Pls evaluate my independent writing about learning courses

[writingcyh]

Question:
Some students enjoy taking distance-learning courses on the computer or television. Other students would rather tall of their courses with a teacher in a classroom. Which of these options do you think is better? Use specific reasons and examples in support of your opinion.

My writing:
Nowadays, a lot of distance-learning courses are offered on the Internet which attract many learners in different parts of the world. On the other hand, some people prefer the traditional ways of learning in classroom settings. I like the former, as it has many advantages that the traditional way of learning does not have.
First, it is much more convenient and flexible to learn from taking a distance-learning course than to go and learn in a classroom. We can access to the online course with just a few clicks on our computer, and we can decide to view the lecture or tutorial videos whenever we like. On the contrary, we are required to go to a specific place at a specific time if we enroll in the traditional courses with teachers in classrooms. The time schedule may clash with other courses or our own schedule. In addition, if we miss some important points when viewing the lecture video, we can just pause the video and go back to the previous parts - something we cannot do in a classroom.

Second, distance-learning courses offer more choices than traditional courses. We can have access to all the courses provided by different institutions across the globe. We can study physics with MIT Prof. Walter Lewin, or we can take other courses taught by renowned professors and teachers. But very often, we are only limited to specific choices of courses provided by our schools or community if we take the traditional courses. The courses that we would like to take may not be available, or the instructors may not suit our learning style or habit. Fortunately, all these problems can be solved by taking distance-learning courses as there are so many options available. It is unlikely that not a single course or instructor from all over the world appeals to us.

Some people are concerned about the lack of interaction among students and teachers in distance-learning courses. However, this is not true. There are discussion forums in the course homepage and students can engage in discussions on the lastest materials covered, learning tips, assignment, etc. Sometimes, there are even video conference so that you can talk to the instructors or other students using your web-cam. The number of students who enroll in distance-learning courses is also higher than that of traditional classes, so there can be hundreds, thousands or even more learners who accompany you. The interaction will not be less than that of a classroom, especially when the class is small with only ten or twenty students.
Distance-learning courses are becoming a trend because many features and advantages that are not found in traditional classes can be found in these convenient and flexible courses. As long as we adapt to this new mode of learning, we can definitely gain more than we have ever imagined.

Any comments regarding the language, grammar, content, organization? And can someone give me an estimate score?

thanks

[StuffedFrog]

Hi there. I don't know if this post is too late or not, your post was on the first of August, and I just registered today, so
I did not really read your essay, but I counted the words in MS Word and the length is good. I mean anywhere near 500 words or more is good. I'm cramming for the Toefl myself and I always try to write at least about 500 - 600 wrods. No matter how you deliver your essay, more words means you have more to say and more chances for you to show off your vocabs. Well, at least that's what I think.
Did you time your essay? Remember you only have 30 minutes. I normally struggle in the first 10' minutes for the introduction (since I often change my topic sentences while I process) and then in the rest 25' I just churn out words like I have nothing left to lose lol