1.  An online education is for the disciplined student, which makes it superior
in some cases.
An online education is not for everyone. The online environment is better suited for the independent,
disciplined, and hard working student. In addition, technological literate students will stand a better
chance at succeeding in an online environment.
Having wrote that, a good online program includes everything that is needed to learn the material ---
virtual writing centers, tutoring, virtual student centers, access to the college’s library, and many eager
professors willing to help the student succeed.
From my own experience, I found that I learned the material better online than in my on-campus
classes. Maybe its because the online classes required more commitment from me. I found that the
online classes had a heavier workload. For example, I know of an engineering student that dropped out
of an online class in Philosophy, because she found it way too hard. She ended up taking the class on-campus
instead and got an A. She wasn't just any student either---she graduated with honors in
chemical engineering. It just goes to show that the best online students are on a higher intellectual
level than most other students.
 Online education is ineffective and a waste of time
I've always been more of a hands -on learner, so I never liked the idea of an online class. First, let me give you
some background. I am a straight A student. I wasn't always a straight A student because in high school, I ne ver
bothered to do more than what it took to pass. Now, ten years after graduation, I care about my education. I work
hard at learning the material and doing the best that I can. I always go to the professors for any kind of
clarification. I finally got enrolled in an online course at my college, and found out online classes are worse than I
thought. I feel so lost because there are far too many documents, far too many links to click for reading, posting,
and commenting, and far too many mini assignments to keep track of. I am very organized, and I'm struggling
with keeping it all straight. How would someone else do who is hardly organized at all?
But that is not the only complaint. I had to take a math class where both the professor and online had assignme nts.
I learned far more from the professor because I received individualized feedback rather than a cut and paste
answer that didn't even help. When I didn't use the right letter in my answer, it was marked wrong, even though
the answer itself was right. My professor could show me what I was doing wrong and how to fix it. I learn math in
patterns. If something changes in the pattern, I get confused, don't know what to do, and I end up doing it wrong.
The professor showed me how to tell the difference in pat terns. The computer left me floundering with math
jargon I didn't understand as my only means if figuring out problems. As if you couldn't tell, it wasn't enough.
Overall, I haven't had many experiences with online learning, but my experiences have been awful. I prefer having
face to face access to the professor because having only emails to communicate makes me feel disconnected. I
definitely don't feel like I learn even half as much from online classes as I do from traditional schooling.