There are many advantages. Please see them here reproduced from ISU website, the link is given.

Advantages of online or computer-based learning

• Class work can be scheduled around work and family

• Reduces travel time and travel costs for off-campus students

• Students may have the option to select learning materials that meets their level of knowledge and interest

• Students can study anywhere they have access to a computer and Internet connection

• Self-paced learning modules allow students to work at their own pace

• Flexibility to join discussions in the bulletin board threaded discussion areas at any hour, or visit with classmates and instructors remotely in chat rooms

• Instructors and students both report eLearning fosters more interaction among students and instructors than in large lecture courses

• eLearning can accommodate different learning styles and facilitate learning through a variety of activities

• Develops knowledge of the Internet and computers skills that will help learners throughout their lives and careers

• Successfully completing online or computer-based courses builds self-knowledge and self-confidence and encourages students to take responsibility for their learning

• Learners can test out of or skim over materials already mastered and concentrate efforts in mastering areas containing new information and/or skills

Disadvantages of online or computer-based learning

• Learners with low motivation or bad study habits may fall behind

• Without the routine structures of a traditional class, students may get lost or confused about course activities and deadlines

• Students may feel isolated from the instructor and classmates

• Instructor may not always be available when students are studying or need help

• Slow Internet connections or older computers may make accessing course materials frustrating

• Managing computer files and online learning software can sometimes seem complex for students with beginner-level computer skills

• Hands-on or lab work is difficult to simulate in a virtual classroom

http://www.dso.iastate.edu/asc/academic/elearner/advantage.html

http://elearningindustry.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-learning

There are many advantages. Please see them here reproduced from ISU website, the link is given.

Advantages of online or computer-based learning

• Class work can be scheduled around work and family

• Reduces travel time and travel costs for off-campus students

• Students may have the option to select learning materials that meets their level of knowledge and interest

• Students can study anywhere they have access to a computer and Internet connection

• Self-paced learning modules allow students to work at their own pace

• Flexibility to join discussions in the bulletin board threaded discussion areas at any hour, or visit with classmates and instructors remotely in chat rooms

• Instructors and students both report eLearning fosters more interaction among students and instructors than in large lecture courses

• eLearning can accommodate different learning styles and facilitate learning through a variety of activities

• Develops knowledge of the Internet and computers skills that will help learners throughout their lives and careers

• Successfully completing online or computer-based courses builds self-knowledge and self-confidence and encourages students to take responsibility for their learning

• Learners can test out of or skim over materials already mastered and concentrate efforts in mastering areas containing new information and/or skills

Disadvantages of online or computer-based learning

• Learners with low motivation or bad study habits may fall behind

• Without the routine structures of a traditional class, students may get lost or confused about course activities and deadlines

• Students may feel isolated from the instructor and classmates

• Instructor may not always be available when students are studying or need help

• Slow Internet connections or older computers may make accessing course materials frustrating

• Managing computer files and online learning software can sometimes seem complex for students with beginner-level computer skills

• Hands-on or lab work is difficult to simulate in a virtual classroom

http://www.dso.iastate.edu/asc/academic/elearner/advantage.html

http://elearningindustry.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-learning

Distance Learning Advantages:

Lots of flexibility. With distance learning courses, students can complete their course work from just about anywhere, provided there’s a computer and internet connection. This allows students to work when and where it is more convenient for them without having to squeeze in scheduled classes to an already busy life.

No commuting. Taking a course online can be one way to cut down on costly gas or public transportation. Since students can often work from home to complete their class assignments, both time and money are saved in cutting out the trips to and from class.

Numerous choices for schools. Even if you live in a community with few or no colleges distance learning allows you to choose from a wide variety of schools to complete your education. You may find online schools that specialize in your particular field or one that can provide a great general education. Either way, your options for education will be greatly expanded.

Lowered costs. Prices for online courses are generally cheaper than their on-campus counterparts and you won’t have to worry about commuting, moving or getting meal plans on campus, 

Distance Learning Disadvantages:

Lack of social interaction. If the classroom environment is what you love most about learning you may want to take a step back and reconsider distance learning. You’ll likely get some interaction on chat rooms, discussion boards and through email, but the experience will be quite different than traditional courses.

Format isn’t ideal for all learners. Not everyone is an ideal candidate for online learning. If you know you have problems with motivation, procrastination and needs lots of individual attention from an instructor you may want to think long and hard before enrolling in an online learning program.

