Enter your email below to receive weekly updates from the Ashton College blog straight to your inbox.
Online learning has existed as an alternative to the classroom setting and education system that many of us are familiar with even before schools and universities were forced to utilize it thanks to Covid-19. As a cheaper alternative to classical education, with many universities incorporating elements of it within their own courses, online learning has been a rapidly growing popular method to teach students. Ever since Covid-19, there has been a massive spike of interest in online learning as an education method, some considering it to be the superior method for picking up skills, certificates, or diplomas to help aid in their future careers. Many programs and universities consider such methods viable but even so, there are two methods of online learning that are utilized as education methods. Online Learning and Live Online learning.
Online learning is when the delivery of educational content and material is done through the internet rather than in-person. Lectures and educational content are prepared and distributed for students to go through at their own pace while the course remains active. The courses are asynchronous so all that is required is for students to have access to the internet and put in their effort and manage their self-paced learning to ensure that they can pass the course. This is a method that is entirely dependent on the student’s own efforts, with no professors or instructors to help guide them. Examples of what you could expect to see from this method of learning are:
There are a variety of courses and universities which utilize this method but there are other platforms which take advantage of this learning method, who advertise themselves and sell themselves to the wider public to promote learning new skills, diplomas and even degrees. Such platforms where these services are include:
Many students prefer the ease and convenience of online learning. It is an educational space that is meant to be conducted online with no distractions. However, there is an alternative form of online learning that is more reminiscent of classroom-based learning while having the convenience of online learning that I am sure many students who were taught during the Covid-19 era are familiar with.
Live online learning or Remote Learning as some may be familiar with, is when classes are conducted live over the internet. Both the teacher and the students are live and in the same meeting conducted on platforms such as Zoom. It uses aspects of the typical classroom setting such as a set time block each week. Similar to regular online learning, live online learning provides the benefit of avoiding the need for transportation as this is done live over the internet on a platform such as Zoom. Most Live Online Learning courses often offer a meeting time or office hour each week for students to be able to meet and talk to their professor online. This provides students with the benefit of having live access to the teacher or professor. This is beneficial to students who benefit from hearing a lecture live and not from a video recording or if the student wishes to ask the instructor any questions for clarification.
The instructor is also far more engaged in this format as they aren’t just responsible for marking. They will be leading the sessions each week, and some may even be coordinating group activities such as group projects or discussions. While online learning courses do leave an option for students to discuss, many instructors are more engaged with this format as many see it as an extension of the classroom setting but adapted to modern trends. Thus, with these formats, it is more likely that you will be forced to interact and work with others for marks. However, this is dependent on the course material you are studying as some topics are more appropriate for discussions and group work than others.
There are two different methods of online learning, so the question you may be asking is, which method is better? And the answer to that depends on your own personal preferences. As despite both being Online Learning, they hold some very notable differences which can affect one's learning experience.
The advantage with regular online learning is that there is no set lecture time, students are free to learn the material at their own pace. They have more flexibility compared to Live Online learning and the lectures or learning materials that they have access to will remain accessible until the course end unlike with live online learning which doesn’t necessarily have its lectures recorded, there are some that have them recorded but the recordings only remain accessible for a few days after the initial live session.
However, the disadvantages with this method are that there is minimal instructor and student interaction. Which means that you are unable to meet or chat with any of the students or instructors unless it is a requirement for the course. So you will be missing out on that crucial social interaction with people who could become your friend or become part of your growing network of connections while also potentially being unable to ask an expert for help or clarification regarding any of the material depending on the exact format of the institution or individual behind the online course that you have chosen to take.
The other disadvantage is that online learning is entirely a self-directed effort. The results will reflect the work that you put in, if you are not a fan of watching an hour-long lecture in-person it is extremely likely you wouldn’t be faring much better if the format changed to an online recording. Long videos or recordings can be considered tedious and off putting, especially as many of us are more used to shorter length videos such as those posted on TikTok or YouTube shorts.
The advantage with live online learning is that it forces students to set time aside to attend class and thus focus on their education. It forces them to dedicate a block of their time each week on learning the material and their education unlike with regular online learning which doesn’t force students to spend time each week learning the material, which encourages procrastination. Live Online Learning also allows students an opportunity to speak with the instructor, to ask for clarification that they may not be able to ask in a typical online learning program.
The disadvantages of live online learning, however, is that there is a reduced amount of flexibility within your schedule. The synchronous material is delivered on a set date and time barring emergencies; thus, you must abide by that schedule. If the instructor is kind, then perhaps the recording will be available for a few days after the live meeting but most likely you will have to ask another student for their notes and aid so that you may catch up on the material that you missed.
Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses. Introverts or those who would prefer to have more flexibility within their schedule would choose regular online learning but those who wish to have a more structured course or to be able to ask questions to the teacher would prefer to take more live online learning courses.
Regardless of the method chosen, they both allow for education to be done with more ease and at less cost compared to the classical method which often forces students to spend their time and money on travel costs. The best educators take advantage of this growing digital era and those who wish to excel and truly become top educators must constantly adapt and grow to the new changes, the new improvements that come with this technology.
View All Comments