Some universities now offer their courses on the Internet so that people can study online. Is this a positive or negative development?

Some universities now offer their courses on the Internet so that people can study online. Is this a positive or negative development?

 

Ielts Essay - Online University Course 

Ever since certain varsities started offering courses online, they have been in the eye of storm: many are quite enthusiastic about this, they consider it to be quite favorable, while there are others who see an adverse impact of this.

Rendering online courses to knowledge seekers is undoubtedly laden with numerous positives: more and more students can now take up courses offered at universities – there is no restriction on number of seats offered in any typical course unlike in the past when many had to forego the idea of seeking admissions in universities which could only offer limited places in study programs due to space and resource constraint. 

Furthermore, an increasing number of learners formerly dissuaded from the idea of joining higher education, due to distances and costs involved, can now study in a varsity. Pursuing academics is not difficult now, as students can remain in their home towns, where they enjoy emotional and moral support of their friends and families, and study from their comfort zones.  Moreover, pursuing online academic courses also help make things affordable; pursuing a study on internet sans costs involved on travelling, accommodation and food in an alien environment.

However, a cynical view suggests that everything is not rosy with the online courses: it is leading to deterioration in the quality of skills being generated. Students find it hard to bridge the gaps in their knowledge since they do not enjoy a real time interaction with their tutors; thus preventing them from seeking clarifications on their weak areas. These gaps tend to widen with every passing day; thus affecting capabilities of learners.

In a nutshell, I consider university internet courses to be an unfavorable trend that will eventually have an amplified effect on working abilities of future generations.