E-learning courses 'are positive substitutes for classrooms'

Online learning courses are appropriate substitutes for traditional classrooms, according to one expert in the US.

Gwinnett Online Campus principal Christopher Ray claimed that his full-time virtual high school provides learners with a pattern of study that is familiar but beneficial, the Gwinnett Daily Post reports."They're getting the same information they're getting in a classroom ... they just don't have a student sitting on either side of them," he said.

In response to concerns that people will lose out on the experience and fun a traditional college has to offer, Mr Ray explained how those who enrol on online learning programmes will not be "cooped up in a dark room with a laptop by themselves".

In a recent post on the ZDNet blog, marketing vice-president at e-learning provider WiZiO Christopher Dawson suggested his son was "hardly missing out" on the social benefits of attending campus-based courses, as his e-learning studies mean he is flexible enough to spend time with his friends.