IELTS Essay. Template. Topic 113: Many people join distance-learning programmes (study material, post. TV, Internet) and study at home, but some people think that it cannot bring the same benefit as attending colleges or universities does. Do you agree or disagree?
To keep abreast of the 21st century, large numbers of people are seeking to receive tertiary education. Distance learning, a state-of-the-art educational model, has received wide currency among qualification seekers. Despite being an important alternative to formal education, whether distance learning can achieve the same effect as the traditional form of university education — i.e., going to university in person — is genuinely open to discussion.
Distance learning, first of all, requires a high degree of maturity or commitment from students because it proceeds in the absence of teachers or tutors. It suits those self-motivated and self-directed students, instead of those who have difficulty in self-scheduling and independent learning. For those young learners, who are generally lack of motivation and self-control, their learning effort tends to be disorganised, futile and fragmentary. They will over time develop bad study habits and lag behind their peers.
The second weakness of distance learning is its over-dependence on media. Media have a myriad of contents that are likely to divert students' attention from their study. Online games and browsing webpages, for example, consume much of young learners' time. In addition, sitting in front of the computer for several hours in succession might cause boredom, fatigue, or other physical problems. The university' campus, in contrast, leaves no chance for this kind of problems, because students are supervised and monitored by faculty members. Meanwhile, their interactions with classmates are constant. It is beneficial for learners to organise teamwork and develop interpersonal relationships.
As indicated above, under no circumstance distance learning can be taken as a qualified substitute for traditional methods of learning. Learners' low motivation and commitment, inadequate interaction with teachers and some other inherent problems have made it nearly impossible to replace a traditional class with a virtual class.
- keep abreast of = stay up-to-date with = stay aware of
- state-of-the-art = modern = up-to-date
- currency = popularity = support = prevalence
- self-directed = independent = self-ruling
- self-control = self-discipline = restraint = willpower
- disorganised = muddled = unsystematic
- futile = useless = vain = ineffectual = fruitless
- lag behind = drop back = drop behind-fall back-fall behind
- in succession = consecutively = successively = in a row
