Online Classes Vs Traditional Classes

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Ralph Spencer Gordon English 1101 6 August 2011 Online Classes vs. Face-to-face classes: Are students really learning the same material Today, more and more colleges are offering courses to students that are entirely online. Students who are drawn to online courses include students working full-time jobs, students who prefer a private study environment or students who believe that online courses are easier than traditional classroom courses. Advertisements have been designed to entice students to register for online classes by portraying them as being easier and requiring less work compared to the tradition classroom environment. Some of the examples these ads show are students wearing pajamas working in a relaxed environment such as their home which is free of the pressures caused by deadlines and testing. Although online courses and traditional courses generally cover the same material on a given subject, the two are different with regards to technical know-how and social interaction. Lack of social interaction is a factor that students should consider when registering to take an online course. Although there are methods of communicating with fellow students and instructors in online courses, the face-to-face interaction is not there. Many traditional courses require students to work on activities with partners or in groups which, in turn, increases the chance of students developing meaningful relationships that benefit their academic careers. Some students enjoy group interaction and will likely find that online courses are a disadvantage to them. On the other hand, students that don’t like the group interaction and class presentations will find online courses to their advantage simply because they rarely will have to worry about either. With that being said, research has shown that the online student is learning the same material as those in the
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