Trends in Online Education Will Create A New Educational Environment

It is easy to look at online education as a lesser alternative to the traditional educational environment. This may be true in some cases, but certainly not all, as more and more entities begin to offer options online.



In fact, by some measures, 66% of colleges offer some form of online education. These schools find that they can educate more people for much less money with the internet model. This begs the question. Is this just a short-term economic need that is being met, or is this a broader trend? There is some evidence that the second option is correct.



For instance a recent study completed by the DOE reports that students who learned online actually performed better that their classroom counterparts. This was a meta-study of several other studies that took place over several years. According to the New York Times, which reported on this meta-study, this indicates a rise in stature of online education in the years to come. In other words, no one really thought that online education could be substantively superior.



However, since online learning is more affordable, and now apparently more effective, they will it will be adopted more and more. Not surprisingly, more and more private companies have taken heed.



Already, proprietors of private test prep companies offer their courses 100% online. One prep course for the LSAT, LSAT Freedom, offers their LSAT course online. A founder of LSAT Freedom explained in a recent review of LSAT Freedom , that the online format "allows [the company] to cut down our overhead and offer LSAT prep for the lowest prices on the market. Plus, it allows us to focus more on our content, rather than worrying about the logistics of a classroom course." These movements in private industry are sure to create a new educational environment in the new millenium.