CORRECTION SYNTHESE ONLINE COURSES

Virtual education vs classroom teaching

Traditional education has always taken place in a classroom. However, online courses are now beginning /to change the face of higher education. This topic is the main focus of a column written by Kristina Chew, a classics /professor, in The Guardian. A leading article taken from USA Today also addresses this divisive issue along with a cartoon published in /the Boston Globe. They all came out in 2013 except for a graph taken from mooclab.com dated 2017.  They raise the/ following question: Is online learning the way forward?

As Kristina Chew points out, technology is an integral part of teaching. It /enables her to remain connected with her students even after they have graduated. Besides the Internet provides her with a/ wealth of information she can use in class. In addition, an increasing number of universities now offer online course. The/ graph shows that since 2011, the number of platforms offering online classes has soared, providing education to over 100 million students/ in 23 countries. According to a consulting firm mentioned in USA Today these courses are as efficient   real-life classes. As a /result, education is becoming more and more virtual with universities increasingly relying on “massive open online courses” as Ms Chew says in her column./ Furthermore, they are affordable and may be the answer to overwhelming student debts. As indicated in USA Today, they also offer/ a large variety of classes and their reputation is improving.

Yet the cartoon from The Boston Globe paints a different picture. A /student who attended an online course is asked by his computer to click in order to toss his cap in /the air on graduation day. He thus misses out on a real-life experience. Kristina Chew claims that nothing can replace the physical presence/ of the teacher in the classroom. It makes her teaching real to the students. The lack of interaction with professors in one /of the major drawbacks of online classes and a large majority of students still prefer being in an actual classroom as/ stated in USA Today. Nevertheless, virtual education is likely to keep gaining ground beyond 2017 as the graph suggests and Ms Chew /concludes her column by wondering whether real-life teaching will one day be a thing of the past, depriving students of /actual memories of the college experience. (365 words)