The world today is drastically different than it was a 100 years ago. We have vehicles that can fly over over continents in hours; communicators that lets you talk with whoever you want, whenever you want; and machines that produce moving images just for our entertainment. Almost everything is different, everything except our education system. That is the one part of our society with little to no change since the 1920s. Students are still excepted to sit in rows, are still overloaded with information, and still go home and slave away for a passing grade, just so that they can receive a piece of paper. They're treated as nothing more than information processing system that can be shipped away after their time is up. It's time for a change, and distance learning, and the benefits that come with it, is a step in the right direction. Distance learning will not only let students manage their time, but also lets them have more options and a better understanding.

One of the main problems plaguing students today is the fact that they simply do not have enough time. Most students have clubs, sports, or even jobs to go to after school. Then they have to work on a seemingly endless piles of assignments and study for upcoming tests. Between these activities and wasting seven hours at school, students rarely have time for themselves. They almost never get to spend time with their friends and family, relax in front of a TV, or even sleep. Distance learning would help them with this. They would be able to take classes leisurely, be able to choose their own schedule, and learn how to manage their time. Students, with this new found free time, could finally get the eight hours of sleep that they are supposed to, discover new interests, and might even give back by putting time into volunteering. Distance learning would help them in the long run, by teaching them time management skills, as well as letting them take care of themselves.

Another reason why distance learning is better is because of the amount of choices. Online classes typically offer more courses, or more advanced courses that schools normally don't. These classes let students expand their knowledge and explore new subjects that they might be interested in. Additionally, some students may not have enough space in their school schedule to fit in all the classes they want take. For example, even though Astronomy has always interested me, my school doesn't offer the course, and I didn't have space in my schedule. Thankfully, a local online college offers the course, So, next year, I'm taking Astronomy online, a class that I'm really excited about. Now I get to pursue my interest while still being able to take all my required classes.

Finally, contrary to popular belief, distance learning would not deter learning, but instead improve it. The fact is, in 2020, learning is vastly easier with technology. One could simply look up a difficult vocabulary word, watch a video to understand a concept, or graph a complicated polynomial. Learning from home, you have access to resources that lets you do all these and more. Additionally, students will not have to rely on their teachers to understand the material. Teachers are extremely vital to a student's education and success, but can also hold them back from achieving their full potential. Some teachers spoon feed concepts to their students, insisting on only doing the problem their way, while others don't care what their students do as long as they get the correct answer. While just examples, both versions of these teachers exist in virtually every student's learning experience. Online learning will remove this problem and will force students to think for themselves instead of mindlessly repeating information or putting something random on the paper. With distance learning, the student's ability to understand and process information is heightened, not hindered.

With distance learning, students' minds could be opened; they could have more options and more flexibility. Distance learning will not only benefit students right now, but also in the long run, in the real world. America is the gold standard when it comes to almost everything: we have the best movies, the best songs, the best jobs, but what about the country's future? What about the new generation that needs change in order for improvement? When it comes to the education system, distance learning is a change in the right direction in order for the future of America to succeed.