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Which education is right for you?
When you are considering whether to pursue an online education vs. a traditional education there are pros and cons for each that you will want to consider before making a transition to one or the other. If you are trying to decide whether you should take online classes vs. traditional classes this article will demonstrate some pros and cons of each.
1. Cost effective savings
Even the most expensive online boot camps which a lot of students specifically focus on when taking online classes are not as expensive as a college tuition. What is an online boot camp? An online boot camp is a type of online class that you can take and are growing in popularity very fast. These types of online courses will usually focus on a certain skill or subject to learn specific to what type of industry or skill set you need for a particular job.
Some classes can be quite expensive when you are looking at an 8 or 9 month coding or programming boot camp. Some more expensive ones can cost you up to around $10,000 and are usually pretty intense. Now this might sound pretty bad for someone that is looking to save money through educational boot camps. But if you were looking to get a college degree in this area. You would probably average paying about $80,000 to $100,000 for your four year degree.
Another positive is that about roughly 90% of the online college students that graduate from these coder camps found a career relevant job within about 3 months. So these can be a great opportunity after you graduate to start earning money very quickly. As you can see the time difference is a big component of why people are using the boot camps. Online boot camps are usually deemed the hierarchy of the best online colleges. You are just looking to earn a degree there are many benefits that go along with getting an online education.
Many online college students love the fact that they can do the majority of their assignments at their own pace. After seeing what a traditional education can cost, you can really see the benefits of online universities with the price difference. When looking into the best online colleges there is a great variety of courses that are available to participate in. You can find a few courses that are very popular and even cost effective at some top online colleges. Some of these can include online yoga classes, online real estate classes, online computer classes, online English classes, online Spanish classes, CNA classes online, and even PE classes online.
If you are really looking to save money there are even free online courses, free tutorials, and massive open online courses also known as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Although the majority of students like to have the mentorship of a top online university, there is still a way to get a free online college education with hard work and using free education resources.
2. Convenience and Flexibility
When taking online courses or a free online course you will have a lot more leisure time to do non school related activities and hobbies. The weekly average for the top online colleges range anywhere from about 10-20 hours a week. So if you have a family you would still be able to manage your time in a way that you could take care of them and also be around. Or maybe you even have or want a full time job for some extra income. Your best bet would obviously be taking online classes through a prestigious online university.
3. More Marketable Skills and Job Focus
When compared to traditional classes, online college degree programs, online courses, and especially the high dollar boot camps are usually going to focus on specific skills or skill sets for the career you are looking to pursue. Especially the best online colleges that focus on certain boot camps they really are designed more for a college student to learn a specific skill. Maybe it is programming, web design, real estate, CNA classes, PE courses, English classes, Spanish classes, or yoga classes. So instead of going to a traditional class and learning more general based critical thinking and a different array of subjects. When taking an online class or boot camp the focus will be directed on practicing the main tasks you will need to acquire for a specific industry or job. A good example for this and why I keep bringing it up is programming. There is an abundance of online programming education classes used by college students and people looking for free tutorials.
Along with all the free online tutorials and regular courses that students and even businesses will have their employees go to so they can further their programming knowledge. The great thing about most businesses that do send their employees to these certain educational boot camps is they will pay for the course for you. So let’s say you want to learn to code HTML, PHP, or JavaScript these online courses would obviously focus on that specific type of code but if you were taking a traditional class it would be more generic since your degree would have to be something like computer science, software development, or engineering.
4. It Keeps Up with the Times and Adjusts
One thing that online education classes are becoming known for is their ability to keep up with the fast paced times we are living in now and adjust. Say a new programming language was released like Ruby or Swift. Well when these new programming languages are released by Apple or any other company this is crucial for developers. Just to give you an example Apple released Swift in June, which is crucial for iOS developers. If you would like to learn more about swift please follow the link provided https://developer.apple.com/swift/.
With that being said, when Apple released Swift there was a huge influx of online courses and free online tutorials that sprung up really quick. Now say you were interested to learn Swift but you are using a traditional university to get your degree it could be years before you start learning that program. While online classes have already adjusted and are even offering free online classes. A regular college student that is close to graduating might not even get any insight about a recently released language.
5. Learning Digital Skills in a Digital Space
When is the last time you went into a college university for any subject or class and your professor is giving a lecture about using Google, Facebook, Twitter, social marketing, content marketing and all the factors that go into that. The answer is probably never and there are so many other things that go into marketing your business online. Many college students that already have degrees even in computer science still can’t define what SEO means, much less understand any of the real important factors of Search Engine Optimization. These factors deal with keyword density, publishing the right content that will give you the greatest benefits, and even how to use social media so you can target the correct audience.
6. Cons of Online Education
A few cons that come along with online classes and education can be seen when I publish the pros of traditional education. A few things that certain online college students say they regret or would have liked to take advantage of through traditional education. First off you obviously are not going to get experience the college atmosphere or activities traditional college universities offer.
From rooting for your favorite college sports teams, joining a fraternity or sorority, partying with friends, using all the free facilities that your university offers, or hobbies or similar interests you might have with other college students, there are many clubs and non classroom activities that are offered by your university. So, if you are wanting to take in the social aspects of a college education, this is where you will really miss out when taking online educational classes.