Cost Benefits of Online Education

Many school districts find online learning an attractive option to not only save money, but also to manage an increasing amount of enrolled students without having to take on the cost of building another brick and mortar school. Classes with low numbers of students could be moved online to free up those classrooms. However there are many obstacles that need to be considered before districts dive into the online education environment.

First of all, online education is still a new medium of instruction and learning in the educational field. Because of this, little research has been completed with the focus on the success and material knowledge of online students vs. students in a traditional school. Second, there is a perception that online learning is an easier way to complete an education because it is less rigorous, when in reality it can be even more difficult for students because it requires a lot of self-motivation on the part of the student. Another challenge for school districts is the amount of teacher training involved for an online school. Too often teachers are asked to teach an online class when they have had no previous training on how to teach students in an online environment. Teaching students virtually and teaching in a classroom with students requires very different skills for the teacher.

What do you think? Do the cost benefits in the long run out way that costs in the short run?

Journell, Wayne (2012). Walk, Don't Run -- To Online Learning. The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 93, (No. 7), pp. 46-50. http://www.jstor.org/stable.23210004