need to study biology, chemistry, physics, molecular biology, or mechanical engineering.
These are only a few aspects of online colleges that you may want to look into as you ponder on the future of your education. Online colleges will still cost you money, but if you are hoping to work and take on a job while studying, or if you need to stay home to care for your family, then you may look at online colleges as an option. You only need to develop good study habits so that you can push yourself to work at your own pace without slacking off or quitting your studies if you suddenly tire yourself out. As long as you know exactly what you want out of your college education, you can make the best choice.
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