The Importance of In-Class Courses

Technology advancements continue to influence daily lives, and have increasingly challenged the traditional education system in recent years. The popularity of online courses as an alternative to traditional classroom courses has drawn attention to the quality of education between the two types of learning environments. Online courses have great advantages, offering students the flexibility to learn on their own time. Classroom courses boast face-to face-interactions, which is hard to replicate in the online classroom setting. Although online learning can be a great enhancement to in-class learning, it should not replace the classroom experience due to the interaction between the professor and the student, development of peer relationships, and the effectiveness of the in-class learning setting.

Before the two types of courses can be compared, it is important to distinguish and define their features. In-class courses refer to traditional lectures, where the students attends class at scheduled times, participating in live discussions with their peers and professors. Online learning utilizes the Internet to connect students with each other and the professor, providing course material through a website, and discussions through email and online forums.

One factor that greatly influences the student’s learning experience is the interaction between students and their professors. Classroom learning provides the opportunity for the professor to adapt class material to the students’ responses, making the material more relevant to the students. Online learning mostly follows a rigid teaching structure, hardly allowing any adjustments, even if the student is having difficulties understanding course concepts. In the classroom, any question that a student has could be resolved immediately. Comparably, in an online course, students