For Higher Learning, online courses are a more beneficial option than universities

ARGUMENTSC1) The College ExperienceMy opponent's response to the fact that people in college can make more friends, and work together on class projects is that work experience is more important. She also considers college jobs to be laid back. Now that would be true if the students worked at a restaurant for example while going to college. My suggestion is not that people take a laid back, part-time job but for the students to help the professors in their research, conduct studies, assist with data acquisition in the labs, and if a graduate student, be a teaching assistant. Those are jobs that are directly related to one's career field.This way, the college experience can be had in addition to work experience. It is a win-win. Whereas with online courses, you get neither.C2) The classroom ExperiencePro cites a study which essentially shows that online students participate more in course activities. Now the study clearly mentions that the online learners that they surveyed were older, first-generation students as well as transfer students [1]. Now it is likely that older students and first-generation students pay attention in class because they are more mature, and they also understand the value of college more than younger students whose parents have gone to college and are now funding their college.It can clearly be seen that the higher levels of engagement is not because of the fact that they are taking online courses. Correlation is not equal to causation in this case and my opponent does not prove that it is. In a study conducted by Webster University in Missouri, it was found that lack of face to face, personal or social contact with instructor or students was among the main disadvantages of an online course [2].Many professors in traditional universities now post class notes online negating the need to take quick notes in class [4]. It is the best of both worlds.C3) Greater interaction with professorsMy main point here was that students can get to know their professors and get references and letters of recommendation from them as well get information on new opportunities available on campus and to network with them. Can an online professor give recommendations on the same level? They never even met you! Maybe they have the same qualifications as a University professor as my opponent points out, but the more important thing when getting a recommendation or a reference is how well a person knows you. Online interactions cannot compare with actually getting to know a professor in class and in office hours.My opponent says that online teaching can be done through chatroom and emails which she asserts is more personalized. Now, it will be difficult to prove that a chatroom with 25 people is more personalized than a classroom with 25 people. In fact, in a classroom, the student can hang back after class and talk to the professor, something unavailable to online students. Emails are the standard form of communication even in traditional classes, so this isn't something that can be given as an advantage of online learning.REBUTTALS1) CostMy opponent now agrees that both online and traditional courses have financial aid available. Her main contention is that attending a University has other costs besides tuition such as room and board, books, and gas. Now, students have a choice to stay in the dorm or not. If in the dorm, they can walk to class eliminating the price for gas. They also eliminate the price for groceries because colleges generally include a meal plan as part of their room and board price [3]. Many scholarships cover room and board as well. This eliminates rent, groceries and gas. Even if the scholarship doesn't cover room and board, you still need to pay rent and groceries when you are taking online courses.Gas prices are at $3.60 per gallon [5]. In a car that gets 20 miles per gallon, if the University is 10 miles away and class meets twice a week, it is as low as $7.20 per week. And don't forget that you are paying for either room and board or gas not both.As for books, online courses require books too. This can't be an expense only for people attending a traditional university. In fact, online course may require more books. In summary, online courses too are riddled with those little costs that plague a University student. Taking online courses isn't an escape from those costs. While the costs of attending a University may be slightly higher, the question we should ask is: Is it worth it to save such a small amount of money at the expense of missing out on an actual college experience? 2) Time EfficiencyAccelerated courses are also available in Universities. Many courses in some Universities including psychology can be completed in as little as 5 weeks in the summer [6]. This benefit is not exclusive to online courses.3) Option AdvantagePro's point here is that an undecided major takes more time and effort to accomodate in a University. My question is: what is the point of taking online courses, if you don't know what classes you want to take? Online courses are primarily for people who are already working and want to gain knowledge in a specific field [8].4) Credits for experienceAgain, this isn't specific to online courses. Many universities give credits for internships as well as for classes taken in high school. An internship can get students between 3 to 12 credits depending on what they did [7].ConclusionTo conclude, online courses show barely any reduction in price but show a big loss in prestige and the ability to get recommendations and get to know your professors. People taking online courses lose the entire college experience. Online courses provide nothing that a student can't get in an actual university. To get a degree, it is far more advisable to pursue options such as financial aid and scholarships rather than take online courses and forego your whole college experience because that is something that you can't replace.Sources[1] http://nsse.iub.edu...;(page 16)[2] http://www.hiceducation.org...[3] http://dining.ucr.edu...[4] http://cnc.ucr.edu...[5] http://205.254.135.24/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_home_page.html[6] http://student08.ucr.edu...[7] http://internships.about.com...[8] http://oedb.org...