It may be proposed that a rise in popularity of online education would be bad for society due to the visible negative effect which can be readily seen; that is, that classroom teachers may very well be put out of their jobs. While I do not think online education has become prevalent enough in our society to create this dilemma, we will look at this proposition under the hypothetical assumption that online education has become widespread enough to impose a threat toward the jobs of classroom school teachers.

The apparent downside is that teachers will be unemployed due to the job loss resulting from online school. We can classify this as that which is readily seen. However, in any economic scenario, it is prudent that we take notice of not only that which can be seen, but the effects which are not seen. One consideration is that online school also entails the employment of another set of individuals; those who would teach the online courses, for example. Those who develop and maintain the platforms and websites on which this online schooling takes place are also to be considered. With this in mind, while the initially apparent loss of employment by the classroom teachers is a loss, society as a whole does not suffer a loss because new jobs are created; this is what is not seen.

Another unseen factor is that the classroom teachers are paid by the government, whose funds are generated from taxpayer money. This money, in turn, can be allotted toward other uses, which can be a benefit to both the taxpayer and the economy as a whole. If the government were to, say, take the same tax dollars and create infrastructure with it, this would create further employment which would thus benefit society in another way. All this is to conclude that teachers losing their jobs, which could be construed as the negative result of online education that is initially seen, may well be outweighed by unseen benefits.