Nowadays, distance-learning programs are such a common thing for us, but some people argue that they're not as good as those by attending in a college or university in person. To what extent do you agree or disagree? 

With the unprecedented development of technologies, online learning has become popular increasingly, while some people believe that embarking on a university is a better approach. I partially agree with this statement because distance learning can't replace universities completely, but it can be a practical supplement to traditional higher education. It is undoubted that traditional higher education provides a more comprehensive knowledge system and an excellent student learning atmosphere. In other words, universities offer systematic courses covering whole subjects, and professional instructors have strong backgrounds in related fields and rich experience mentoring students. Apart from learning knowledge and skills, it also offers many collective events like the students union and sports club on campus, which help students develop their leadership and cooperation abilities and expand their social network. Thus, a college education can facilitate students' development in an all-around way. Distance learning has many advantages like flexibility and access to informative knowledge sources, while it better be a supplement to traditional education because it could not provide systematic instruction. Namely, distance learning can give learners more flexibility because users can customise their self-paced study according to their needs. In addition, learning online is a helpful way to adopt more knowledge because students can get tremendous relative information on the internet, which is an ideal complement to a college education. However, most of these online learning courses are focused on specific sub-subject and are fragmented and not well-organised. Thus, it is impossible to study a subject systematically in most cases. In conclusion, despite learning online has many conveniences, I don't think it can replace universities since higher education can offer systematic courses and learn atmosphere. In my view, they are not mutually exclusive, and online learning could be a complementary approach to schooling.