Students in modern day face many challenges in their education. Many people have had creative ideas on how to remove these problems from the lives of all students. For example, many kids do not eat breakfast before school because of financial problems, so schools give out free breakfasts to students to make them more attentive and productive. One new idea states that schools should offer distance learning. This means that some students would have the opportunity to attend classes from home by way of online or video conferencing with their school. Although some people believe that allowing students to attend classes from home would benefit the students by making education more accessible to students who are farther from the school, offering distance learning would not benefit students because distance learning makes education very expensive, harder to understand, and have less social aspects.

Firstly, distance learning would not benefit students because it makes education very expensive. Many students rely on the free technology supplied by the school, such as laptops and calculators, for their education. This is important for students who would not be able to afford computers and calculators, and puts all students on an even field for learning. But a new wave of expenses would occur if students could take online classes. Firstly, the technology needed would have an astoundingly high cost. The school would have to buy many new monitors for their classrooms. The school would have to buy microphones for all of the teachers so that the students to be able to hear the lessons. Keeping all of these expensive pieces of technology running require a massive amount of chargers. Technicians would need to be hired in order to fix all the problems in the computers, and the school would generate a large electrical bill. Many expenses also apply to students. While students would be able to use their school computers to watch lessons from their home, they would have to buy their own microphones and chargers. Secondly, one central component of technology is a strong internet connection. Many schools have a free internet connection that students are allowed to use while they are at school. If students needed to use their computers from home for their entire education, they would require a strong connection to the internet. Many people who rely on the supplied technology and internet access from the school are not able to pay for fast internet access at their homes. Students with a poor connection at their homes would receive a poor connection to the lesson, and would not be able to fully understand the information that the rest of the class was given. These costs create an expensive alternative for both the school and the students that not everyone would be able to pay for.

Secondly, distance learning would not benefit students because it make the information harder to understand. Schools and classrooms create a learning environment that makes receiving help easy and cuts out distractions. If students watch the classes from their homes, their learning environment has neither of those. Firstly, students would have a much more difficult time asking questions and receiving help. If the student does not buy a microphone, they would not be able to talk to the teacher and would have to explain questions through emails. This way of communication is much less effective because neither side would be able to explain themselves as well as they could in real life. Secondly, homes have many more distractions than classrooms, which can affect how well the students focus. In a classroom it is mostly quiet, and distractions such as talking, using phones, and listening to music are banned. This makes the students pay attention to the teacher and the lesson. While at home the students can not be monitored as closely because the teacher is not able see what they are doing. Many noises such as traffic and people outside can distract the minds of the students. With the combined lack of supervision and many distractions, students that learn from home can never learn as well as students that learn at school. Thirdly, many scientists, colleges, and organizations have studied the factors that contribute to an efficient learning. One main result that almost all researchers can agree upon is that students remember things better when they write information down. Many teachers agree with this and make their students write their notes down on paper. Students in a distance learning program would not have to write down their notes because their teachers would not be able to see if they had or not. Students who learn from school are able to better understand their material due to many factors that students at home do not have.

Thirdly, distance learning would not benefit students because it has less social aspects. Social activities include sports, clubs, and student organizations, and also friends. It is important for students to have a balance between their educational and social lives. Without them, students would be less interested in school. Students who attend school online do not have these opportunities.

Most colleges look for students who have both good grades and good social lives in their communities. Having both a strong education and a strong social presence in their community shows to colleges that the student is able to function well in the world and will be more likely to succeed.

In conclusion, students who attend classes from home have a large learning disadvantage because the program makes education expensive, harder to understand, and without social aspects. If more students use distance learning programs it will only resolve in a poorer school and a poorly educated youth. I hope that students will make the smart decision for both them and their community, and continue to learn in a productive environment that will educate them properly.