Ever since the invention of the telephone, our society has been marked with a series of innovations in the communications field. From texting to social media, technology has made it easier to communicate with each other with little to no latency from anywhere on the planet. One of the most recent applications of communications technology is through the education sector. Some schools offer online video conferences such that students can attend class from home. While many argue that they limit teaching ability and promote longer screen time, online classes provide enough logistical benefits such as cost-effectiveness and safety that they outweigh the criticism.

Running a school can be expensive. The school must be able to pay for general utilities, transportation, and safety for each and every student. Taking these factors into account, the school will likely be paying tens of thousands of dollars each day in order to function. This price contrasts heavily with that of online classes as the cost of an online class is typically only dependent on the technology needed to run it. The technology usually needed to run such classes can be broken down to a computer and access to the Internet. Computers have been rapidly becoming cheaper due to innovations in transistor design and other fundamental computational components. Furthermore, they are generally one-time payments as compared to utility costs that must be paid every day. The Internet has experienced vast growth in the last two decades as cell towers and broadband companies have become more abundant. As of right now, we have many developing countries that have gained access to Internet as reductions in costs have made broadband more accessible. If we consider that salaries for teachers remain constant for both in-person and online classes, the price for running online classes seem miniscule when juxtaposed with the logistical costs for running a school.

One of the most pressing issues in our world is the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The virus, which started in China, has quickly spread to the United States and has been infecting and killing many. Currently, no health organization has a vaccine for this disease, so the only solution is to isolate infected individuals and to stop local gatherings. One such place that a local gathering is constant is a school. Schools contain many students and staff from various age groups. These people are almost guaranteed to have interactions with one another, which isn't ideal during a virus outbreak. To solve this problem, school systems could use online classes as a substitute in order to protect their students. By allowing students to attend class from home, schools could limit the interaction that causes the spread of the virus. In fact, Generic_City Public Schools, whose county has already experienced a couple of positive cases of the coronavirus, has already created a digital plan in case the situation becomes more dire. This example of a virus outbreak clearly illustrates the advantage that online classes have in terms of the safety of the students as they are better protected in the boundaries of their own home.

Criticism against online schools often stem from the belief that communication with a teacher in-person is the best way to learn; however, that statement is becoming more false over time. As schools increasingly gain access to technology, they utilize certain software to increase their learning productivity such as Google Classroom and Microsoft Word. Both of these softwares often require students to have computers. Likewise, online classes share the same demand and produce the same educational result. Hence, the notion that in-person classes has better learning potential than online classes is false. Equipping this information along with the logistical benefits associated with online classes, it is clear to see that online classes provide a benefit for students.