Distance Learning & Virtual Learning

Distance learning is becoming incredibly popular these days. Considering that everything else can be acquired online, I suppose it was only a matter of time before learning was online. There are clearly pros and cons to distance or virtual learning. One of the most advantageous aspects of virtual learning is that it allows students from all over the world to actually see and listen to a lecture by a world famous professor. Sometimes, a Q&A session may even take a place after these lectures to provide an interactive learning experience for the students. Needless to say, such an experience might be a valuable and memorable experience for a student. In addition, virtual and distance learning such as the popular Blackboard program allows the professors to keep the students well informed in all aspects of the class – lecture slides, notes, schedule for upcoming tests, homework assignments, projects, contact information etc.. Organization is one of the most important elements of learning. Most of the students who perform below average have trouble organizing their schoolwork/homework and a program such as blackboard helps the student organize greatly. Clearly, as I’ve mentioned above, there are great advantages to distance learning. It is no surprise that most major universities use the Blackboard program. However, there are a couple of disadvantages to distance learning that I will mention here. First and foremost, ironically, the problem with distance or virtual learning is that it is almost too effective at making it easy for students to attend a classroom without actually attending it. I know from personal experience that many students simply grow reliant on virtual learning programs such as Blackboard to keep up with the class work for them. Thus, the students do not bother to take notes in class because they know that they can access Blackboard for the lecture notes. Even further, the students do not take mental notes about upcoming tests or projects to organize for the same reason for not taking class notes. In short, the students get extremely lazy. As we all know, there is no Blackboard for real life and these students, I believe, will have trouble adjusting to life after school. Secondly, classroom dynamics is more than just learning from the professor; it is learning from your fellow classmates. If it becomes extremely easy for students to stay home and get their degrees , then I believe the students are missing out meaningful connections.