The working class America of today can be characterized as being overly stressed and overworked. The average worker spends more time at work now than in the past, leading to valuing the concept of time and becoming more efficient in the use of it. Thus, the trend of online learning is increasing to further an education, acquire a new degree, or attain a government required license. As Stephen Smith, Professor at Purdue University has stated,
They (workers) value control over and flexibility in scheduling their time.
The reality is that in order to exceed in today’s working economy, individuals must become more flexible and take more initiative towards their success. In doing so, acquiring a degree or furthering one’s education to increase the ability to earn a higher income has become a task best fulfilled online.
Of the multiple reasons why online learning has become a more popular method of advancing in education, a few main reasons include:
- Convenience
- Cost effectiveness
- Time effectiveness
- Concentrated educational focus vs group learning flow
Convenience – Online learning is simply more convenient than the time-consuming travels to and from a classroom. The internet has revolutionized education in America by bringing the classroom to the student. Access to a degree or professional designation is attainable at the click of a mouse.
Cost effectiveness – Online learning costs less than the traditional classroom education because it eliminates several expenses including travel, instructor salary, and other various classroom overhead. Though credit hour costs are similar between classroom and online accredited courses,
By attending school online you are saving on gas money, textbooks (most online universities have online libraries), and housing. Further, most online students keep their day jobs and are still bringing in their normal salary. When you add all of this together, you will be saving a substantial chunk of change. Source: http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/financial-aid/college-education-costsTime effectiveness – As was just stated, online learning is non-intrusive to the demands and schedule of one’s day job. An online education allows for the ability to learn at home, after work, and on the weekends so as not to conflict with current work schedules. conducive to their speed.
Concentrated educational focus vs group learning flow – According to the New York Times, a study conducted by the SRI International for the Department of Education has concluded that,
The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more tailored to individual students than is possible in classrooms. That enables more “learning by doing,” which many students find more engaging and useful.
Online learning allows individuals to study at their own pace, equating to better comprehension and recall than the traditional ‘group average’ pace of the classroom. We’ve all heard the phrase that it’s not just the degree you attain, but also the information you retain and with e-learning, setting the pace is at the discretion of the individual to best understand the material being learned.
In conclusion, online learning (e-learning) has evolved from what was once thought of as a secondary means of study to the current mainstream trend being implemented by universities and businesses around the world. Online learning is efficient, convenient, and rich in information. Time is of greater value than ever and e-learning has allowed individuals to better control their educational advancement while still maintaining their working professions.
