Table of Contents
Virtual Learning Strengths
Many students and teachers approach online learning with varying degrees of concern and enthusiasm. Are you skeptical or optimistic regarding virtual learning? Do you have an interest in knowing how delivering classes virtually can enhance your teaching and provide your students with learning opportunities? It is crucial to consider both advantages and disadvantages of virtual learning to prepare students to learn in this new environment and enjoy the opportunities that it offers. In this article, we explore the strengths of online learning.
What are the Strengths of Virtual Learning?
There are numerous reasons why online courses are becoming a popular type of distance learning in high schools and higher education presently. The virtual learning environment provides many opportunities for students who have limited access to learning, including a new model for instructors whereby high-quality courses are developed. Here are the top strengths of online courses.
Anywhere…
The major benefit of virtual learning is that it enables learners to take part in high-quality education when scheduling and distance make educational attainment difficult. Learners can study from any part of the globe, so long as they have an internet connection and laptops or computers. Additionally, online learning formats enable physically challenged educators and learners to have more freedom to learn. Every participant can access an online classroom via their laptops or computers rather than going to a traditional classroom.
Anytime, Any Pace
Online learning classrooms are accessible 24/7. The other strength of online learning is time efficiency. Asynchronous communication via virtual conferencing programs enables students committed to pursuing their passions as well as those working to take part in classroom discussions.
There is no query concerning doing other things; just do them at a more convenient time. Also, learners can have access to their programs at any time of night or day. Furthermore, learners have constant access to class discussions, course materials, and lectures. This is especially convenient for students who want to reread their learning materials before proceeding to the next.
Synergy
The other advantage of online learning is that it allows dynamic interaction between learners and teachers and among learners themselves. Ideas and resources can be shared, and continuous synergy can be generated via the learning process. Every individual can comment on the work of other students and contribute to discussions. Notably, the synergy that is found in the learner-centered online classroom is one of the most crucial and unique traits that virtual education has.
Learner-Centered
The other strength of online learning is that it is student-centered. Students respond to course materials (course books and lectures, for instance) and other student’s comments during online discussions. Typically, learners respond to topics within the broader conversation that mostly speaks about their personal concerns. Situations such as these contribute to smaller conversations among students.
Even though learners ought to read all contributions of their classmates, they actively participate in dialog parts that are crucial to their interests. As a result, learners can control their learning experience and customize classroom discussions in order to meet their needs. Basically, learners make their personal contributions to the course, hence enhancing their learning experience.
High-Quality Dialog
Students can reflect on other students’ comments before replying or proceeding to the next topic in an online classroom. The asynchronous discussion structure provides learners with time so that they can articulate replies with more depth as well as forethought compared to a traditional discussion where students have to scrutinize other students’ comments instantly and formulate a response or else; they lose an opportunity to participate in the discussion.
Creative Teaching
The utilization of an interactive learning environment contributes to critical thinking and self-direction. Some teachers have made major steps in using these concepts in delivering content to their students. Nevertheless, numerous classes exist that depend on lectures as well as repetitive memorization of course materials. In an online learning environment, students and educators collaborate so as to establish a dynamic educational experience. With the advancement in technology, there is hope that those shifting into new technology will stop their old wats as they adopt the new learning model. Teachers should consider their teaching styles and course objectives as they change their courses. These qualities are crucial in online learning, and they are effective in virtual classrooms.
Level Playing Field
The other strength of online learning is that students have specific measures of anonymity. Factors that are discriminatory like gender, race, disabilities, physical appearance, dress, and age are not present. Rather, students pay attention to the discussion content as well as the ability of the individual to contribute and respond intelligently and thoughtfully to the course materials.
Easy Access to Resources
Online classes are beneficial since you can include learners from other schools and guest experts. Furthermore, learners can access course materials and resources that are physically located in any part of the world. Teachers can compile resource sections online with links to institutions, scholarly articles, and materials that are relevant to the course for learners to access for detailed examination of course materials and for research.
Today is an exciting time for education and technology. Virtual courses provide a technology-based teaching environment that increases learning chances and can offer top-quality learning through many modalities and formats. With the special requirements of adult students who want or need to continue with their studies, online courses provide a more convenient solution to issues of study schedules, family, and work. High schools and higher learning institutions have established that online courses are important in offering access to teaching for learners that they intend to serve. To ensure that online course is successful, the students, the technology, the instructor, and the curriculum must be considered carefully and balanced so as to take full advantage of the benefits of online learning.
What Are The Weaknesses Of Online Learning?
Knowledge acquisition is the main challenge in online learning. The amount of knowledge amassed through different sources is immense, it is easy to get lost while searching for information on a specific topic. The Internet provides an endless environment where there are no boundaries and you are required to concentrate throughout its entirety if you want to learn something.
Motivation plays another major role in effective learning. Motivation is one of the factors that build our personalities, so even though we know what’s going on without motivation we won’t learn anything from it. Lack of motivation makes us susceptible to distractions and many other sources such as Facebook, which can distract us from doing something more important for a few hours. Depending on a person’s nature, motivation can be the key to learn something or not, because there are many people that if you tell them something they will do their best in order to accomplish it.
The use of technology can also contribute to the difficulties of online learning. Connectivity problems, plug-ins, incompatible software and hardware are some of the main hindering factors related to this aspect. Accidental computer crashes or browser closure can lead students astray from an already difficult task called online learning and even worse when someone has been using the same document for annotations and suddenly all your work is lost. Students tend to get easily confused while writing notes down on a text file while studying so automatic synchronization between different gadgets would be more than helpful.
Another limitation is the inability to convey emotion in an online text. In face-to-face lectures, students can easily tell if their instructors find a topic interesting or not by observing their body language and facial expressions, but in written text, it can be difficult to determine what’s written behind those letters.
The lack of social interaction with other students and teachers while doing online learning is a strong limitation when compared to traditional classes. This disadvantage has only become worse since more and more people are getting rid of their landlines and even mobile phones, so students have no way of contacting professors by phone. Nowadays many schools are offering instant messaging services as one way that provides communication between teachers and students, but according to most research, they don’t find it a very efficient method of interaction.
Incomplete system integration can be one of the greatest problems that students may face while studying online. For instance, when you are writing a paper with specific style and referencing requirements you can easily get confused, because there aren’t any guidelines to follow.
Another problem is the lack of immediate feedback. With offline learning we receive our grades from teachers via papers or assignments but in an online course everything is kept on servers so we have no idea whether or not the teacher has seen our work yet. Lack of structure may cause uncertainty among students which leads them to postpone their work until the deadline comes close and then they start panicking about what’s going on. Many educational institutions are taking this issue into consideration by providing online chatrooms and instant messaging systems as a way to ease the problem.
Another limitation can be the lack of moral support from other students that is presented in traditional classes. Since we are not actually sitting next to each other, a student cannot have someone else explain a difficult problem for them or ask for help when they need it.
Finally, online learning is relatively expensive compared to conventional education. Not only do you pay tuition fees but also Internet connection (if data plans are not part of your contract) and some extra bucks for books, notes, and many others that will come along with this new lifestyle called online learning.