Online Education Cons: Can be divided into four groups
• Limited Social Interaction
• Technology Cost and Scheduling
• Effectiveness of Assessments
• Problematic for Instructors
Limited Social Interaction: There is a limited opportunities to interact face-to-face to professors and other students.
• Especially in self-paced courses – difficult to develop relationships with classmates
• Possibility of limited local networking opportunities
• Most of the communication through e-mail, chat room or discussion groups, but no offline get-together
• No personalized attention from instructor with regards to face-to-face interactions and feedbacks
• No campus atmosphere to create social interaction
Technology Cost and Scheduling: Some of the key elements are –
• Computer boot-up time, software programs, and connection to Internet
• Students may be required to learn new or enhanced computer and troubleshooting skills
• Additional cost of high-speed Internet
• Log into your class while at work (unless your employer permits you to complete your course work at the office)
• Plan and adjust your studying schedule around instructor’s assignment due date. For example, east coast versus west coast in the U.S., International course or student, etc.
• If a student is scheduling to study in the night then he/she will have to wait for response from the instructor or classmates by next day
Effectiveness of Assessment: Most educators agree that memory testing is not the best measure of learning in any environment, but classroom tools are difficult to apply. It is difficult to measure program results. Question remains: are students learning what instructor is saying that they should be learning?
Problematic for Instructors: As software is getting more and more advanced, instructors are constantly trying to learn how to keep up.
• Traditional instructors believing in lectures and handouts may have tough time in adopting the system and software.
• Student must be self-motivated and disciplined to progress through his/her program in a timely mann