As technology has advanced in the last 20 years, more and more opportunities are being given to students with different needs than others. Students who must stay in hospitals, or have physical disabilities have the option to take online classes. Now that online classes have become accepted by public school systems, many kids believe that these classes will fit them best. However, these distance learning options may not be as effective as regular classes. Online classes create an environment of distractions, can lead to poor work ethics, and have little to no interaction between students.

Students who take online classes at home are very susceptible to distraction. In normal school classes, students are required to put their cellphones away. At home, there is no such regulation. No matter how much attention a student places on their lessons, their cellphone will be a constant presence, with notifications going off every few minutes. Distractions can also come in the form of parents who do not have work, or siblings who do not have school. Students who take online classes can simply walk away from their lessons, and go hang out with their siblings. Overbearing parents who check to make sure their child is continuing their lessons can disrupt the flow of learning that many students enter. While taking classes at home might appear to benefit some students, the distractions that being at home provides can hurt the intake of knowledge that students require.

Online classes can also lead to poor work ethics by students taking them. In regular classes, the looming presence of a teacher motivates many students to try their best. For students who take online classes, there is no physical presence that regulates their classwork. The absence of this pressure can lead to students who willingly put the least amount of effort into their work. Being at home during class can also create a dissociation between the work and it's importance. Taking tests or quizzes in familiar environments can lower stress levels, which can be beneficial, but can also convince students they do not need to try as hard. Students may choose not to study for important tests just because they do not feel as pressured to do well. Online classwork can often be found through the internet, or answers can easily be sent by other classmates. Students who do not use homework to their advantage as a studying tool will often be left unprepared for tests and quizzes because they did not actually do their work. Students of online classes are very susceptible to the deterioration of work ethic, which can harm them in the short-term, as well as long-term.

Interaction between students who take online classes is very low. Collaboration between students is a key part of normal classrooms. Students who feel afraid to ask their teachers can rely on other students sitting near them to answer their questions. With online classes, there is no face-to-face interaction between students at all, and explanations sent through text messages can often be confusing or not helpful at all. Being in a class with other students can also create a competitive environment, which can often be beneficial to the learning space. Students who take online classes feel no pressure to do any better than their classmates, as they have no interaction with them. Their is also a social benefit to being in classes with other people, as it teaches students how to act appropriately with others, and how to handle group interaction in future jobs. Online classes do not allow for students to develop these soft skills that can help their current classwork, and their future careers. While many may argue that the group assignments that some online classes have, the interactions between students that online assignments create are very limited to interaction through text messages, and not face-to-face. Online classes are devoid of the interaction and competition of physical classes.

In conclusion, distance learning options may not be as effective as they appear. Taking classes at home can create distractions, such as cellphones and family members interrupting learning. Online classes can encourage students to develop poor work ethics, feeling little pressure to do well or use their resources to their advantage. The lack of student interaction in online classes creates an environment deprived of collaboration and competition. The ultimate goal of education systems should be to match the needs of each individual student. However, as distance learning exists in it's current form, students without special needs should not take online classes.