Distance Learning: The Pros And Cons

Her experience is typical of a lot of distance learning students and highlights some of the benefits of learning at a distance. More recently these benefits have been enhanced quite significantly thanks to the Internet, providing access to a more 'real world' learning experience. For example, whereas traditionally students would receive learning materials via the post with instructions and limited support, students can now view lectures online, share their views in discussion forums and generally communicate more easily with teaching staff. It is one of the reasons distance learning is becoming more popular and giving lots of people better access to learning opportunities. Dr. I. Elaine Allen of Babson College notes: "Ten years ago online learning was nearly unheard of. Today, 11% of all students are taking classes online and what they are learning is just as good as if they were sitting in classrooms and lecture halls." Many of these people are 'adult learners': students over 25 years old. Indeed according to some recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau adult learners is the fastest growing educational demographic with just under 40% of learners now over 25 years.

However, it's not only adult learners embarking on an education through distance learning. Given the increasing costs of studying an undergraduate degree on-campus, more school leavers are beginning to consider distance learning as a cost-effective alternative. This has been seen in the UK by distance learning provider The Open University, where the number of young students (24 or under) has doubled in the last 6 years to 16,000 (or 10% of the student population).


Convenience & Flexibility

Being able to study when and where you want is seen as one of the most appealing aspects. You can study from home, at work or even on a plane (think about all the time you waste on a flight when you could be exercising your brain!). Some courses even allow you to set your own pace. For some people it's a simple choice of either learning at a distance or not learning at all. This means they miss out on the many benefits learning offers: improved career prospects or a complete change; a higher salary; along with improved confidence and a stimulated mind!


Quality

As Emma experienced, the quality of the learning experience is very good. Recent advances in technology offered by distance learning educators allow you to view lessons via video lectures, multimedia presentations, and interact with your fellow students or teachers. You will never miss a point a lecturer makes as you can replay the lecture again and again until you get it. With 'virtual interaction' only a click away, there is a sense of community even though you could be on the other side of the world, meaning support and the learning environment are easily accessible. Indeed, even academics whom appeared to be a little sceptical at first have indicated their growing support in a recent survey by The Sloan Consortium. When asked to compare the value of online learning verses face-to-face education, "academic leaders put the two on very close terms today, and expect the online offerings to continue to get better relative to the face-to-face option."


Contributing to the class

If you are a little intimidated by the classroom setting, the virtual classroom could be your answer. In some cases there are people who prefer to interact with teachers and fellow class mates via their keyboard. Some people find social settings awkward and 'clam' up, not being at ease to express their views. Distance Learning avoids this by giving students more confidence to contribute their ideas, helping them to gain more from the learning experience.


Apply what you learn to your job

Another advantage of distance learning is that because you can work in conjunction with study, it allows you to immediately apply what you're learning to your job. This lack of disruption to your work also means you don't have to leave your job, or move to another city or country to study.


Classroom diversity

Finally, classroom diversity is another benefit. Because your classroom is likely to be made up from people from all over the world, you gain a powerful insight into other walks of life adding richness and a greater perspective to your learning experience.


Most subject areas covered

There are around seven hundred educational institutions in the US offering online learning and 100s hundreds around the world. With most subjects covered there are thousands of opportunities from good quality providers. There are a few online resources to help you find your program of interest - for example Study2U.com, the publisher of this article, offers a searchable database of over 30,000 courses and programs.


More students online

In case you thought you'd be alone in studying via the Internet, there are thousands of students online right now! According to a new report from Eduventures, a Boston-based research firm, enrolment in fully online education programs is projected to grow 30 percent this year, and total U.S. enrollment should exceed 1 million in 2005.


Potential disadvantages of Distance Learning

Despite the upside, you should consider the potential weaknesses of distance learning. Depending on the type of learner you are, these may or may not be relevant for you, and even if they are, the benefits of distance learning may outweigh these.


Support

You need to consider that even though you'll have support; this won't probably be as supportive or easily accessible as a traditional learning environment. Therefore you need to think about how you learn and whether this would be a disadvantage to you. You also need to be comfortable with using a computer.


You need to motivated

Remember you could be conducting your studies at the end of a busy working day, and you won't have a teacher there to egg you on. So you need to be motivated and disciplined. This also requires some degree of sacrifice in terms of spending time with your family and friends.


The traditional student life

Another disadvantage is that you also miss out on the traditional 'student life'. Although you will often meet classmates in discussion forums and chats, if you really enjoy lots of regular human contact and the social aspect of study, distance learning doesn't offer this in the traditional sense. However, I imagine this is generally a concern for younger students.

If you think you've got what it takes, go for it!

Finally, a word of advice. Before you commit to a course, we recommend finding out exactly how the teaching is delivered, and the level of interaction and support. It's also useful to talk with graduates of the particular course to get a student's perspective. Also, to get a good feel for the learning experience offered, ask if you can have access to a school's learning system as a guest or take a demo course.

With these pros and cons in mind, hopefully you will be in a better position to decide whether distance learning is right for you. If you think you've got what it takes, go for it!