Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Learning for Students at University Essay Example

Online learning is often associated with the covid 19 pandemic however it has been a popular method of learning since the late 1900’s and is becoming increasingly popular every year. The first higher education course that was offered fully online was in 1984 at the university of Toronto. The open university is a well-known university which offers online and distant learning courses, this is a successful university which allows global access to higher education for students with diverse backgrounds as they offer a wide variety of courses. However, when the covid-19 pandemic became apparent, and universities were shut down online learning became the new normal for university students. This essay is going to discuss the advantage that online learning offers which is the ability to be flexible and discuss two of the disadvantages of online learning, the negative effect on mental wellbeing and the difficulty of maintaining assessment integrity. 

Online learning can allow for all university students, no matter their background to study because of increased flexibility with learning and teaching. Some students can benefit from the flexibility as they are able to study at a time that suits them and their lifestyle and, in an environment, suitable to them. For example, students who may have children and family, a job or other commitments which would mean they were less likely to progress onto further university are able to partake in a higher education successfully whilst still having the flexibility to undertake their commitments at the same time as studying allowing them to learn at their own pace. Some students would argue that even though there is flexibility in when and where the learning is undergone it can take a significantly longer time to complete the work issued due to the teaching style being different which is shown in the statistic ‘34.8% spent more time studying than in a traditional learning environment’ Maqableh, M. and Alia, M. (2021). Often online teachers are more likely to have a secondary job so are unable to give sole attention to the course, therefore not allowing students to ask questions in the moment with instant responses and to gain clarification. This may mean information may not be understood as well therefore increasing time rereading information to understand it. 

Many university students reported that during online learning they felt their mental health and wellbeing declined due to lack of communication and isolation. A study showed that during covid that 60% of students reported they felt bored, anxious, and frustrated and that 27% of students experienced loneliness. This showed that even though some students felt that online learning benefited them and there learning style that online learning lacks the social aspect of in person teaching and may lack opportunities for discussion leaving students feeling isolated. Sixty-two percent of students reported they had poor interactions with their teachers Barrot, J.S., Llenares, I.I. and del Rosario, L.S. (2021). This can lead to learning feeling rigid and engagement dropping. Some may say that due to these experiences it can have a negative impact on students views of education and increase chances of students dropping out, in a study that investigated reasons for students dropping out of online and distance courses one of the common findings was that there was a lack of communication and socialising with other people which alongside other reasons led for them to drop out of the course. A study showed that ‘over half of young people (59%) said they will enjoy school, college, or university more once restrictions ease.’ Mind (2021).  Some may suggest that this statistic suggests that students are overall happier when teaching is in person although others would argue that this statistic is due to students being forced to do online learning so does not account for students choosing to study online. 

Ensuring academic integrity is a complex disadvantage of online learning, due to assessments being online this means there is no way for teachers to ensure the authenticity of assessments and are unable to completely rule out cheating. However, during the covid-19 pandemic many students felt that it was unfair for them to have to undergo the same level of assessments as they did not get the same learning experience as they would have online. Professor Steven D. Krause agreed with this and added he felt the need to be more empathetic when marking student’s assessments. However, 89.4% of students felt that they had to complete more assignments than they would have done during in person learning and that 70.4% of students felt that assessments difficulty was more difficult than when they were in person Maqableh, M. and Alia, M. (2021). However, some could argue that assessments were easier as there was no way for teachers to eliminate cheating and students could have had access to materials to help them gain a high score. 

To conclude the advantage of online learning has been explored and the flexibility was found to benefit students, especially those of who have other commitments as online learning allowed for students to study higher education while suiting their lifestyle. The first disadvantage identified was the negative impact online learning has n students mental health and wellbeing which showed that often students reported having higher levels of anxiety and feelings of loneliness and lacking motivation due to online learning. The second and final disadvantage that was identified was the challenge of ensuring academic integrity which found that assessment results fluctuated due to students being expected to complete harder and more frequent assessments than they would in person as well as being expected to gain the same level of marks even though students weren’t having the same teaching and learning experience as they would have in person. 

Bağrıacık Yılmaz, A. and Karataş, S. (2022) ‘Why do open and distance education students drop out? Views from various stakeholders,’ International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 19(1), pp. 28–28. doi:10.1186/s41239-022-00333-x.

Maqableh, M. and Alia, M. (2021) ‘Evaluation online learning of undergraduate students under lockdown amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: The online learning experience and students’ satisfaction’, Children and youth services review, 128, p. 106160–. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106160.

Barrot, J.S., Llenares, I.I. and del Rosario, L.S. (2021). Students’ online learning challenges during the pandemic and how they cope with them: The case of the Philippines. Education and Information Technologies, [online] 26(7321–7338). doi:10.1007/s10639-021-10589-x.

Mind (2021). Student mental health during coronavirus. [online] www.mind.org.uk. Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/student-mental-health-during-coronavirus/