Comparative Analysis of Traditional Learning and Online Classes

There is no doubt that education is the only tool to become successful. It gives us the opportunity to become a full-fledged member of a society we belong, by gaining all the necessary abilities. Nowadays there are several options to get knowledge. Students have the opportunity to attend traditional classroom classes or chose online learning. Both models of learning are created for providing educational requirements in order to obtain a college degree or diploma and both models are effective. The final decision is up to students which type of learning is suitable and acceptable for them. Several factors play an enormous role while making a decision: time management, communication, costs, and convenience. Based on theses factors online and traditional learning are compared in this essay.

Time management is the number one priority for students with a busy schedule. In this case, there is a huge difference between traditional classroom classes and online courses. On one hand, when students have to make homework, class projects or researches, and they have to do all this in a specific period, it is easier to work with the class instructor. Who enforces students to meet the deadlines. On the other hand, students who prefer online learning, have to make their schedules and are depending on time management. So it does not matter, which method a student is choosing, time management is a very important key element. Online learning students have to be more organized, disciplined and self-demanding. These students have to reserve time to fulfill the requirements.

The other difference between these two methods of learning is communication. In-class learning, there is constant communication between students with each other and the teacher. In this case, face to face communication develop many important skills for the students, such as public speaking, social skills, and presentation abilities. It is proved that social communication among the students creates many useful links, they can exchange with their experiences, involvements, practices, and understandings. Online learning is unable to develop these abilities, which are important for modern students in their future activities and profession. On the other hand, modern technology connects students from all over the world. They have the advantage to get accustomed to each other’s traditions and culture. The Internet gives huge possibilities to save time, use search engines efficiently, have numerous online books and researches on hand. But not all students have the possibility to attend online classes due to no internet. In this case, they have no other option but to be friendly with books at the library.

As we have admitted above, another difference is cost saving. Colleges are much more expansive then online courses, which is quite understandable. Traditional schools offer any other facility rather than teaching only academic subjects. There is all kind of interesting activities for students: sport, amateur, dancing, charity, and various programs. Campuses answer the demands of all types of students, which makes student life more interesting and attractive. So students study not only academic subjects, they study how to use the knowledge in their future career. Traditional classes give more than education. It gives the culture of communication, interaction, friendship, collaboration, teaches relationships. Based on practical examples we can conclude that students learn more interesting things in class while listening to their classmates, rather than studying alone. But when we speak about cost, there is a huge difference between college and online learning. One can get high-class education online at a very cheap price. Students can save on transport, materials, and others. There are many useful online courses for adults. It is very affordable for doing an additional degree or some pieces of training. All these courses demand less money and time.

In conclusion, as we see both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Both learnings depend on individuals’ character and abilities. Some students prefer human interaction and in this case, face to face learning is the best solution. Others prefer individual learning and choose online courses. New technology gives the chance to take such courses which are not even available in their institutions. So it is upon students’ decision what type of learning they prefer to take. This kind of opportunity was not offered a few years ago. So why not use the chance and decide which educational system is suitable for us at a particular moment.