Compare and Contrast: Online Classes and Face-to-Face Classes
The ever-escalating popularity of online classes due to widespread technological evolution has resulted in students, going so far as to abandon face-to-face classes altogether, with one of the largest private online universities, University of Phoenix, accepting 90,000 students in 2003. However, even with this expanding fame, there are people remaining unconvinced about the credibility of online classrooms as compared to real-life ones. Whether this bias is valid or not, it is important for prospective students, parents, and teachers to compare and contrast, significant facets of both options such as Use of communication, learning environment, and cost. …show more content…
The use of chat rooms allows teachers and students to interact with one another at a quicker pace than one would see in e-mailing. But, since the internet is the primary medium for online classes, it is likely that teachers or peers will respond quickly to emails as well, considering the recipient will be operating the computer a fair amount of the time. Secondly, the extensive use of other communication tools throughout the learning process help promote teamwork, the advancement of ideas, and assist students with learning any formidable material through the help of peers. Some examples of these are discussion boards and forums. Discussion boards and forums allow students to express their thoughts, ideas, and what they have learned with each other in useful and productive ways while also receiving grades. This ease with distributing knowledge amongst peers helps one another to grow intellectually and have a chance to speak, or rather, write about what they have learned. Leading into to the final point of communication, there is a major emphasis on writing since lingual correspondence is limited. Unless a specific online institution requires a webcam and/or microphone for the entire body of …show more content…
The ease of communication in face-to-face classes may vary greatly among schools and teachers. Teachers and peer students often are available for discussion and questions during class time, but may not be so readily available outside of class time. Along with this, some students are not so lucky to have time to ask questions and engage in discussion during class time, especially in large classes, not everyone can have a chance to speak. However, teachers do try to set aside special time for classroom discussions, in hopes of allowing all students an opportunity to speak. Classroom discussions can be incredibly helpful to students, as it allows for the exchange of ideas and teacher input. The main difference between discussions online and face-to-face is that in a real life classroom discussion, there is one main flow of communication happening, with people taking turns speaking, as opposed to every student writing on a topic. Online classes also allow for non-verbal communication, along with verbal. Real-life dialogue, along with body language, often can be more exciting, helpful or attention-grabbing than reading words on a screen and it is possible to ask questions or state ideas and immediately receive responses. Next, the learning environment of face-to-face classes is quite different from that of an online classroom. Instructors usually will have a portion of
The ever-escalating popularity of online classes due to widespread technological evolution has resulted in students, going so far as to abandon face-to-face classes altogether, with one of the largest private online universities, University of Phoenix, accepting 90,000 students in 2003. However, even with this expanding fame, there are people remaining unconvinced about the credibility of online classrooms as compared to real-life ones. Whether this bias is valid or not, it is important for prospective students, parents, and teachers to compare and contrast, significant facets of both options such as Use of communication, learning environment, and cost. …show more content…
The use of chat rooms allows teachers and students to interact with one another at a quicker pace than one would see in e-mailing. But, since the internet is the primary medium for online classes, it is likely that teachers or peers will respond quickly to emails as well, considering the recipient will be operating the computer a fair amount of the time. Secondly, the extensive use of other communication tools throughout the learning process help promote teamwork, the advancement of ideas, and assist students with learning any formidable material through the help of peers. Some examples of these are discussion boards and forums. Discussion boards and forums allow students to express their thoughts, ideas, and what they have learned with each other in useful and productive ways while also receiving grades. This ease with distributing knowledge amongst peers helps one another to grow intellectually and have a chance to speak, or rather, write about what they have learned. Leading into to the final point of communication, there is a major emphasis on writing since lingual correspondence is limited. Unless a specific online institution requires a webcam and/or microphone for the entire body of …show more content…
The ease of communication in face-to-face classes may vary greatly among schools and teachers. Teachers and peer students often are available for discussion and questions during class time, but may not be so readily available outside of class time. Along with this, some students are not so lucky to have time to ask questions and engage in discussion during class time, especially in large classes, not everyone can have a chance to speak. However, teachers do try to set aside special time for classroom discussions, in hopes of allowing all students an opportunity to speak. Classroom discussions can be incredibly helpful to students, as it allows for the exchange of ideas and teacher input. The main difference between discussions online and face-to-face is that in a real life classroom discussion, there is one main flow of communication happening, with people taking turns speaking, as opposed to every student writing on a topic. Online classes also allow for non-verbal communication, along with verbal. Real-life dialogue, along with body language, often can be more exciting, helpful or attention-grabbing than reading words on a screen and it is possible to ask questions or state ideas and immediately receive responses. Next, the learning environment of face-to-face classes is quite different from that of an online classroom. Instructors usually will have a portion of