The Online Campus

Online courses, classes, private tutors, teaching environments and student forums. It seems that students are literally flocking to an online or otherwise virtual learning environment sometimes even to the detriment of brick and mortar learning sites. Last year, over 4 million students enrolled in both online schools and universities and this number is believed to grow at an average of 30% per year.

Why Go Online?

We know that student from all over the world are making the daily choice of learning online: from those who have before tried to study English in Canada to those were considering to learn French in France, everyone seems to be jumping on this wagon. But why do students prefer online learning? What are the reasons for this increasing popularity? Here are some reasons why students prefer this approach and what benefits it has for them.

Accessibility: Students can now attend their courses or lessons anytime and from anywhere. Parents who before were to busy to continue studying can tend to the house and children and then sit down for a lesson. People with odd work schedules are no longer left out and those who need to be on the move constantly can have access to an education they otherwise wouldn't.
Personal Approach: This type of environment enables students to fit the lessons to their own way of learning: whether you are a student that works best with visual or audio queues or perhaps you learn best by doing, a good online course will have options for you.
Material: Course material is always available 24/7. It doesn't matter if you were sick, couldn't listen or perhaps were too tired to pay attention in class. You can now view all the material, as many times as you want, making sure you are getting the right stuff rather than your interpretation of it.
Participation: Attendance in an online environment is done through participation. Not only that, but given the relaxed feel and separation of the online environment people are not only encouraged to participate more, but they feel more at ease and less self conscious about doing so.
Teachers: The online teachers and instructors from this virtual campuses can come from any location across the globe. This encourages getting the best teacher for the job and allows students to interact with natives without having to go learn French in Paris.
Ease of Use: Participating in an online forum or classroom is definitely less intimidating than in real person. In a world where seat arrangements can come in contact with issues like gender, race and age, online environments serve to reduce tension. The medium also allows students to think their answers through without feeling watched or rushed which leads to better contributions.
Prestige: Online education isn't the secluded beast it used to be. With over 75% of the Universities in the United States offering online degree programs, online learning has become something that demands respect on equal ground as other types of education.