Distance education, eLearning or online learning are greener ways for students to earn their college degrees, while helping the environment in the process.
More students college students are wanting to go green as a big part of their college experience. One of the greenest ways of going to college is via online learning or distance education.
There are many ways that online learning is an easy way to be green and reduces student’s carbon footprint. Some of these include reduction in commuting and hosing costs, reduction in textbooks and reduction in printing costs.
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The Online Learning Cost Savings Calculator can help students determine how much they might save in commute, gas, parking fees, public transportation, child care costs, commuting and time. Ultimately a greener college experience is good for the environment.
Additional benefits to completing courses from home and not commuting include: not having to spend money on gasoline, cope with car exhaust, pollution, commute traffic or road rage. In addition there is no wear and tear on the car from commuting to take courses or attend study groups.
It may even be possible for an online student to get away without having a car (most of the time) to take online courses. Students can do all of their studying, assignments and even attend virtual study sessions online.
Fewer Moving Costs With eLearning
Decreased commuting costs can also translate into decreased housing and moving costs. With online classes, students just need a computer and a connection to the Internet. With wireless access students can access their classes from anywhere so can take courses from colleges quite a distance away, without having to move across the country to attend the college.
Less Paper Printing With Distance Learning
Online learning generally leaves less of a paper trail, or less need to print out papers. The course syllabus, instructions, articles and learning materials are all online within the course management system. Students who want to can still print out course materials, but many choose to read the majority of the information on a computer or a laptop.Of course, with distance learning, you may have problems doing your homework. But such a problem can be easily solved if you turn to the professionals and ask to write my essay online.
In an online course students complete their assignments on their computers as files, then without printing anything on paper, upload those assignments as files to the course Dropbox. Instructors can read and grade homework and papers online, and leave comments for the students all electronically in a virtual course system or by email, so no paper is printed to grade assignments.
Use Online Texts for Online Courses
Textbooks have even gone online, reducing the cost of printing out complete textbooks. Many publishers now offer the option of paying to access textbooks online, even ordering just the chapters that are needed for a particular course. eTexts can help cut overall textbook costs, since ebooks are often less expensive than traditional texts. Online textbooks can also reduce printing costs where students read their text online or just print out needed pages on paper.
Many students can also access their texts via eReaders, like the Kindle or read text or listen to lectures through iPods and other MP3 players.
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Being in a Green Environment While Taking a Distance Education Course
Perhaps the greenest benefits of taking online courses is literally being in green while taking a course. With distance education courses students have the flexibility to be out in the green or out in nature while working on classwork. Students can stay at home and watch their children, go to their favorite coffee house, or sit on a stump somewhere to do homework. With more college students being concerned about finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint, online learning, distance education and elearning is likely to become a more popular way of earning a college degree.