Advantages and Disadvantages of an Online Degree

Advantages/Disadvantages of an Online Architectural Degree. One of the ways that proponents of architecture as a career path want to draw
in students is by encouraging architecture through online work. An online architect degree is a bit unique though from say a history degree or
a biology degree because of how the classes are taught.

Much of the coursework relies on the student doing projects and building things or at least doing a lot of design work with their own hands in
order to pass the class rather than doing written assignments and exams.

With an online architectural degree, students would have to go out to find their own means of gaining hands-on experience rather than
having it done for them in a studio design class. This can be viewed as an advantage or a disadvantage to the student, depending on their style
of learning and whether it’s possible for them to gain hands-on experience in their community.

Advantages:

The pros of an online architectural degree run parallel to the advantages of any online degree; the freedom to decide when to do your class
work and indeed when to go to class at all and the more widespread use of computer programs when learning.

Architecture is relying more and more on the use of computers in the work, so in this way, going online is not only advantageous, it makes a
great deal of sense. Having the degree taught online would also encourage students from communities that need architects to take the courses
and thus work to help their town without having to move.

The online degree would also allow students to gain a professional degree (equivalent to a bachelor’s degree) and then get accreditation
quickly and easily since the student would have already worked in the field for a number of years to get the degree.

The student can also decide how quickly he or she wants to go through the program and so can finish quickly and thus be working all the
faster instead of taking usual three to five years or more in a traditional setting. Many students consider this advantage to potentially
outweigh any difficulties they might come across in finding an online degree or even the online courses for architecture.

Online, virtual work would also make the learning process less disparate. With the traditional university method of teaching, students can get
a very fragmented education that is hurried through a set number of years. The course work is based on separate and different subjects to do
with architecture and students rarely get to see the whole picture during their learning process.

Online work would make the whole picture immediate and consequential, as the teacher would be able to spend more time and effort on
weaving everything together and the students would be able to see for themselves what it is that the coursework is building towards in their
education.
Another advantage lies in collaboration.

Students from different schools would be able to work together and professors from other schools would be able to teach students in all
different schools. Were there enough organization, a professor from one school could teach something he or she specializes in for a few weeks
and then pass the reins to another professor for another specialty. This could be beneficial to the student in that they would be a specialist in
a given field and an advantage to the professor who would be able to concentrate fully on what they do best rather than trying to do a lot of
different topics over the span of a semester.

If nothing else, an online architecture class would allow students to learn from all different people and even from different cultures and about
different architectural styles. Collaboration also allows professors from different schools to come together in order to decide what a more
national or even international curriculum would look like.

This would make transfers between schools much easier and ascertain that students are getting a similar level of education, instead of some
degrees being ‘better’ than other (perceived or otherwise). The need to force teamwork in this system is also something that many employers
and clients find desirable in their architects.

Clients in this age want their architects to be able to have open communication about what they are doing and be able to be flexible and
willing to utilize all different styles of design and building in their work. Online collaboration gives this education alongside the learning of
design and software.

It also reinforces the idea that in our society, knowledge is as important as physical skills, if not more so, and in this field, architecture has
always been at a slight disadvantage as it has long been seen as a ‘trade’ not as a knowledge based profession, perceived or otherwise.

Computers have been used in the field for over thirty years now and any employer expects their workers to be fluent in technology. The use
of the internet in architecture allows students to go beyond the traditional learning and thus be able to bring more to their employers. Next:
Disadvantages of Online Degrees.

Disadvantage:

A big e-learning disadvantage lies for students from smaller communities-who are also more likely to take online courses in order to have

access to classes they would not ordinarily have access to-where getting an apprenticeship for architect work which would be required in an
online degree would be very difficult or even impossible.

Even with the addition of a virtual design studio for students to do their work in, it may still be difficult for students from smaller
communities to put in the time and energy needed to do the work and find the software that they would need in order to get the most out of
the degree.

For example, finding the necessary software would be easy in a large city such as New York or Toronto, but much harder in a more rural
community. If one lives in a larger city, one may well decide that an online degree is not for them anyway, so one would not need to worry
about the apprenticeship which would be easier to get.

The course work is also very different online when compared to the traditional classroom. There would be far more virtual work being done
and projects would be sent rather than seen in the studio.

Virtual building is very different from doing it hands on and so students would be learning several different style of architecture rather than
simply the traditional one. Once again, this can be both advantageous or a disadvantage, depending on how the person learns.

Many who are good with their hands may not be so good with a computer and vice versa. The biggest disadvantage though is the
unavailability of such a degree in even the traditional sense, let alone online, from most colleges and universities. Finding an entire degree for
architecture is most commonly found in trades schools, not in universities, and there are not very many trades’ schools in Canada which offer
the entire degree.

Students often have to go to multiple colleges in order to get all the courses they need or want. When going online, the number of available
courses shrinks still further.

This is usually because it is either very expensive to have an online design studio for the school and not considered worth the costs because
there are not enough students, or because the faculty are simply unaware of any demand for online architectural work.

It is a challenge, but it is one that some schools are beginning to rise to, using various technological advances, experiments, and a drive to go
where architecture has never gone before.

The results are varied as are the responses, but it is beginning to look certain that doing architectural degrees and work entirely online will
soon be moved from the realm of dream to reality.