Brandon Ansari

Professor Almendarez

ENGL 114B

16 April 2017

The Online Future

In higher education, one in four students take at least one online class year by year. This

is a continuous 3.9% increase per year for students enrolling in online courses (Online Learning

Consortium, Inc). People continuously seem to find themselves busy in their lives and never

have the time to prioritize. Everyone has different reasons to be busy and cannot grow as an

individual because some priorities hold them back. Sometimes work begins to stress people out,

or family issues come into play causing setbacks for someone who desires to do better. Most

people who desire to grow and do better want to reach higher positions, mostly for higher wages,

but most times it requires classes and programs to achieve degrees made for the position. Many

people do not have the time or can not afford traditional classes in higher education.

Advancement in technology allows these inspired individuals to take on their challenges at an

affordable and convenient time. As technology moves forward, so do the people who want to

excel for better futures. Although technology should not replace classroom teachers, it could be a

possibility because of the vast advancement in technology, people are finding its convenience,

and it saves money in the long run.

One of the main concerns for students enrolling in classrooms is availability and

convenience with all the activities that revolve around our lives. Most times, universities and

community colleges offer only specific times for a specific class needed in a degree, which

conflict with unchangeable personal priorities. With the advancement of technology, universities
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and colleges offer online courses that work with schedules fitted to personal availability. Easy

accessibility gives students the option to choose their preferred course, as Online classes will

mold with you schedule--log into your online at a time that works best for you as opposed to

having to attend a lecture at a specific time, which students are starting to lean towards (Bird).

Students often have difficulty scheduling classes because courses are only offered in limited

amounts and at certain times. These classes often clash with other courses that are only offered at

certain times as well. To make it even worse, students often have work schedules or club

activities that continues the problematic scheduling process. Online courses work differently.

They offer a week by week lesson or chapter that it most flexible to any schedule of any student,

which allows the student to work at their own pace and at their own time.

Another factor of online classes replacing teachers is the affordability side of online

courses. Students may pay high tuition costs for classes with horrible professors because they

cannot teach or their classes are completely disorganized. These unlucky students waste their

money paying for their tuition and cannot even receive a proper education in return. Most

universities and the education system are currently attempting to, reduce tuition increases and

use online courses to decrease the time required to earn a degree, may help the student debt load

(Close-Up Media, Inc). An easy alternative to getting an affordable education revolves around

online classes as they save money in the long run for both students and the university system.

College students usually need to find ways to save money, as they are trying to adapt to adult

responsibilities, which can include affording an apartment and paying bills. At an early age, most

jobs cannot offer great wages to help them afford this and more, so students need to save as

much money as possible. Most professors and teachers In search of budget savings, some public

officials are touting online learning and so called blended classes that use both computer-based
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and in-person instruction as potential means of saving money on teacher salaries, as well as

saving students money (Marcia Clemmitt). With student tuition actually rising this year in 2017,

it is hard to afford proper education from traditional classrooms. Online classrooms are proven to

be cheaper because of the fact that online courses do not have to pay for certain faculty. Teachers

should be and are still required within the online courses because of communication of certain

questions students may have. Since there needs to be communication, teachers can still be paid to

work with and chat to students through a variety of ways with technology as it is advancing

everyday. This continues the circulation of the economy and does not have to disrupt any

economic stability as teachers continue to get paid, only in a different setting. As well as getting

the comfort of home as well saves money because it saves students a trip to campus. Gas for

automobiles costs money as well as student parking costs money. Being at home and taking

online courses saves student the money they need, especially older students who need to support

families.

With the advancement of technology everyday, it is becoming easier to access and

communicate to people faster than ever. When students miss a class, they could miss an entire

lecture, or even a review for a midterm. Interactions with instructors and peers will still happen

as an online student, even when they are absent from an actual class it just happens to be

through online video instead. Learning through online video can help you to focus more on

independently learning and your classes may even go quicker without some of the distractions of

a traditional classroom education, and students do not need an excuse to miss the content they

could miss (Kendall Bird). E-mails are becoming the dinosaur age of technology as new chatting

and messaging ways are being created in the technological world. Also it becomes easier to

communicate with absolutely anyone around the world as smartphones are becoming a popular
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hit in the modern age. People tend to travel around, or even just hardly go home because of busy

schedules. Wireless accessibility of chatting apps and text messaging allows quick response

times for anybody who needs to communicate for urgency. In the case for students, this allows

them to talk to their teacher or professor in a quick manner. Through online classes, a professor

has easy access to speak to students based on each others availability, rather than an entire class

meeting all at once. Also, as well as teachers realizing that technology is advancing and can be

used to their advantage. If the teacher can not express the curriculum properly, service websites

or portals are there to offer student feedback directly to other classmates. Most services, are

free to join, and materials are crowd-sourced with a four-point rating scale in areas as quality,

practicality, thoroughness and clarity. In addition, users can submit comments about the success

of the material, allowing students to help one another in one area (Mackenzie). Portals are rising

throughout schools, allowing easier access for students and staff to be reached out and contacted

on important information. These portals offer tools and resources for students to reach out and

use at any convenient time on a computer. For instance, California State University, Northridge

offers a portal with resources of registering for classes or any online class help. Most homework

assignments are turned in through a resource used on the portal, called Moodle. All these

resources are organized carefully and conveniently found on in one spot accessible to practically

anyone with an authorized account, which is the student or staff. Students continuously look for

convenience and as this generation moves closer towards technology, the more classes will be

offered online, making it convenient for students.

Overall, online courses are slowly entering this generation as the new way of earning a

degree. Its affordability, convenience, and advancement are all contributing factors to replacing

teachers inside the classroom. The psychology and mentality of the people throughout the world
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is to have things convenient. If it is not convenient, then they do not want to deal with it, no

matter what it may be. The Internet has many powers and accessibility given to people to make

it convenient for them. The world is advancing into the Internet age and it has gotten to a point

that we cannot function without it. It has also reached a point where professors begin to use

online resources to make it less stressful for themselves. The idea of traditional classrooms has

changed within our generation where we believe that all classes must have some type of online

connection. We have seen that technology could replace teachers, but do we even realize that the

transformation has already begun?

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Works Cited

Bird, Kendall. Rasmussen College. Rasmussen College - Regionally Accredited College

Online and on Campus, 9 Feb. 2014, www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/college-

life/online-vs-traditional-education-answer-never-expected/. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017.

Clemmitt, Marcia. Digital Education. CQ Researcher, CQ Press, 2 Dec. 2011,

moodle.csun.edu/pluginfile.php/4344395/mod_resource/content/1/Digital

%20Education.pdf.

Kennedy, Kathryn, and Leanna Archambault. "Offering Preservice Teachers Field Experiences in

K-12 Online Learning." Journal of Teacher Education, 63.3 (2012): 185-200.

Professional Services Close - Up. Fitch: Efforts to Reduce U.S. Student College Debt

Forming. Pro Quest, Close-Up Media, 31 Mar. 2013,

search.proquest.com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/1321754470?

OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:primo&accountid=7285.

Ryan, Mackenzie. Create Your Own Curriculum. District Administration, Professional Media

Group, LLC, Oct. 2016,

web.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.csun.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6c2540ff-7dc6-

434e-9068-0f27232e0480%40sessionmgr103&vid=1&hid=107.
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