Virtual Education

Virtual Education has become increasingly popular over the past few years. There are numerous of Universities that offer the convenience of an online degree. Many benefits come with a virtual education such as, no commute to a campus, flexibility, and convenience. Virtual universities are widely advertised on the internet making promising of earning a degree in your spare time and at the convenience of your home. While the growth of a virtual education is increasing it does not compare to the quality of a traditional degree.

Technology has made it possible to earn a degree from the comfort of your own home. A virtual education entails attending online classes without ever visiting a campus. The concept of being virtual is that you are able to access your course material from anywhere in the world as long as you have internet access. A traditional education requires that a student attend on campus classes at a scheduled day and time. Online course offer flexibility and schedules to meet the student's needs, while on campus courses require the student to maintain a schedule and meet deadlines.

The popularity of virtual education has increased and more and more individuals are enrolling in an online university to earn their degree. "A great many students have expressed a sense of comfort that they feel from being an anonymous student in a huge classroom of five hundred fellow students" (Versluis 2). With this in mind, there in no pressure for the student to fit in or interact with fellow students face to face. But how can this promote a healthy learning environment for any student? "In many respects, one's relation to such a class is rather like one's relationship to television programs: it's just a matter of being there in comfortable anonymity" (Versluis 2).

The University of Phoenix is one of the most well know online universities. This particular university is a for profit college "which charges $12,000 a year in tuition, reported net income (profits) of $271 million in 2004, more money than many nonprofit colleges generate for annual operations" (Cronin & Bachorz). Online universities are advertising low tuition rates and promising the ability to earn a bachelors or masters degree in half the time it would take at a traditional college. From my past experience with an online university the tuition rates were extremely higher to be exact $320 per credit hour. The promise of being able to complete a bachelors or masters degree in half the time was also a false promise. In pertaining to earning a masters degree "A professor of education at Stanford said that she had "never seen a master's degree program organized in that short amount of time", and that compressing all the credit hours for a traditional semester into a week represents a "perversion" of the way credit-hours are usually counted" (Versluis 6). Attending an on campus college with a reasonable tuition rate will save one thousands of dollars a year. Many on campus colleges are now offering online courses and this is a great way for students to attend classes. However, I feel that a student also needs to experience a classroom setting.

A highly debatable topic pertaining to virtual education is the loss of educational value. "A critical survey finding was that 74% of students in the internet class believed they "missed out" educationally because they took an internet class" (Hirschheim 2). While online universities may be more convenient, students seem to miss out on the classroom experience. A classroom experience offers input from other students and the instructor, diversity, and clarification on homework assignments. Not to mention online students are missing out on valuable input from their instructor. "Students in both classes noted they received significantly more information on the professor's perspective in traditional classes than in internet classes" (Hirschheim 2).

The need for virtual education will only continue to increase over the years. A virtual degree will allow people all over the world to obtain an education no matter where they live. Many local colleges and universities are now offering online courses, but remain loyal to the traditional standards of the classroom setting. Here are five reasons why "better not bigger, individuals and foundations still support traditional colleges, expectations of the upper-middle class, a steady supply of young students is enough for most residential colleges, and change is not easy" (Cronin & Bachorz). With these five reasons in mind traditional education will prevail over a virtual education.

There are many pros and cons in attending an online university. This can be a tough decision to make when deciding to earn a degree. Online universities offer flexibility and the convenience of earning you degree via the internet. While traditional universities stick to classroom setting that offer hand on learning and diversity. In my opinion if I were an employer wanting to hire an individual with a degree I would have to pick the individual who attended a traditional college or university. My decision would be made solely on the fact that a traditional college offers hands on experience that are valuable when stepping out into the workforce. An online university has no way of offering hands on experience via the internet.

In conclusion, an online university degree does not measure up to a degree from a traditional college. There is a lack of hands on experience and participation in a group setting when attending an online university. As a result, many online universities do not measure up the type of education that is offered at a traditional college or university.

Works Cited

Cronin, Joseph M., and Patricia M. Bachorz. "The Rising of Phoenix, and What It Means for

Higher Education." Journal of Education 186 (2005): 1. Academic Search Premier.

EBSCOhost. Owens CC, Toledo Lib. 29, June 2007 .

Hirschheim, Rudy. "The Internet-Based Bandwagon: Look Before You Leap." Communications

of the ACM 48 (2005): 97-101. Academic Search Premier. . EBSCOhost. Owens CC,

Toledo Lib. 29, June 2007 .

Versluis, Arthur. "Virtual Education and the Race to the Bottom." Academic Questions 17

(2004): 38-51. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Owens CC, Toledo Lib. 29,

June 2007 .