Disadvantages of TeleEducation

As previously mentioned, the advantages of online education are numerous, but like everything in life, it also has its negative side. To one person, it could be exactly the thing he wants, but to another, it might be very difficult and full of obstacles. To the students, this new form of technology would be hard to use at the beginning, his/her social communication skills might deteriorate as a result of lack of direct interaction, and on a large scale might even drop out or fail due to lack of motivation.

Tele-education involves the using of numerous online technologies for communication between the student and the professor/ or class. They include audio conferencing, slide sharing, online forum, file transfer, chat, video broadcast, telephony, and video conferencing. All these methods require some kind of computer knowledge to the student, which is not present in all cases. Also even if the student does know how to use these methods, it could be an uncomfortable process. For example, having to sit in front of his/her computer to watch lectures and type to communicate might not be the most appealing option. As the learning process involves using electronic media, such as computer, video camera, high speed internet connection, and mike, it requires continuous maintenance of these devices; otherwise the learning process would stop. This is costly and time consuming.

Although Tele-education offers numerous methods of online communication, it can never replace the real face-to-face experience. For example, the lack of immediate feedback from the professor, or immediate interaction during class might create frustration, and a feeling of isolation. This results in de-motivation, which in turn increases the rate of failures and drop outs. Students do not develop their oral communication skills as well. For example, they might lack presentation skills when applying to a job later.

Mostly students pursuing an online degree do so due to the lack of time. They are either working or have children to take care of. But in order to pass a course, whether online or traditionally, time has to be devoted for studying. Traditional education enforces a class schedule on the students, while during online education, the student has to clear time slots off his/her schedule on their own. This needs a lot of devotion, hard work, and independence from the student to succeed.

In addition to that, some employers do not acknowledge online-degrees; so students have a narrower job market to choose from. Due to lack of experience, students enroll themselves in un-accredited online universities, and later during applying to jobs, find that out.
Another problem is the lack of available courses online. Not all courses can be studied online, like in nursing clinical for example, physical attendance is mandatory to complete the course. Also some courses are more expensive online due to the cost of multimedia accessories and syllabus material, so price is not considered an advantage in all cases.

As for professors, it is difficult for them to assess the students’ work due to lack of interaction. For example exams have to be set for a certain period of time to avoid cheating or external help, and they shouldn’t be repeated so as not to be copied. Professors also find problems in complexity of the copyright and the author's rights for electronic documents. As they were previously used to traditional teaching methods, they find it hard to change their teaching style, role, and tasks to match the new system.

Refereneces:
Kieth, Londrie. "Disadvantages of Online Education." Eznie Articles. 3 July 2008 .
Yan, Bodain, and Jean-Marc Robert. Investigating Distance Learning on the Internet. 3 July 2008 .