Some employers don’t accept online degrees. While a majority of employers will, there are some who still see a stigma attached to distance learning. Realize that your online degree may not be the ideal tool for some job fields or for future learning.

Requires adaptability to new technologies. If you’ve never been one to love working with technology you will probably get a lot less out of an online course than your more tech-savvy counterparts. Make sure you feel comfortable working with computers and with online programs before you sign up for a class.

Not all courses required to complete the degree may be offered online. It makes sense that more practical majors like nursing aren’t offered entirely online, after all, part of the degree is learning to work directly with patients. Find out all the requirements of your degree to see what may need to be completed offline.

http://www.distancelearningnet.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-distance-learning/

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/20432/education/top_10_distance_learning_disadvantages.html

Although online learning  has become very widespread, it has many disadvatages such as, students feel isolated from the instructor and there is no interaction between them.

Here is a parallel thread, Prof Lala Sukla's question.  Good and deep ideas are here, including:

'Online learning technology is changing the face of education and improving other skills.Teachers are designing modules covering difficult concepts.The completion rates of online courses are less.

Science without human values leads destruction.  Liberal arts encourages research,innovation and originality. Multi-disciplinary study is the need of the hour.'

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_the_challenges_involved_in_shifting_teaching_practice_to_better_suit_the_online_environment_and_teaching_in_a_digital_age?_sg=UgOHx4TIA%2BYTfw7Ts4GujADB9Fn3%2B%2ByRC9RTwNoFHYMiAoF1u8pClzDpPARJdpzi_clkv5GPnc0wgMwGw2oQwmLrIQv3%2BZDSu6owQmJ0xH8lPOOqK0Y%2F90Sx62mqiu%2Fyf_r8NZFnFWjqnQxabosiba3rqEiMDWgclFOWiBJ8u4qqiy79xqp3NYPzn5Djimm0le&_tpcectx=search

Dear Nagaeswara and Behrouz

Many thanks for the links. I can see many advantages including time and costs savings, flexible hours to suit the students, skill development on internet and computer but may be problematic for running practical/lab classes!

Dear Miranda,

Thanks for the links but it is discouraging to know that the completion rates of online courses are less

UNH gives both Benefits of Teaching Online and Challenges of Teaching Online! eUNH comes!

"The World Wide Web, with its rich trove of multimedia resources, interactive tools, and telecommunication facilities, accessible from anywhere on the planet, seems full of potential as a facilitator of teacher learning. Yet we know that mere access to technical resources is not sufficient to generate learning or to change practice. How might the Internet be used to support communities of reflective practitioners committed to teaching for understanding?"

http://www.unh.edu/eunh/benefits-challenges

Article New technologies to support teaching for understanding

An excellent brief review by Bell and Federer is available at:

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1015213.pdf

Challenges remain especially in authenticity verification, security, and fraud prevention.

Dear Ljubomir,

Thanks for the links

The publication ‘New technologies to support teaching for understanding’ highlight that online (World Wide Web etc) which are now accessible from anywhere on the planet provide full of potential of teacher learning and professional development

Dear James,

Thanks for the publication titled "E-Learning in Postsecondary Education by  Bradford S. Bell and Jessica E. Federman (2013)"

Based on meta analysis, the authors concluded that e-learning is, on average, as effective as traditional classroom. It further showed that when instructional design characteristics are held constant across delivery conditions, e-learning and classroom instruction generally produce similar learning outcomes

I think that the main advantage of online learning and teaching is the time flexibility and less cost.

Here are a few more resources that talk about the advantages and challenges. It also included a PPT presentation.

The advantages and challenges of e-learning vary depending on program goals, target audience and organizational infrastructure and culture. But it is unarguable that e-learning is rapidly growing as form of training delivery and most are finding that the clear benefits to e-learning will guarantee it a role in their overall learning strategy.

http://blackboardsupport.calpoly.edu/content/faculty/handouts/Ben_Online.pdf

http://www4.uwm.edu/ltc/hybrid/faculty_resources/advantages.cfm

http://www.slideshare.net/Janna8482/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-learning

http://www.leerbeleving.nl/wbts/nieuw_basics/addis.pdf

On line/e-learning is environmentally friendly?

