As more and more schools turn to online education for different grade-levels, a lot of the myths around online education have been debunked. For years, many people thought of online learning as a “downgrade” to attending school in person. Since Covid hit in 2019/2020, that dynamic has shifted dramatically. Many schools had to switch gears to continue teaching children while maintaining social distance. Although online education is gaining speed, there are still some holdouts in continuing the myths and negative connotations associated with an online degree. Let’s take a look at a few of the most widely seen myths.
#1: Online Learning Is Not a “Real” Education
For most people, they think that someone learning online is doing five minutes of work and then spending the rest of the day watching cartoons or playing games, but this is simply not true. Depending on the school and program you select for your child, they can devote just as many hours to their education and learning as a child in public or private school. The learning done through online courses follows a different path than traditional learning since there is no other person involved in the teaching, but the materials and information learned is going to be the same as traditional schooling. Often times, children are reading materials on their own, and taking quizzes or doing projects to show that they are learning the information.
#2: Colleges Will Not Accept Credits or Degrees
Another big myth around online education is that a lot of colleges or universities will not accept any transfer credits or degrees associated with an online education. And of course, this is a big myth! There are even a wide variety of online colleges and universities right now, so of course they will be open to taking an online education up through high school. Colleges do not discriminate on this front so do not worry about your child’s education if it happens to be online.
#3: There Are No Opportunities for Sports or Social Interactions
Another huge myth is that online education does not offer any kind of sports education or depletes a student of the social interactions of a traditional school. This is not true to a certain degree, since it is an online school, there is only so much interaction and sports they can offer. But some online schools have connections with local sports teams or other surrounding schools and can offer sports to their students directly.
For most students and parents, the sports and social aspects of an online education are going to be left up to you and your child. Find out what after-school programs your child wants to participate in, and find local teams in your area who are willing to sign up your child. There are plenty of theater, choir, and sports teams around that you should not have a hard time finding one that suits your child. And if your kid has moved into online learning from a public school, for example, then invite over their friends every weekend or plan special trips so your child doesn’t feel like they abandoned their schoolmates.
Don’t let these myths fool you around online education if your child is looking for something new!
Katie Kyzivat