This is an extremely enlightening article! Makes me wish I opted for real lectures instead of online :)

As much as the quality of some institutions may not be so great with their online courses, online learning is a means to education for working people with families that juggle their time around children, husbands, wives and even second jobs.

I am studying through IMM, via distance learning, or online, and I am struggling to juggle time. There is a course I am currently working through called Academic Literacy which is a rather enlightening course (now that I finally understand it) as it is trying to make us into exactly what your article says online courses doesnt do for most learners — to make us think! I am used to regurgitating… but now I am having to use my grey cells and at 40, its sort of a challenge.

My husband believes in contact learning — 4 degrees, of which BComm Marketing and MBA are cum laude. He works during the day and is an online tutor via UNISA :) But with rising blood pressure and all, he religiously sits every night, painstakingly chatting with each of his students that makes the efforts to reply and engages on a one on one where possible. But not all of them make it through the year with passes…. And as you said, in much better words, it is the lack of dedication the student places on their work as the fear is not there….

Let me stop there. Thank you for an awesome article. It has been an eye opener for me.