Apart from merits discussed above by several RG professionals, I also found that there are some environmental benefits of online/e- learning. For example, Britain’s Open University’s study found that producing and providing distance learning courses consumes an average of 87% less energy and produces 85% lower CO2 emissions per student than full time conventional face-to-face courses. Such reduction in energy and CO2 emissions appears to be related to a reduction in student travel and elimination of much energy consumption of students’ housing (built infrastructure required for campus-based systems).Therefore, online learning may be an opportunity for sustainable development in higher education since there is a very significant environmental benefits of distance learning or e-learning

Reference

Roy, Robin; Potter, Stephen and Yarrow, Karen (2008). Designing low carbon higher education systems: Environmental impacts of campus and distance learning systems. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 9 (2): 116–130.

http://oro.open.ac.uk/10677/1/paper5.RoyPotter&Yarrow_IJSHEPaperJuly07.pdf

Dear friends, Golam et al., I also have 1 parallel thread on delivery of VALUES.  There are some useful contributions; so allow me to share with participants here.  Thanks.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_e-learning_deliver_values_as_well_What_are_the_ways_this_can_be_done?_tpcectx=profile_questions#53e2dd90d5a3f260658b469f

Friends, please share your own views about this 'online teacher'.  Your views will be interesting.  Thanks.

Thanks Roland for your view.  @Golam et al., this is interesting to me: 'Britain’s Open University’s study found that producing and providing distance learning courses consumes an average of 87% less energy and produces 85% lower CO2 emissions per student than full time conventional face-to-face courses. Such reduction in energy and CO2 emissions appears to be related to a reduction in student travel and elimination of much energy consumption of students’ housing'

I checked on the growing popularity of online college education and found this pic. Friends, what do you think of this?

Dear Miranda,

The graph shows that there is a steady growth in online education  

Dear Golam, I wonder if other institutions offering online education are receiving this increased response as the non-profit colleges in Kentucky. Since online education is for college and university students, we can assume that their moral and scientific values are already in place.  Referring to my earlier question, if we could transmit values easily enough through online education, it would be suitable even for children.

I have recently done an Edx course, and enjoyed it a lot. 

Advantages:

* You can interact on forums with people from all over the world, which greatly enriches the learning environment and the variety of ideas that are posted. 

* Access is easy - at any time and place that suits the student

* Many more can access this course [many thousands, from all over the world] than could come to a face-to-face coruse [a few dozen at most, who are able to travel to where the course takes place].

* Students were encourages to find other students on the course who live locally and meet up with them. 

* As a student, you can choose from a far, far larger number of online courses to pick the one that suits you, than if you had to make do with courses that you can travel to from where you live. 

* Cheaper to teach large numbers of students. 

Disadvantages: 

* You don't know where other students are from, which makes it more difficult to put them in context. Some students mention where they are though. 

* Not having a set time and date to come to a course, students can be tempted to postpone learning and contributing, thereby falling behind and not finishing the course. However, since many more take part, still many more finish the course than would have done for a locally taught course. I took part from the UK in a course that's taught in the US. Works very well for me. 

* Some hands-on exercises [e.g. chemical experiments, medical interactions] don't work for distant learning. 

The main advantage is the low cost. A good online course can be "sold" to a huge number of students for virtually no costs. In these terms, professors may write such a course based on a limited duration contract and the course can afterwards be used for an undetermined amount of time and number of students even after the author has  finished its contract.

The main challenge is to have students actually learn something. Students can be pretty narrow-minded sometimes about their goals and lack understanding the benefits of education. Some of them just want diplomas and are willing to cheat any exam, and can be pretty inventive in this direction. So there is a real danger for online courses to be just a "virtual" environment for a "virtual" education printing real diplomas.

Most of the answers we get are generalized. I have a paper published on the challenges abound in developed and developing countries. You may wish to take a look at it as an extensive review of current relevant literature was undertaken. There are challenges unique to developing countries, there are those unique to developed countries and there are those that are general to all. Cost, internet access as well as infrastructure are a few that can be limitations to effective utilisations in developing countries. The advantages, however, I feel are too numerous to count and invariably outweigh the disadvantages. For more insight you can study my paper and MSc thesis on e-learning and m-learning available from my profile.

I hope you find my response helpful.

Dear Wj, Bradut and Dantala,

Thanks your inputs, the summary of your contributions are that there are more advantages than disadvantage’s in online learning

Advantages: forum interaction, easy access, cheaper to teach, enrolled from anywhere and anytime etc.

