Responsibilities at work and home prevent many individuals from returning to school to obtain degrees, or continuing education courses that may offer increase in positions and pay. Often career-focused men and women consider taking online courses, an extremely popular method of learning that doesn't require actual physical presence in a traditional classroom environment. However, as with anything, there are pros and cons to taking courses or classes online, and individuals should understand some of them before making a decision as to which learning method suits them and their needs.
Pros: Convenience
Most online courses enable students to access coursework at their own convenience, meaning a student can access the class content at 3 a.m. or 7 p.m., depending on his or her work schedule and family responsibilities.
Pro: Pacing
An online course usually allows students to set their own pace as long as semester work is completed in a particular time frame. For example, Penn Foster College allows students up to one year to complete one semester, or an average of approximately eight weeks per class, while the University of Phoenix online classes average about five weeks per class.
Con: Isolation
Students taking online classes or courses usually work on their computers at home, as most classes require assignments and tests to be submitted online. Coursework instruction materials are offered in print for most students, while others opt to read study guides and texts through links provided by the school, further adding to sense of isolation for some.
Con: Motivation
Students taking online coursework must be self-motivated to complete classwork on time and to push themselves to achieve good grades in order to meet their goals. Unfortunately, some students are not motivated self-learners, and suffer from a constant lack of direction and feedback from course instructors.
Pro: Cost Savings
Some online classes offer substantial savings to students, who don't have to pay for parking fees, student housing, student services, transportation or take time off work to attend classes offered at specific times throughout the day.
Con: Instructor Feedback
Many instructors already burdened with campus classes, grading, lecturing and answering questions from students on college campuses are often limited to the amount of time they can take after hours to respond to questions or queries from online students.
