Online learning is not that old method for receiving education. There were lots of methods to receive an education, like traditional colleges, public schools and finally online education. Traditional schools can be very expensive but most parents would rather to put their children in those kinds of school because they believe putting their children in a traditional college will help them have a good future. No matter what the price would be in the traditional schools, parents have the idea of online education was not worthy and not a good quality. However; online education has becomes very sophisticated these days ccompared to the past, which lots of people do not see the possibilities of it. According to Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman's book, Five Years of Growth in Online Learning, online learning has grown significantly in quality and popularity over the past few years, making it a viable option for people who cannot afford the cost of traditional schools

Online learning has grown considerably in recent years. According to Allen and Seaman, “Future growth in online enrollments will most likely come from those institutions that are currently the most engaged; they enroll the most online learning students and have the highest expectations for growth” (Allen and Seaman 2). People and even the institutions themselves have changed how they are engaging with this method of education. One of the reasons of taking online courses and why some people prefer online learning rather than brick and mortar schools is the low tuition. According to the book, the number of students who take online courses are on the rise which is normal because most students are comfortable engaging with the new technology. In 2002, there were approximately 100,984 students who take only one course in a term and all the statistics were written down accurately in the book from 2000 until now days and that is a very large number to see the rise. (Allen and Seaman 15). It is so hard to believe those numbers because we all mostly accustomed to be in the traditional schools. Online learning has really become one of the best method of receiving a quality education without spending lots of money. 

If online learning was not common in the past, new developments have made it more useable among students today. Lots of students who tried online courses were satisfied that means online learning in the past was just not that good. The quality and the usability has improved greatly over the years. As an online culture, education improved with online learning and this would affect many students were used to have their education normally in the traditional school. Online learning has many advantages that would benefit the students and make them more comfortable because it will make learning more convenient by providing a greater accessibility. For instance, it gives students the opportunity to study whenever and wherever they want and this is one of the  benefits that make old students to be satisfied with the new method of education. According to the article “Benefits of Online Courses” Kimberly Metz says, “Guiding the student through the process of online learning in a semi-controlled environment will better prepare them for the future and for lifelong learning opportunities upon graduation” (Metz). So even some universities help students to have a good background of online courses because of the transition from traditional to online learning is also applicable to professional development.

. According to the book Five Years of Growth in Online Learning, the authors say, “[E]valuating the quality of online instruction is no more difficult than for face-to-face, and an increasing majority view the quality of online education as the same or better than face-to-face instruction” (Allen and Seaman 18). In other words, online learning seems not difficult comparing with the traditional school and it might be easier. This shows that whenever we want to think about online learning in the past and how very little students who were engaged with it, now we can see a huge rate difference. This is will not affect the traditional school, but it is more beneficial to have many options for students to have an education.

There are many elements that make us feel about online learning that is quite beneficial. Some people think that even with its benefits it is still not worthy and not as good quality as in-class learning. Furthermore, there are some articles that talk about how online learning might eliminate brick and mortar school funding. Actually, this might be true but it does not consider how modern technology can change educational methods. For instance, people in the 19th century were educated by books and sometimes did not even have boards or desks. In other words, the environment in the past was not appropriate to get an education for people who live these days and this is similarly to online education. Some people think that online learning is not good as the traditional school, but that is also not true. According to the article, “Advantages of Online Education” Julie Nelson says, “57% of academic leaders rated the learning outcomes in online education as being equal to or better than the outcomes in traditional classroom” (Nelson 1). It shows that no matter where we get the education from either traditional school or online learning are both of them very useful and lead the same goal. 

In conclusion, Although traditional school is still held to be the most beneficial way to gain an education, particularly due to the interactive opportunities it offers students, online education is fast becoming a convenient and economic option. The growth of using online learning increasing so quickly as the time passing. The success of taking online courses were apparently obvious. The book which is “Five Years of Growth in Online Learning,” is really important because we can see how online learning became a significant part in students’ life and how successful it is. 