Disadvantage’s/challenges:  biological, chemical and medical science practical exercises can be difficult  to carryout, students may postpone the course, high costs of limited Internet access, high costs of hardware infrastructure (in developing countries)

It might also be worth thinking about Hybrid or Blended Learning, which combines online and face to face instruction and has found to be successful in some cases. E.g. see:

Lovett, M., Meyer, O. & Thile, C., The Open Learning Initiative: Measuring the Effectiveness of the OLI Statistics Course in Accelerating Student Learning, Journal of Interactive Media in Education (2008).

Online courses can be very useful as a supplement to face to face teaching, especially as students can be asked to get prepared before the course starts, and revisit topics online at their own pace.

Dear Miranda et al.

Some key findings based on ‘Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States'

1.The proportion of chief academic leaders that say online learning is critical to their long-term strategy is now at 69.1 percent

2. The number of students taking at least one online course increased by over 570,000 to a new total of 6.7 million.

3. The proportion of all students taking at least one online course is at an all-time high of 32.0 percent.

4. In the first report of this series in 2003, 57.2 percent of academic leaders rated the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those in face-to-face. That number is now 77.0 percent.

5. Only 30.2 percent of chief academic officers believe their faculty accept the value and legitimacy of online education

6. Reference

I. Elaine Allen and Je! Seaman 2013. Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog Research Group, LLC. http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/changingcourse.pdf

I’m surprised when I read the list of advantages and disadvantages for online learning. I suggest to read carefully these lists and you will find that the most of them could be applied to face to face education with digital materials or to blended learning. Even the most obvious as “anywhere-anytime” could be found at some designs of blended learning as that based on PBL. Or, in other sense, the lack of social interaction or tutor help has been solved in some distance education courses.

One solution could be to speak about “the most frequently advantages found at online courses” but in any case, I think that the key question is the learning design. The most of designs of eLearning for “massive” courses have a serious lack of tutoring as well as similar face-to-face courses. And courses oriented to “be able of reproducing the knowledge” use to be disastrous in not mind which kind of education management model.

So I think that we have to focus our next discussions in interaction between learning models, objectives (aims, competences) to get, knowledge fields, size of groups, social needs, available resources, … and so.

@Roland, it's very sad to get this info from you: 'So even the teachers aren't already shaped morally and/or scientifically. '

Dear Golam,

I wish if I could earn Ph.D. through the online studying, but in Jordan the online learning in the field of applied sciences such as architecture and interior design are not supported and unrecognized.

Dear Jeanan,

The practical nature of many studies may not be suitable for online, however, for example, the University of Liverpool, UK provide online Doctorate Programmes_ Doctorate of Business Education (DBA) and Doctorate of Education (EdD). Both the DBA and EdD are professional doctorates and research degrees.

 see University of Liverpool Online Doctorate Programmes

One issue bugs me really about online courses.

The professor investing time and effort to create the course file will gain little if any benefits from it. Even if the university may pay some royalties, those are only paid if the course is sold, not given freely. The online interactive part can be managed by a monkey once the materials are well done and complete, so i fear  highly skilled professors will be less and less in demand.

Dear All,

I have no experiences with on-line teaching. Reading your contributions I am asking the followings:

Is on-line learning suitable for each profession? Is it proper to train good physicians, chemists, ecologists, teachers?

I have read the on-line learning advantages of Nageswara and Behrouz but I was not able to recognise that this kind of study would be more efficient, interesting or better than the traditional. Have you got any evidences and records on the very advantage of this study from point of view of the quality and success? It seems to me that it is advantageous from point of view of enrolment numbers and using computers it is very economic.

I remember on many threads where some of us delivered fine lectures on the unique effects of the teachers’ personality. What about this exceptional impact in on-line teaching?

Dear All,

I have still a question: would you propose to your own child the e-learning as an option? I would not.

If I have time and a bit extra money, I will attend college. Also my first degrees, I will go attend college.

For additional degrees or smaller upgrade in my education, or out of desperate upgrading to my degree or getting degree, i will go online education. My highest priority is to study in classroom..

Dear Golam

Greetings. I love this question as it tied with decades of my Global experience tied with T-Con, Web Discussions etc., My humble opinions 2 cents

Great Advantage: Any where from the Globe, (any time if it is not live cast) from the Best Experts of Best Institutes

Many Disdavantages:

1. Poor attention, if the call (Live cast) is more than 1 hour

2. IT issues and related frustrations Eg: Network Traffic, poor IT infrastructure at reciever end

3. Poor efficiency - I have seen in my experience, if it is a TCon even in a critical program in business (if not tied with video) people either keep working with emails, discuss within and even login for the sake of attendance and go away from meeting room

Thanks again for the great question and valuable opinion of experts already registered

Kind Regards

Ramanan

Dear Ramanan,

Thank you for your valuable inputs. Yes IT issues (e.g, infrastructure and network traffic) could some of the major obstacles in promoting and acceleration the e-learning in particular in developing countries

Hi,

I think they are very beneficial .Actually,I took many of them at coursera.org.They helped me a lot both at my lectures and my research .

