Does Online College Make Students Agoraphobic?

Online colleges have been praised, in part, due to their rapid growth and ability to offer an education to students of any background, regardless of any extraneous situations.  This has attracted both supporters and critics in the education industry, but the one issue that remains to be thoroughly discussed is what will happen over time, when online schooling becomes more mainstream?  There will be little face-to-face communication and we will seemingly be lost in a sea of social media and other technological advances.  Does this mean we as a society are slowly becoming agoraphobic because of the ease with which we have sidled into online education? 

Online colleges allow students to take their classes solely from the comfort and privacy of their homes.  This has many career-oriented and family-oriented benefits: you can be a stay-at-home mom and still earn your degree or you can work full-time and earn your degree.  Yet, many students simply opt out of the traditional route and decide to enroll in online colleges either because they do not want to commute to school or they have a fear of public speaking in class.  In these instances, online education is detrimental for any type of success in the business world. We learn much of our professionalism and ability to communicate with people of different backgrounds through college classes.  It is so far unclear what striking this away will do to younger students.

Online colleges typically attract an older audience who has already matured in this sense and does not need the social atmosphere of traditional colleges.  However, recent high school grads are only used to their high school friends and may become entirely content living at home, with only a computer screen for classmates.  For students who already have a fear of public places or a fear of public speaking, online college can set them back even further.  How are they going to be able to face the real world and go on job interviews without some type of foray into society?  For this student, possibly breaking up the online college experience with enrollment at a nearby community college would be the best alternative.  Online education is meant to be about the large benefits the process delivers, not about debilitating a future generation of students. 

Even more, if you are already slightly agoraphobic or have a fear of public speaking, you should force yourself to enroll in traditional classes.  Maybe take half of your courses online and half in a traditional setting, just as long as you confront the problem head on.  Online education is a great advancement in education, and thus far does not appear to be the cause of any prominent agoraphobia, but taking necessary precautions is never a bad idea.