The University of Connecticut lists many benefits to online education. It cites logistical benefits such as alleviating parking problems and minimizing transportation costs. The university also speaks to personal benefits such as sleeping late, accommodating work schedules and avoiding the world on bad hair days.
The Vocational and Educational School Guide speaks to other types of benefits. It claims that online learning "facilitates easy information transfer" and "allows for learning in in distant or disadvantaged locations."
Classroom education provides a different type of experience. Students learn together and can benefit from shared questions. One student's question may trigger meaningful discussions of material that would not occur outside of a face-to-face setting. Teachers have a better sense how students are doing because they are exposed to body language and other clues to student comprehension.
The U.S. Department of Education released a meta-analysis in June 2008. This analysis showed that online learning was more powerful than anyone suspected. Although the Department of Education declined to make conclusions regarding educational outcomes for K-12 students because of lack of information, it concluded that students "who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction." This study has important implications for college education.
The Department of Education found that blending online and traditional classes provided the strongest learning experience. The journal "Inside Higher Education" found this significant because blended instruction "is among the fastest-growing types of enrollment." While the blended approach is beneficial across the board, it is particularly useful in lab courses, which are difficult, if not impossible, to provide online.