Online college courses, do you lose some of the quality of education?

Question

I am thinking about going to college, and doing an online college - is this just plain stupid, should i go for it, isnt the education bad compared to actually attending college at a campus?

Answer 1

I'm a university student who goes to a traditional school, but I've taken a few online courses through the school because it worked better with my schedule and I didn't have to take the time to go to class.

I personally like the online classes better. You can go more at your own pace, even though there is an assignment schedule that you have to adhere to. You do more reading than you would in a traditional course on campus to make up for the absence of lectures. But I didn't mind - you learn just as much reading as you would listening to a professor talk for three hours a week. It's more efficient in my opinion. In traditional courses you have to do the reading in addition to sitting in a classroom several hours a week. Online courses let you cut to the chase of actually learning the material and you can skip the sometimes useless lectures.

Our online classes had discussion boards where you communicate with the professor and your other classmates. Typically, we had to post our assignments on the boards, and we commented on our classmates' work. Things like papers were submitted through the email system to the professor, and he would write all of his comments on your paper and send it back to you with your grade.

If you can find a reputable online school - one like University of Maryland, or another REAL university that offers online programs, then I would go for it in a minute. I would be cautious about the online schools that do not have a physical college or university campus. Those schools will be taken less seriously by potential employers.

The quality of education does not suffer at all. I've become a virtual expert on certain subjects just by reading and researching them on my own, along with a little bit of discussion online with some folks. You don't need a professor lecturing at you to get a good education - though some professors of online classes do post their lectures in a text format where you can read them.

One thing - it also depends on what degree program you want to pursue. Some disciplines are better studied on a traditional campus (art, and more hands-on courses), while others are suited just fine for the online environment (history, English, humanities).

Answer 2

I do not think that you lose some of the quality of education necessarily by obtaining your degree online. However just as you do not receive the same level of education from "brick and mortar" colleges, not all online programs are the same either.

I think you will find that the number of online degree programs is growing both in the number of schools offering them (most schools offer online programs of some sort because of the advantages they offer both the school and students), the quality of education offered, and in reputation by potential employers. Nowadays many prestigious schools are confident enough in the quality of education being offered online that they do not indicate whether a degree was obtained online or on campus.

I would recommend contacting a number of schools to find out more information about their programs to find the best fit for you. I would also make sure that any school you are considering is regionally accredited. This site has some good information on accredited online degrees and some schools to help you begin your search if you choose to go that route:

http://www.ecollegefinder.org/

Answer 3

I don't think you lose any of the quality of an education. You still have due dates on assignments and you still have to study your butt off.  If you're a person who thrives off of being around people, you should consider a traditional classroom setting.  With online classes, you lose nothing in the education area, however, you will lose some of the college experience.  How to take college courses just depends on who you are and what you like.  It's a personal decision, and only you know what environment you will work best in.

Answer 4

May be this site can help you

http://www.a1onlinecourses.com