Exploring interesting pros and cons of Online education

By Simran Sinha, Blogger at Edubrainz | May 01, 2023 |

To continue operating as a society, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed us to rethink some of our most fundamental, everyday responsibilities. Jobs that were previously always done in person are now done online; we forsake the crowded supermarkets and restaurants in favor of the security of home delivery and homemade cooking; and face-to-face discussions are now limited to our phones and computers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has irrevocably altered our perspective in several

ways, including how we approach schooling. The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired

innovative approaches to education. Educational institutions all around the world have turned to online learning platforms to educate the students they serve. The concept of education has changed, and the foundation of this change is online learning. This is the new normal. In the modern world, digital learning has emerged as a crucial resource for both students and educational institutions. Students can now access online education to master extracurricular courses in addition to academic ones. The demand for online education has greatly increased recently and will continue to do so going forward.

Online learning has its own set of benefits and drawbacks, much like any educational technique. Institutions will be able to develop techniques for more effectively delivering the classes and guaranteeing a continuous learning experience for students by decoding and understanding these positives and negatives.

Benefits of online education

The establishment of relationships between students and instructors, topic experts, other students, etc. is a factor that many online courses sometimes miss but is important, especially beyond 2020. The learning process depends heavily on

community and collaboration. Students in an online course get access to the following through a strong, established community:

• Online programs are of high caliber while still being affordable. Most components of in-person programs can still be found in high-quality online courses that offer them as part of their online education. This does not simply include transferring coursework; rather, top-notch programs use cutting-edge tools and methods to provide original content tailored specifically for online students. Due to accompanying expenditures and money spent on transportation, a face-to-face program is significantly more expensive than its online counterpart.

• Online education is more flexible and practical. The ability to learn at (nearly) any time, at your own pace, and wherever you want, is real.

• Your professional prospects may be improved through distance learning. You can enroll in and finish an online program that can improve your professional prospects even while working a full-time job.

• Your technical skills can be improved with distance learning. You must be computer literate to complete an online course since you will need to use a variety of learning management systems (LMS) and other programs. You can use the computer skills you acquire to complete your online course in all of your future endeavors.

Drawbacks of online education

While the idea of online learning is a terrific option for many, some online

programs may be vulnerable to the following typical drawbacks:

• There are some single online courses. For instance, the amount of connection and collaboration offered by massive open online courses (MOOCs) is lower than that of traditional classroom settings. In most cases, the interaction doesn’t happen instantly. In the absence of direct messaging, students must submit their questions online, with answers generally coming later. Students and teachers can converse more freely in a classroom setting.

• Higher workloads are associated with online education. Since online providers are aware that they cannot adequately oversee each student, For college students who also work full-time jobs, this can be a major issue.

• It can be challenging to get access to thorough resources and assistance. When an online course is very static, all of the content is posted to a single server for the student’s open access, with no contact with actual people. This can be an issue for those of us who require immediate clarification, technical assistance, or adjustments.

• Extreme self-discipline is needed for online learning. Observing rules and regulations in a classroom fosters discipline since students are expected to lose concentration and not give schoolwork the time it needs without the framework of a physical classroom and a set class schedule.

Even if some online schools are equipped to deal with these problems, it’s crucial to carefully examine the course material before enrolling in order to ascertain whether or not the program is vulnerable to these drawbacks.

Author: Simran Sinha, Blogger at Edubrainz.