The debate as to whether online learning or face to face learning is best for students has been largely discussed.
Some would say that face to face learning helps keep students focused, while others would argue that online courses allow students to learn and understand at their own pace.
Sinclair Community College offers an array of online courses, nearly as many face to face, but the students of Sinclair each have different opinions as to which style of learning is the “very best.”
Some say the online courses offer a significant more amount of flexibility, giving students time to fully grasp a topic before moving on to the next, or to move ahead of schedule and focus on other important aspects of life, like family, work, etc.
“Online is helpful for people who live busy schedules, like single mothers,” Kate said. “That’s how I got through classes when I had my child.”
Online classes are especially helpful for mothers or fathers with young children. It can be hard to balance the stressors of raising a young child, maybe a job and school on top of everything else. Those classes open up many opportunities for personal growth.
“I prefer to work at my own pace, and get ahead of the game,” Katie, another student, said. “If I can, I try to get my work done weeks ahead.”
While online courses allow for flexibility, they also come with negatives that can be hard for many students to get past.
“You have to be very disciplined in all facets of your life to take online classes,” George said. “You have to be on top of your home life, your work life and your class schedule or else you’ll get left behind.”
Online courses require discipline. Being able to schedule time out for online coursework is more challenging than that of pre-blocked face to face coursework.
Those courses occur regularly unlike online courses that, while flexible, have no set time of day for work.
Christiana is one case of online courses not working.
“I didn’t do so well when I took my first few online classes,” Christiana said. “I wasn’t prepared for the amount of work and I retook them face to face, and did much better.”
Face to face courses also offer a variety of positives, that can sometimes lack in online courses. For example, the social skills you practice in face to face courses is extremely beneficial for every walk of life.
These are anxieties many students may have to deal with in-person courses, but these situations help us practice necessary life skills.
Being thorough in your ability to communicate with others is a skill you will need eventually in life, even if your dream job doesn’t require much personal interaction. Interviews, phone calls, “adulting,” they are all things that require you to practice social skills.
Face to face courses also help many students better understand their coursework, giving them opportunities to openly discuss confusion, questions, and concern about upcoming work, in person without a digital face that can often make things more confusing.
“I prefer face to face courses because I can get instant feedback on my work,” Bryce stated.
There is also less wait time involved. Emailing and phone calls can take a significant amount more time up in a person’s day, and finding time to respond can be more challenging than getting to the point before, after or during class.
Yet both online and face to face courses have their benefits, and to many it may depend on the class they’re taking.
“I think it depends on the class,” Brooke said. “Sometimes you need more help and clearer instructions. Taking a math class online would be different than a communications class, and each person has their own preference of what they want.”
While both types of learning come with positives and negatives, something I think we can agree on is pushing toward your education is always good, as long as your pushing forward.
Figure out which class style works the best for you, maybe try taking one online class over the summer break to see if it’s something you can handle, or stick to face to face if you know it’s going well.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor
Kelsey Fitzpatrick
Staff Writer