As technology advances in our society, means and methods of education have grown exponentially. A prime example of this is online courses and online components of courses. These resources have been beneficial to students at every level, offering a level of flexibility to students that makes simply makes life easier.

It is becoming increasingly common for classes to have online components in homework, resources, notes, lectures, and lessons available, and many students are taking full advantage. Modern technological options mean that there are many more highly developed resources available to students at all times. Often, students take online courses so that they can have a more flexible schedule to make time for other things, such as jobs, sports, and hobbies. In general, online courses benefit students everywhere.

Online classes and resources offer a level of flexibility to education, which had been a great struggle for many students. The ability to take entire courses at any pace creates an environment where students can afford to commit to jobs, hobbies, and other committal activities that were not available options to teenagers before. It is becoming increasingly common for high school students to get jobs to fund hobbies or to save money for a large purchase or for college, due purely to the increase in flexibility. Academics have been a struggle for many student athletes, in trying to maintain a balance between school, sports, work, and personal time, specifically in maintaining good grades to keep scholarship opportunities open, but this task is made easier with online classes. These struggles are not only had by student athletes however. Robotics, honor societies, choirs, orchestras, bands, and many more activities and groups are requiring more commitment from students, and online courses offer a level of flexibility for students to keep up with everything they do.

Online courses are also excellent teachers of responsibility. In a traditional schooling environment, classes are very rigorously and rigidly structured, teaching in a very linear fashion that has been refined over the years through small adjustments. Students are responsible for ensuring they do what is required of them, but there is no real need to take charge of their own learning and think for themselves, as they are simply following in the footsteps of the students before them. An online learning environment on the other hand, allows students to learn how they work best, pushing them to think for themselves and forcing students to motivate themselves to work without outside guidance. This culture of learning is much more reminiscent of college and adult life, where there is little to no outside motivation to do what needs to be done.

With all the good that comes with online school resources however, come many downfalls. As students and teachers become increasingly dependent on technology, the lines can blur where school ends and where home life begins. Teachers have been known to expect students to further their learning outside of schooling hours, putting a higher emphasis on self-learning than their own teaching. Educators are also notorious for having high expectations for students because of the resources that exist, without regard to other factors in their lives; many students who would thrive in a perfectly traditional learning environment are struggling because they do not utilize online resources to their teacher's expectations. It is easy for teachers to recognize the resources available to many students, then expect all students to utilize them to their fullest extent, when in reality many students either have no access to them whatsoever or have no way of learning to use them effectively. While these issues can potentially be crippling, many schools are becoming aware and go to great lengths to remedy them.

All in all, online learning is a phenomenal option for many students. While it may not work for every student, it is a huge benefit for those who can utilize it effectively. Students everywhere are taking advantage of online resources, and not only are their learning experiences better for it, but they have more flexibility to do what they enjoy, and learn many important life skills.