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GetanAwithoutleavingthehouse.

ByNardaAvila
Nowadaystechnologytakesimportantpart
oneveryaspectofourlifeespeciallybecause
itaffectsthewaywetransmit,receive,and
processinformation.Inthefieldof
education,onlinelearninghasbecomeabig
phenomenoninthelastdecadewith
universitiesimplementingtheironline
coursesandstudentsinteractingviaInternet
withtheirteachers.Withonlinelearningthereisnoneedfortheteacherandthestudents
tobeavailableatthesametimeandplace,whichcanmakethelecturemuchconvenient
foranyoneinvolved.Thismakeseducationaccessibleforstudentswithirregular
schedulesorissueswithdistance.
Eventhoughtonlinecourseshavenumerousadvantagessomestudentsstilldoubtthat
theymightbeeffectiveatall.Theyareafraidtomissthelearningexperienceofa
traditionalfacetofaceclassandsomemayfeelinsecureaboutthephysicalabsenceofan
instructor.Othersmaybeworriedabouttheclassbecomingmonotonousandunbearable.
Thisprejudicesoftencomefromnothavinganinformedopinionandtheymakesense
consideringallthoseyearsoftakingfacetofaceclasses(Seale,2005,p.150).When
traditionallearningistheonlylearningstyleyouhaveexperimenteditmaybedifficultto
acceptotheronesbutwiththeconstantgrowthoftechnologyisonlyamatteroftimefor
onlinelearningtotakeover.
Researchindicatesthatonlinelearninghelpsthestudenttogetadeeperreflectionofthe
informationsharedincomparisontotraditionalfacetofacelearningbecausehe/she
tendstospentmoretimeontheonlinetaskratherthanaclassroomactivity.Also
individualizedlearningtendstobemoresuccessfulthanteachingingroups(U.S.
DepartmentofEducation,2009,p.xvi).
Placeandtimearenottheonlyfactorsthatcaneasilyadjusttothestudentsneedsbut
alsotheinstructorspresencewhichishowtheteacherstaysconnectedwiththe
students(J.PresaQuiroz,personalinterview,April9,2015).Withonlinelearningis
possibleforstudentstocontacttheirteacheratanytimetheywanttoaddressanypossible
questionsorissuesregardingthelecture,unliketraditionallearningwhichlimitstoclass
hours.Instructorsthatstayinvolved,cleardoubtseffectively,andhighlightandcheer
studentsupdefinitelyenhancelearningandsuccess.
Onlinecoursesareconstantlybeingimprovedbynewtechnologymakingthemmore
dynamicforstudentsbecausetheyincorporatesmoreinteractiveelementssuchas

discoursecommunities,games,
simulations,andevenspecialsguestsuch
asspecialistsinthetreatedtopic.Allthis
incorporationspreventonlinelearningof
becomingboringandmonotonous.
Studentsshouldnotdoubtofthe
effectivenessofonlinelearningbecause
ithasmanyadvantagesthatmake
educationmoreaccessibleandimprovethelearningexperience.Alltheprejudices
againstthistypeoflearningshoulddisappearandbereplacedinsteadforinformed
opinions.Morestudentsshouldbeencouragedtoexperienceanonlinecourseand
experimentwiththeuseofnewtechnologyregardingeducation.Manyuniversities
includingTheUniversityofTexasatElPasoareworkingtodevelopdegreeprograms
thatwouldbetakencompletelyonlinesoIcanconcludethattechnologyistakingover
andnewgenerationsshouldbepreparedtotakefullyadvantageofit.

References
Means,B.,Toyama,Y.,Murphy,R.,Bakia,M.,&Jones,K.,(2009).EvaluationofEvidence
BasedPracticesinOnlineLearning:AMetaAnalysisandReviewofOnlineLearningStudies.
USDepartmentofEducation,xvi
Seale,J.K.(2005).Learningtechnologyintransition:Fromindividualenthusiasmto
institutionalimplementation.CRCPress.

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