Policy Debate Outline (Affirm)

U.S. public colleges should change in-person instruction to online courses

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Institution Affiliation

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 U.S. public colleges should change in-person instruction to online courses

Introduction

More and more institutions and businesses are now offering courses online, making online

education highly popular. Even while online education has been increasingly popular in recent

years, there are still large groups of individuals who refuse to use it because of misconceptions.

Traditional (classroom) training is battling back and attempting to adapt fresh methods to keep

learners' interest despite the rise in online course popularity (Dumford & Miller, 2018).

Everything has a flip side. Online training may be more appropriate for certain people, while

classroom training may be better for others. However, I believe that traditional education may be

better suited to a greater population of students than online learning.

Body

Taking professional-level courses is a common way for people to advance their careers and gain

new skills. Diplomas, for example, are useful in management-related professional degrees, such

as MBAs, in order to advance in the ranks (Singh & Thurman, 2019). However, many workers

are fatigued after a long day at work and may not feel like going to class regularly. When it

comes to saving time, expense, and energy in this way, an online class is the obvious choice.

Individuals can take an online course from the convenience of their office or home thanks to

online learning. Studying for a class or exam can be squeezed into even the busiest schedule.

Inherency

Students in online courses do not have face-to-face contact with their instructors. Because online

communication is frequently impersonal, students may have difficulty reaching out to their

instructor if they have any questions (Dumford & Miller, 2018). Nevertheless, these courses

often provide alternatives to actual query resolution, such as online forums, mails, and
chatrooms. Individuals seeking answers to their questions may benefit from turning to these

alternate resources. When it comes to learning, many people believe that the greatest method to

learn is face-to-face with a trainer. synchronous online courses are more suited for these

individuals.

Oftentimes, students are expected to express themselves verbally in the classroom. In some

cases, they will have to make presentations or give speeches. They will have to work in groups

with people who have varying points of view. That is not necessary for online courses.

Employers frequently express their need for more socially adept graduates when they speak with

academics at universities. They claim that it is essential to their professional success. These are

the things that are taught in traditional education.

There must be opportunity for improvement even within standard educational courses if

businesses are telling colleges they wish certain abilities were more apparent. But online classes

aren't the solution. A student's capacity to speak and engage with others in a way that will benefit

them in life and work will be hindered by online courses. It is important for pupils to engage

with others in order to build their confidence and ability to communicate and collaborate. In

doing so, they are given the opportunity for self-improvement. Online education's usefulness to

students is greatly reduced because it does not provide hands-on experience working with others

and talking with them.

Solvency

Search engines such as Google, Bing, and others can also be used to find information online.

Even if this reduces the number of books one needs to read, there may still be too many

information sources one has to read and pick from, which can lead to information overload

(Castro & Tumibay, 2021). Because of this, online education may be more acceptable for those
who want to further their education while working full-time. Books and notes from the

classroom can be extremely helpful when it comes to studying for tests. Students can learn more

effectively when they follow the Question & Answer format and rely on the advice of more

experienced professors rather than relying on generic online notes and suggestions. In addition,

the constant interaction among students and teachers in a classroom setting is more beneficial

since it allows pupils to overcome their exam anxiety, which is more difficult to achieve with

online instruction.

Rebuttal:

Traditional lessons are more suited for students who have not yet entered the workforce, such as

youngsters, teenagers, and young adolescents. Attending school on a daily basis gives children

the opportunity to socialize with peers their own age, develop self-control and self-discipline, as

well as improve their physical and mental health (Gowda & Suma, 2017). Students and teachers

gain a deeper understanding of one another via classroom learning. In this way, teachers can

better get to know their pupils, assess their skills and limitations, and serve as role models and

career advisors. Traditionally, pupils were able to ask questions and express their opinions to the

teacher directly, allowing them to receive immediate answers.

Conclusion:

In summary, I believe that although online education has been resourceful during the COVID-19

pandemic, it takes away a lot from what in-class learning offers. First, despite having access to a

multitude of study resources, it confuses the students on how to pick the correct ones.

Additionally, students may fail to develop interpersonal relationships with their peers.

Traditional learning also offers more guidance to students compared with online learning.
 Works Cited

Castro, M. D. B., & Tumibay, G. M. (2021). A literature review: efficacy of online learning

courses for higher education institution using meta-analysis. Education and Information

Technologies, 26(2), 1367-1385.

Dumford, A. D., & Miller, A. L. (2018). Online learning in higher education: exploring

advantages and disadvantages for engagement. Journal of Computing in Higher

Education, 30(3), 452-465.

Gowda, R. S., & Suma, V. (2017, February). A comparative analysis of traditional education

system vs. e-Learning. In 2017 International Conference on Innovative Mechanisms for

Industry Applications (ICIMIA) (pp. 567-571). IEEE.

Singh, V., & Thurman, A. (2019). How many ways can we define online learning? A systematic

literature review of definitions of online learning (1988-2018). American Journal of

Distance Education, 33(4), 289-306.