For some learners, online education has offered them tremendous opportunities to learn. These learners are very comfortable in their online classrooms. The many benefits of online education are appreciated by this group of learners.
Online education is not for everyone. The challenges of screen time and lack of other classmates in the same room minimize some of the benefits others glean from online learning.
Continue reading to learn more about the benefits and challenges of online education.
Benefits of Online Education
- Online education can offer access to an almost limitless variety of courses. In traditional education, if you want to study a world language for which the school did not have a qualified instructor, you would not be able to learn what you wanted. With an online education, you can take an online class at another school.
- Learning can occur anywhere in the world. This means that you can travel and attend classes. All you need is your device and an internet connection. You can join your classmates online from your current location.
- Since students can travel and still attend class, learning can and does happen beyond the virtual classroom setting. Students can immerse themselves in a language they are learning or visit historical sites or participate in a rally and learn even more.
- With the wide breadth of students who attend online classes, learners can work and learn with and from people from all over the world.
- Another plus to learning online is its cost. Online classes do not require large expensive buildings to house teachers and students. Transportation costs are usually eliminated because students do not have to be bussed to and from school.
- Not everyone learns at the same pace or in the same way. Online classes provide a means for students to review presentations made by teachers. Those who learn better in the morning or late at night can set a schedule to maximize their learning style.
Challenges of Online Education
- Some learners find online classrooms to be an isolating experience. These students miss the camaraderie that emanates from a traditional classroom setting. The small groups set up in online classes are not a substitute for these students.
- Others find the freedom associated with online education to be overwhelming. For these learners, setting up their own schedule and having the self-discipline to adhere to it are difficult to successfully accomplish.
- Students who are hands-on learners find the screen time associated with online learning a challenge. Kinesthetic learners need to be moving about. Sitting down and facing a screen is not conducive to learning.
- Not all schools and teachers are thoroughly vetted. Instructors, who have not been trained in the best ways to utilize the tools of online learning, struggle leading their classes. Students attending these courses find online learning difficult.
- In most towns, there are still traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Residents are paying taxes for the upkeep of those buildings and all the costs associated with the schools. Therefore, online learners are not saving any money.