Because an online course typically takes more time to teach than the same course taught face-to-face, containing instructor workload with regard to administering online assessments is important-

Pros and Cons of Online Education!

Online method of education can be a highly effective alternative method of education for the students who are matured, self-disciplined and motivated, well organized and having high degree of time management skills, but it is an inappropriate learning environment for more dependent learners and has difficulty assuming responsibilities required by the online courses...

https://www.ies.ncsu.edu/resources/white-papers/pros-and-cons-of-online-education/

Dear friend

Creating a techno-pedagogical innovation seems to be one of the promising ways to develop education nowadays.

The main challenge of e-learning is how to fight spatio-temporal rupture. The student is isolated from teacher and other peers. Hence, appears how is mediaition"tutoring" is important.

Bachir

One of the disadvantages nowadays is the isolation impact that young elearners are suffering... From classes to social media and vice versa!!

I loved these two articles:

McKimm, J., Jollie, C., & Cantillon, P. (2003). ABC of learning and teaching: Web based learning. BMJ: British medical journal, 326(7394), 870.

Curtis, D. D., & Lawson, M. J. (2001). Exploring collaborative online learning. Journal of Asynchronous learning networks, 5(1), 21-34.

Yes, I am agree with Emi John Prince . Being an instructor of Nepal Open University. I am also feeling like same, in my experience It took around three times more for preparation than conventional mode.

Dear Hussin Jose Hejase , yes, we must speak also about disadvantages of on-line approach to teaching and learning. There can be multiple drawbacks to online education in comparison to traditional classroom education:

• Lack of accreditation and low quality
• Little or no face-to-face interaction
• More work
• Intense requirement for self-discipline
• Even more intense requirement for self-direction

https://www.petersons.com/blog/5-disadvantages-to-consider-about-online-education/

Following

Any time,Any where learning.It is easier to store the teaching material and can be retrieved any time.

Few challenges : Students commitment,Social learning,Readiness of our students to self-directed learning.

We had a good experience in an Arab -Jewish online course many years ago. Students were active and expressed provocative opinions without fear. However there is an increasing concern that the online experience will create alienation, reduce students' independence and their creative abilities, discourage their motivation to learn from real people and reduce their ability to empathize with others. We also hear more and more accusations from parents that long screen exposure causes their children to experience all kinds of neurological problems.

Article Adaptive learning with e-knowledge systems

Advantages of saving money, classrooms, even materials and infrastructure.

Difficulties:

Some teachers are unaware of how to hold these courses

Lack of electronic services in poor areas.

Dear Golam Kibria , this link brings relevant information about your research question.

Below is the rundown of the merits and demerits of computer-mediated digital learning, under their respective heads.

The Benefits of Online Learning:

https://www.edsys.in/online-learning-the-benefits-and-challenges/

Very important question

Following

Online learning has a number of advantages. Some of which include

• Everyone can access education no matter the location
• You can learn about anything and whatever you like
• Comfort and flexibility
• Sharing knowledge with others

Challenges include

• Passive Students - Most online courses are self-directed but in order to build an engaging learning atmosphere there is the need to have active students.
• Technical glitch - Technology comes with its drawbacks. Devices crashing without warning, the internet connection dropping and platforms freezing can spell disaster for lessons, especially when the teacher is covering important information or when students are at a crucial point in their courses. The same can be said when either the teacher or the student has just started their course and have not set aside adequate time to check how the platform works. Being unfamiliar with the software can create unnecessary delays that impact negatively on the learning experience.

Golam Kibria

To form a profound understanding of utilizing technology in instructional climate, it is beneficial to define the benefits, disadvantages and obstacles that my face teachers in using technology.

Benefits of integrating technology into learning environment may include motivate students effectively, enhance interactions between learners and educators, allow students to autonomously resolve problems.

Disadvantages

Despite the educational technology high expenditures, there is no data measuring its return. Moreover, technology does not guarantee effective learning and inadequate use of technology can even hamper it.

Support the functionality of any wherr you can learn

Well meditated answer @ Nageswara Rao Posinasetti