Distance Education's Pros and Cons (Essay Sample)

Pros and Cons of Distance Education
Introduction
Distance education is a mode of delivering instruction and education to students who are separated from their instructors by time and distance. In other words the students are not physically present in a traditional classroom with the tutor. The most common and prevalent form of distance learning is carried out through the internet as the medium of communication. This type of education has many distinctive advantages as well as disadvantages especially for the students involved.[Claire Howell Major, Teaching Online: A Guide To Theory, Research and Practice (Baltimore: John Hopkins University, 2015), 7.]
In this paper, the major advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Despite the disadvantages however, this discussion finds that distance learning is indeed a critical addition to the education process that cannot be gainsaid. Accordingly, it is recommended that the method should be ameliorated so as to minimize its weaknesses.
Advantages of Distance Learning
The main advantage of distance learning is that it allows students to access education through institutions that they would not otherwise attend. A student in the third world can easily undertake an online course offered at a university in the first world. This expands access to top notch educational opportunities for such students, which are either scare or unavailable in their immediate localities.[Ibid, 14.]
Moreover, educational institutions can offer their services to a larger number of students than the limitations of their physical space normally allow. This means that even students in the same countries as the institutions, can learn in them without being limited by classroom or accommodation space. This has helped to expand availability of learning opportunities.[Ibid, 33.]
The second point is that distance learning is cheaper relative to traditional forms of learning. This helps to cut costs for students who would otherwise not afford to learn. Costs such as travel and accommodation are eliminated. The Open University in the UK is a good example of an institution that has enabled many students to get higher education at a reduced cost. It acted as a great inspiration for traditional universities in different parts of the world to offer distance learning.[Sharon W Tabor, "Narrowing the Distance: Implementing a Hybrid Learning Model", Quarterly Review of Distance Education (IAP) 8 (1), (2007): 48.]
Thirdly, there is wider communication between students and their classmates due to the typically large number of students involved and great advances in technology. This has widened the scope of information and experience sharing. Access to online libraries has also enabled students to access books and periodicals they would not find in their local libraries. The scope of learning has thus been exponentially expanded through distance learning.[Ibid.]
Finally, distance learning is highly flexible. Stude