Higher education has become an important part of society. Children are asked as they grow up what they want to be, and for the most part, are expected to go on to college or university. As new media becomes more readily available, opportunities are opening up for people to attend an institute of higher education without ever sitting in a formal classroom setting. With the click of a mouse and a connection to the Internet, students are able to earn a degree. While some educators value a traditional education, many are beginning to see the need to incorporate technology into seemingly unrelated fields of study. As some institutions incorporate web-based learning with traditional studies, others take it to an extreme and base the institution solely on technology. Students who choose to attend web-based institutions are at a disadvantage to those who attend traditional universities. .
In both cases, virtual and traditional, the students will eventually have to adapt to living in the real world. Resnik, the Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship at the University of Cincinnati, says, "Graduates of a virtual university will have to live in the real world, and they need an education that prepares them to function well within it" (Resnik 8). A virtual education will provide ways to learn how to function in a web-based world, not the real world. As students take advantage of formal learning over the Internet, they are not allowed as many opportunities to interact personally on a daily basis. Many times they do not learn how to work with other people and rely on them. They become alienated from the university community (Resnik 2). .
Many of the students who attend these virtual universities are part of different communities, which are usually more centralized to their specific interests. The effect of this is that they are not being encouraged to attempt things outside of these areas.
