In the coming era of budget cuts to education, distance learning could become the norm.

The temptation for those in charge of education budgets to trade teachers for technology could be so strong that they ignore     1     disadvantages of distance learning. School facilities are expensive     2    (build). Online classes do not require buildings and each class can host hundreds of people at the same time,     3    (result) in greater savings. But moving away from a traditional classroom     4     a living, breathing human being teaches and interacts with students daily     5    (be) a disaster. Physically attending school has hidden benefits: getting up     6    (early), interacting more with peers, and building better relationships with teachers. Moreover, schools should be more than simple institutions of traditional learning. They are places where students     7    (offer) counseling (咨询) and other support.

Those policy-makers are often fascinated by the latest technology in education and its potential to transform education overnight.     8    , online education does not allow a teacher to keep a struggling student after class and offer help. Educational videos are unable to make eye contact or assess a student’s level of engagement. Given these     9    (expect), schools should not become permanently “remote”. Technology, however     10    (advance), should simply be a tool of a good teacher.

5 . Five years later, he quitted his job to work full-time on Khan Academy(可汗学院). The 75-person team is now based in Mountain View. The lesson style hasn't changed much, but Khan Academy now, besides science and maths, includes videos by experts in the ________ , too.

Today, Khan Academy has 15 million students in 190 countries. The You Tube channel has over 500 million________ . Khan’s ________ for the future has been supported by everyone from Bill Gates to Barack Obama.

While Khan is perhaps YouTube's biggest ________ in the field of learning, the platform is filled with instructional videos. There are video tutorials(视频教程)for changing a light bulb, assembling baby buggies, or learning the guitar.

It’s easy to see the attraction: ________ puzzling over an instruction manual(说明书)written in 15 languages, you can just watch someone ________ you.

Watching a video isn't just quicker than reading a manual—according to Khan, it's making us ________ . He argues that, by giving us a ________ level of knowledge, they help us get more out of experts.

________ , traditional educational establishments are welcoming YouTube, too. Universities around the world are ________ with video-based learning through massive open online courses, or MOOCs. While there has been some________ over whether lectures online devalue(贬……值)universities, almost everyone agrees that video tutorials have a role to ________ in teaching.

Khan believes that by teaching basic concepts ahead of classroom time, videos ________ teachers to focus on individual students. And by ________ the data Khan Academy gathers on each student—where they ________ or re-watch a video—teachers can know how much their students understand. This, says Khan, is the future of education: “empowering personalization”.

8 . Online education is transforming the way students learn. One 2016 survey found that offline learning students are an average of 29 years old and online learning students are an average of 33, reflecting both the popularity and effectiveness of online programmes to help adults meet educational and career goals.     1    

Here are THREE reasons online education works well for working adults.

Course flexibility

Most online courses are accessible 24/7, 365 days a year, so you can usually study around your work schedule from anywhere in the world. If you’re an older student juggling an education with other responsibilities, this flexibility is ideal. Often, you can study for a degree online at a pace that fits your lifestyle. You can take one or several courses per semester or enroll in an online programme with shorter terms that make it easier to concentrate on one course at a time.

Recognizing that many prospective online students have already earned some credits toward their bachelor’s degree, programmes might provide transfer credits or credits for life or work experience.     2    

Learning new skills and improving existing ones

Completing online courses from home or your desk at work can help you develop new skills to boost your earning potential.     3     Or you may simply want to improve or refresh the skills you already have, or learn job-specific skills to meet the changing needs of your profession.

Many companies will pay partial tuition for job-related courses that expand your knowledge base. If technology has been changing the way your industry functions, for instance, your employer might greatly value online courses that help you keep up with your field.

Instant relevance to your job

You may be surprised by how much more you enjoy your classes than you did when you were younger because in many online courses, you will find other working adults who you can network with and discuss recent experiences.

    4     You will also be able to make classes more interesting for other students by sharing relevant work-related examples in online discussion boards, for example.

A new study published today shows that e-learning is more popular than ever. According to researchers at Shanghai University, 57% of students now obtain degrees through e-learning, with only 43%    1    (get)their degrees by attending a traditional university. This year, 18 million students around the world decided to start e-learning courses from the comfort of their own homes.

We spoke to Zheng Tai, an eighteen-year-old student from Sichuan Province    2     started an e-learning course last month.

“After I finished high school, I knew I wanted to continue to study,” Zheng Tai told us. “I worked hard and managed    3    (get)good results in all of my exams. I really wanted to study economics at university, but I wasn’t sure    4    leaving home was a good idea. I felt bad about leaving my parents. My father suffers from a severe illness which    5    (cause)his muscles to stop working properly. He often needs help moving around. He also needs someone to cook his meals and give    6    his medicine at the right time each day. My mother is a teacher, so she cannot help him during the day. We    7    have hired someone to take care of him, but I just didn’t feel right leaving my father with a stranger.

My mum suggested I go to a university nearby and continue to live at home, but none of    8    universities close to my home town offer economics. Then my friend suggested I find out more about e-learning. I soon learnt that I could get a good degree    9     leaving home. I applied to the University of London, and they accepted me. I started an economics course with them four weeks ago.”

However,     10    Zheng Tai is now a student at the University of London, he has never been to the UK. In fact, he has never left Sichuan.