Thursday, September 9, 2010

Online education is the future

In the past, parents had a reason to go beserk when they find out that their kids weren’t attending classes. These days though, college students actually have a legitimate excuse for skipping school. According to a survey conducted in the US of 500 college students, “78% said that their professors have used web streaming - either a live feed or videotaped lectures - with nearly a third saying that their professors use web streaming frequently.”

There’s no question that viewing lectures online offers advantages over sitting in a classroom. It’s a lot more convenient to say the least. But the real benefit of online education is that it’s cheaper and consequently more people will be able to afford and go to college. So it’s really no surprise that the survey reports that students preferred the online lectures and that they actually learned more effectively this way. Somehow I find the last part a little hard to believe.

You can’t help but wonder if these online lectures are really in the best interest of a child’s education. Ultimately, the quality of education is sacrificed if these online lectures even qualify as one.

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