Distance learning is on option thats schools offer to allow students to take classes from their homes. The way that distance learning classes work is that you attend the class online on a computer or phone . Distance learning might sound like a good option but has more downsides than your traditional classroom. Students will benefit less from distance learning because the learning environment is less controlled than a regular classroom.

Some might say that a teacher can just supervise students taking distance learning by using a virtual classroom or by means of a live video feed similar to Facetime or Skype. This looks over the fact that theres only so much a teacher can do from behind a computer screen to ensure their students are learning, if there is even a teacher supervising at all. The class might just be a teacher that puts up notes and lessons to a website for students to look at. If the class is taught in a traditional classroom along with students taking distance learning via a virtual classroom, the teacher cannot always be watching over the distance learning students while they are keeping track of students in their classroom. If the class is only made up of students taking distance learning, taught in a virtual classroom, the teacher may never be sure that the students are focusing on lessons when the student is at home.

While at home, there are more distractions from keeping a student from learning. At times, a students biggest distraction is themselves.

Some students may take advantage of being at home to go to sleep, watch TV, or play video games. Students are more likely to fall asleep at there comfort of their homes than in a classroom. If it were a classroom, a teacher would make sure that their students are awake and paying attention.

Also, some students may feel like procrastinating more often and catching up with class notes or discussions later in the day. At home, students will not feel the same sense of urgency to get work done than they would in a classroom.

To ensure that that students are learning the nessisary information, the teacher obviously has to give out test. Testing students taking distance learning can be a huge problem due to cheating. Most of the time, if not all, electronic test giving to students at home are cheated on. The students just look up the answers on their computer to get an easy passing grade. If the test has a video feed, students can just have notes out of the cameras view. With no teacher physically present, it is almost impossible to keep cheating to a minimum.

Furthermore, classes taken from home have less benefit than a traditional classroom because there is no authority over the learning environment. Classes at home are less controlled, have more distractions, and no reliable way to prevent cheating.