Online Education Vs On-Campus Education

The advent of internet and technology has not just made our lives easier, but also brought many facilities to our doorstep. The education industry for instance has been completely revolutionized with the online education platform. The greatest advantage that internet technology brings to the field of education is that it makes it extremely convenient and accessible. This is especially so for professionals who are bound by their work schedules and find little or no time for full time on-campus education. Professionals looking to finish their education or adding to their credentials and skill set are greatly benefitted by the innumerable online courses available today.

This trend is being greatly realized and more and more organizations are waking up to its many benefits. Now that the misconceptions and apprehensions regarding the effectiveness of education and degree earned through an online medium have been removed, online education is gaining popularity over traditional classroom education.

The main advantage offered by an online course is the flexibility of scheduling and the wide range of choices. Owing to busy schedules, most professionals opt out of further studies in order to carry on the responsibilities of their work life and jobs. When questioned about it, as many as 78% professionals expressed a desire to study further, but could not follow through due to reasons relating to lack of time, busy schedules, responsibilities and even high prices and commuting problems in case of on-campus programs.

On close inspection, you would find that maximum points out of the above are resolved by online education, thus the popularity! An online course is such that a person has total control over the subjects that he / she wishes to study, time the classes according to his / her schedule, complete the tasks and assignments or sit for exams at his / her convenience. The lessons are taught online by highly experienced and extremely proficient faculty. There is effective interaction between faculty members and students in every study group. Students raise question and get their problems solved on the spot by the teacher through chat or through emails. There is a healthy discussion among batchmates in every batch and some pertinent and quality questions are raised and discussed. The interaction in the group is aided by online face to face chats. This builds healthy work relations and encourages peer group learning.

The benefits and positive points from the traditional method of classroom learning have been incorporated into online learning. An online course can be opted by professionals of all ages and from any sector or field of work. This makes an online study group a melting pot of people from different professional experiences and educational backgrounds.

An online degree helps enhance your skills and at the same time provides fresh perspectives and problem solving techniques. The best part about going in for an online course is that one can earn an accredited degree from a reputed college while working by paying a fraction of amount paid in case of on-campus education. Moreover, the cost of boarding and commuting are cut, thus making online online education an extremely cheap and effective substitute to on-campus education.

It's true that an on-campus program confers a sense of belongingness and a lifelong alumni status to a student. However, this need of students opting for online education has also been catered to by top colleges that now offer lifelong alumni status, access to library, and other such perks enjoyed by full-time students.

It is important that before opting for a program and study group, one familiarizes oneself with the batchmates and makes sure he / she is compatible and comfortable with them. This is required because the timings and schedules of classes are generally decided with a mutual consent and availability of most students.

Also, it is important to ensure that the institute from where one decides to pursue a course is accredited and enjoys a good status. Apart from this, online education and a degree earned online is now at par with on-campus education and enjoys the same status.