By Kristin Holden, guest writer
In the United States alone, more than one million students are taking classes online, rather than going to an actual school building. These students are missing out on countless opportunities that could be provided for them by a real teacher and classroom experience.
Teachers help answer students’ questions and give them better strategies for learning. Even better, getting to know teachers will allow you to use them as references for colleges and jobs. Classrooms also allow for one of the most important aspects of life to be developed: social skills. Talking to real life people and learning how to work cooperatively are very important in the development of young children and adults. Taking online classes simply doesn’t give a student that option; talking with people through a computer or a phone just isn’t the same.
As a student who has taken an online class, I know how convenient it is and how many more class opportunities there are, but none of those can compare to how beneficial it is to actually go to school. Yes, it is easy to just wake up and log on to a computer, but most jobs and colleges do have an early start time that you will have to be there and be prepared for. Waking up and going to school is good practice for the real world, not to mention it keeps you on a regular sleep
schedule. Also, online classes are super easy to cheat on, just open another tab and copy and paste!
A simple solution to this problem would be to allow students to take these online classes, as long as they are taking at least a few classes in a school setting. This solution would allow students to get those classes that schools do not provide, as well as develop the skills that classrooms can provide. This would truly maximize a student’s learning and development. Classroom learning is proven to be more effective than online learning, but if someone really wants to take classes online, a combination of both would be ideal.