In the present times, you can earn a high school diploma from home. However, you may be wondering how online high school can be better than a brick-and-mortar school. But, it is the truth! One major reason behind this is that you will not have the pressure to keep your learning at the pace set in the classroom. This implies that you can proceed at a quicker pace, or work slower, on the basis of your own personal learning style. You can certainly take a longer period of time, or graduate at an early stage. Most of it depends on the manner in which you tend to pace yourself.
Your online high school is better than a classroom since you can tailor your set of study hours to fit into your daily schedule. When you are not required to be in class at a fixed time, or for a certain time period, your study time can reflect your own set of needs and not accommodate the schedule of a school.
Most online high schools tend to give you the chance to work toward your diploma with full comfort and personal freedom that you would not have with your classroom attendance. Certainly, you can dress however you choose. Also, you can choose your meals and your meal times. Also, you can take breaks when you feel like it. You can pretty much prepare your own learning plan and schedule.
When you have already decided to earn your diploma at home, you can expect to save a good deal of money and time. You cannot really do so when you are a traditional school student.
Advantages of an online high school over a traditional high school
Style of learning
In usual, online learning tends to favor independent learning styles. Virtual school students are truly expected to be self-directed in attaining their set of academic goals and balancing various other responsibilities at the same time. There are certain courses that tend to favor some specific learning styles over others. Online high schools tend to deliver material through recorded audio lectures. This can be helpful for auditory learners. The truth is that online high schools work well for any type of learner.
There are certain misconceptions that online courses are isolating. But, in reality, most online education programs have adopted active learning environments which incorporate valuable activities, peer-to-peer communication, and proper student-instructor interactions. This is likely to be helpful for individuals who tend to learn better when working with other students.
Certain communication options in online courses are inclusive of email; message boards; instant messaging; video conferencing and chat rooms. Most conventional school courses tend to cater to students who have collaborative learning styles, mainly auditory and kinesthetic learners. Traditional learning environments mainly offer opportunities for face-to-face interaction. Thus, these do not really appeal to every type of learner.
No fixed class schedules
In a conventional high school course, many students gather to learn at a specific place and time. Students might be required to attend lecture-discussion sessions that are independent study groups with peers. In some cases, students might be required to interact with the instructor after class or during office hours. The instruction style at conventional schools is mostly teacher-driven. In such an environment, the instructor lectures on the subject of his/her expertise.
When it comes to synchronous online class sessions, the question-and-answer sessions tend to serve as instructor office hours. Asynchronous online courses enable students the flexibility to choose the time as well as place to learn that is truly convenient for them. Thus, it can be said that the style of instruction in online high schools is mostly user-driven. On the basis of the course, students can experience different levels of control over the learning pace and when they attend the specific class.
Concerns related to technology
In order to succeed in online courses, students need to have basic computer literacy. Similarly, teachers are required to understand how to incorporate this set of resources into lessons. Also, online school teachers need to be able to provide instruction on how students can properly make use of these resources. Apart from the communications methods, some media can be used in online courses. These include web pages, software programs, webcasts, webinars, search engines, and social media.
Though conventional high school classes take place in the classroom, students and faculty still need some basic technical skills for making use of document creation programs, using various technology resources and conducting Internet-based research. Thus, conventional school classes will not really save students or faculty from having to learn the ways to use and incorporate certain technology into their valuable education programs.
Affordability
There are some online schools that charge students the same price as traditional school students. However, many have separate tuition and fees for their list of distance learning programs. Most schools tend to structure their tuition on a per-credit basis or charge a certain fee that is inclusive of all requisite expenses for the semester. Certain schools tend to drop certain fees that do not really apply to online students or add fees. This actually enables them to maintain the technological infrastructure of an online school program.
Pacing
In a conventional school setting, students are required to take courses in the semester, time and date they are offered. Because there is no physical location, most online courses tend to offer greater flexibility. Most schools tend to offer self-pacing where students absorb the material on their own time with the help of resources provided by the school. This provides them with a good deal of flexibility to work around their busy work.
Thanks to these flexible set of options, online students are able to finish their degrees within a short period of time.
There are multiple benefits of taking online school classes. However, in order to avail of all of the benefits of an online high school, students need to take their online courses seriously. They need to be self-disciplined and work hard towards achieving success in an online learning program.
