For a majority of High School students, going to college is the next logical step, in the path to improve their future. This may not have been the case 15 to 20 years ago. During this time, there was a healthy middle class in the United States, were high School graduates could find a job at a factory earning fairly good pay. As more of these industrial jobs were shipped overseas, companies found themselves in a position needing to fill more of the more technological advance jobs. Without some type of higher education, the United Sates work force would not be able to succeed in those positions. Another reason that more adults are starting to return to college is because of their …show more content…
One of the disadvantage of online courses is the lack of direct contact, online classes doesn’t offer the face to face interactions with the instructors and other classmates. Discussing sensitive subjects can sometimes be difficult because of that reason. Most communications are done through the class room forum or teacher’s forum. Getting immediate help from the professors can sometimes be difficult if a student is having difficulties with a specific issue. Another aspect of online learning is time commitment, students have to complete projects, weekly assignments and participate in class discussion forums all within a giving time frame. Students have to be self-motivated and have self- discipline to complete the work. The most negative effect of online learning is the frequency of classroom failures and the student dropout rates as compare to the more traditional classroom settings. A study revealed in July 2011 by the Columbia University Community College Research Center indicated that Washington community college students were more likely to drop online classes than traditional ones. Course completion for traditional courses was 90 percent, and for online classes, it was 82 percent. (Kokemuller, …show more content…
As the price tag of traditional colleges and universities are increasing every year more people are finding themselves moving towards online education. As technology improves, the accessibility of an online education will also increase. According to an August 2011 "Pew Research Center" report, 89 percent of public and 60 percent of private colleges offer online courses (Neil Kokemuller). Then again this places a greater responsibility on the student. To effectively gain a positive experience from an online program, student must possess time management skills, dedication to the work materials in order to keep up with the pace of the