Many of the online classes that are available to students allow those students to do their work whenever they have time in their everyday schedule. The classes typically have a loose timeline that allow students to work whenever they want and wherever they can connect to the Internet. This makes it easier for students who must also work full time to take classes and allows students who work at varying paces to complete the same classes.
The cost of attending a distance learning college versus a traditional college is lower for students. Those students who choose the distance learning option do not have to purchase books like their counterparts at traditional schools do. Most of their material will be accessed through the school's network. In addition, distance learning students do not have to commute to their school and will save money on gas or bus fares. This also eliminates the amount of time you spend in school and allows you to work full-time hours if necessary.
Some areas of work require that students have a firm understanding of certain aspects of technology. When students take classes online, they are constantly working with technology and gaining a better understanding of it. Some of these aspects of technology will serve them in the future and can get them used to spending their time in front of a computer. Many of the presentations used in distance learning utilize different software elements and expose the students to various programs.
When students attend a distance learning college, they are on their own instead of working with others in a classroom as students in traditional colleges do. This can be an advantage to students who work well independently and do not need interaction to be successful. However, some students do better with group work and may struggle when left on their own to complete the course. This makes it a disadvantage for these students.
Though a teacher is still in charge of a distance learning class, the feedback that is received is limited to emails and board postings. This feedback may also take awhile to reach the student, which can result in the student making the same errors on future assignments before she receives the feedback from a previous assignment. Since students are working on coursework at their own pace during all hours of the day, it is impossible for a teacher to stay on top of all of the feedback immediately.
Though more employers are accepting degrees from distance learning programs than before, not all employers will, which can lead to issues when you are looking for a job. Students must be careful to research the schools they are thinking of attending and find out how many employers are known to hire from those schools. Many distance learning program credits also will not transfer to a traditional university. So if you are planning to seek an associate degree from a distance learning institution and would like to pursue a bachelor's degree at some point, you will need to find out if your credits are transferable.