5 Disadvantages of Online Education

Everyone is talking about how great online education is these days. Nobody think about disadvantages of online education. It’s true that there are benefits to choosing online education including getting your education for less money than at a traditional college and being able to work on your classes on your own time. Despite all the talk about online education, the majority of people seeking an education still go the traditional route. It’s important to understand the potential problems that you may encounter if you choose online education over a traditional college experience.

Disadvantages of Online Education

Following are 5 disadvantages of online education

1. Online schools may not be accredited.

It’s important to verify that an online program you are considering has the proper accreditation. It is easy to go online and find out whether or not an online institution is accredited. Generally, schools that are accredited will have the information on their website so make sure you look for that and verify that the information is correct. This is a very important step because paying for a degree at an institution that is not accredited is just a waste of money. If your degree is not from an accredited university, it won’t help you move up in the workplace because it won’t be recognized. You will be left paying for a useless piece of paper.

2. You won’t have much, if any, in person interactions.

Not interacting with other students and professors in person may not seem like a big deal to a lot of potential students. However, experts believe that in an online education program, the information is only going one way – out to the students. There is no real exchange of information, no conversations and no relationships created as there are in a traditional education program. This can make learning more difficult.

3.  You will end up working harder than you would in a traditional college program.

When you pursue a degree from an online institution, you should be prepared to do a lot reading and write a lot of papers. As online institutions try to offer a better quality education, they are requiring more of their students then they have in the past. They want to be confident their students learn the material so they expect them to commit a lot of time to the classes. The average amount of time online students spend working on a single class is up to 10 hours every week but the time commitment could be between 15 and 20 hours every week in some cases.

4. You will have to be have a lot of self-discipline.

With online education, you will have to meet a lot of deadlines for things like completing assignments, taking tests and responding to online lectures. This can all be done but only if you are very organized and you manage your time very well. The key to success with online education is to know how much time you need to commit to your courses and to schedule that time every day. This can be difficult when you have a family and a job that takes up a lot of your time. Before starting an online education program, make sure you are going to be able to commit the time that is going to be required and that you are ready to work hard.

5.  You will not get a lot of direction from advisers or other experts in an online program.

Students in a non-online education program will have an adviser that they are required to meet with regularly to make sure they are on the right path. You may not need this type of interaction if you are only taking one or two classes but it is something to consider if you are planning on getting your entire degree through online education. If you are not taking the right classes, you can end up wasting time and paying more for your education so you will need to find someone who can help guide you through the education process.

While there are potential problems that you may encounter with online education, it really does work for a lot of people. Make sure you weigh all your options carefully and that you know what the pros and cons of both online and traditional education are before you make a decision.

I hope you agree with these 5 disadvantages of online education. You may comment your experiences about advantages and disadvantages of online education.

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