Distance education means any type of learning that is taught by someone or something that is some distance away from the learner. The distance could be across town or it could be across the country or across the world for that matter. More and more the universities of the world are offering classes and you can imagine the increased accessibility that people have now to a quality eduction.
So what are the pros and what are the cons of a distance education. First the pros. Number one they are more convenient in terms of being able to access them without moving or commuting. They are also done on your time schedule which makes doing theme while having a job much, much easier. They are also less time expensive as well as less costly in monetary terms. This is because you don’t have to deal with the inefficiencies of the human factor. It is often a collection of polished presentations that have been screened for errors and that have been validated before they are offered as an online course. You don’t have to deal with the distractions that other people in the class can be during a lecture… and the list goes on.
What about the cons of distance education? Well for one you are not as accountable to others for your learning. You can totally slack off and not be questioned or lose points. Doing it at home can be more or less distracting than a typical classroom depending on the environment in the home. You also don’t have a person that is live and ready to answer your questions right when you have them like a teacher in a classroom would be. This is more valuable than you might think as studies have shown that live teaching is on average better than its virtual counter part.
So is distance education for you? It depends on your accesiblity in terms of geography and schedule and also on your ability to discipline your self and motivate yourself to learn. If you can do it than there are many advantages so check it out.
