The ITT Technical Institute commercial of a girl going to college in her pajamas is a familiar sight to many students. But while some just laugh and ignore the ad, a growing number are actually signing up for online courses. With the increasing popularity of distance learning, students should not ignore the potential benefits an online class can offer.
Online schools come in many varieties, from small colleges and accredited universities to schools that are completely online, but they all offer something traditional classroom settings do not: school that is mainly on the student’s time and at the student’s location.
One of the main arguments against online education has been that students cannot fully learn a subject if they are not allowed to ask spontaneous questions and if there is no teacher there to answer the students. Another is that students who are used to a traditional school environment would have trouble motivating themselves to complete a class on their own time. Some recent research, however, suggests that in spite of these factors, taking a course online may actually increase a student’s performance.
On average, students who took all or part of their class online performed better than students taking the same course in a traditional classroom setting, according to a 2009 study published by the U.S. Department of Education. The study focused mainly on post-high school courses.
These factors, as well as others, have led to an increase in the number of students enrolling at online colleges. In fact, the number has grown so rapidly that U.S. News and World Report released its first ranking of online colleges in its January 2012 issue.
“In 2010, enrollment in online classes jumped by an amazing 21 percent; that’s more than 10 times the amount of growth we saw in the overall college student population that year,” Matthew Speer, Director of Sales and Marketing for U.S. News University Connection told TechJournal in a January 2012 article. “Clearly, the time has come to start ranking these programs.”
Consumer Report’s recent addition of online college rankings is a sign that online colleges are becoming more widely used and respected. However, statistics show that most of the students signing up for school online are nontraditional, adult students, who may need to work full-time or take care of a family, or who are going back to school hoping for a raise or a higher paying job.
High school graduates, by contrast, are much more likely to end up taking specific classes online while attending a traditional college, Carl Krause, guidance counselor, said.
“Students take online classes for many reasons. Some do it so they don’t have to get up at 8 in the morning or go to a night class. I even know some students who take online classes at different colleges than the ones they’re at so they’re not considered full time at their college to help get in-state tuition. There are a lot of reasons people take them,” Krause said.
These classes benefit the school as well. The school saves space and money because it doesn’t need the classroom or the teacher every week, and it usually charges the same price for an online class that it charges for a traditional class.
Students looking for free classes have options as well. Many Ivy League schools offer high-level courses online, though students who take them usually won’t receive credit. Schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford provide courses and course material online, which anyone can access, often free of charge. MIT launched a program this spring called MITx, where students can take their online courses and receive credentials for them.
Online courses are one of the many ways technology is leveling the playing field, giving students in the U.S. and around the world a more equal opportunity to become college educated.
“Everybody now has a computer, an internet connection,” Krause said. “You go to the library and you get free wi-fi. There are tons of places people can take courses, so that gives a quite broader range of where they can reach on online courses as opposed to being somewhere on the campus.”
Although they may not offer the social opportunities or the complete ‘experience’ of a traditional college setting, online classes are a growing breed of education. Students should definitely do their research on any school they plan to attend after high school, but they should not rule out taking online classes at accredited colleges and universities when considering their college plans.