Choosing between offline and online education could be a daunting task but with the right guidance, you will be able to make the right decision for you. As technology has developed, so too has the way we learn new skills.
Attending online classes every day has become the ‘new normal’ for students during the lockdown in India. As schools were shut because of the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, the online class have taken center stage in students’ life now.
Despite the lockdown, many schools have taken timely steps to continue the flow of education by holding online classes for students. Interestingly, online classes have helped students during lockdown more than ever before.
Although online learning has become the preferred method for the majority of students, it’s important not to dismiss the benefits of offline learning too. With online learning, students and teachers benefit from a more casual, flexible approach.
There are many benefits of online learning like flexibility, plenty of choices, cost benefits, a comfortable environment to study, advancing your career even while you are working, gaining skills that are transferrable, avoid commuting, and learning at your own house.
Additionally, it also helps you to develop self-discipline and makes you join study groups from different places to understand perspectives. Online teaching increases the engagement between the student and the teacher, resulting in personalized attention to the student.
Whereas classroom teaching is important to encourage and motivate collaborative learning. Collaborative learning increases student’s self-awareness about how students learn and enables them to learn more easily and effectively, transforming them into keen learners inside and beyond the classroom.
Classroom teaching enhances students’ critical thinking skills. Classroom studying provides an opportunity for students to engage in live discussions where they can better utilize their critical thinking skills to voice opinions or involve themselves in an argument.
Hence, online learning is certainly a more effective option for students, rather than offline. But it’s also better for the environment.
The “New Normal” has become the most bittersweet phrase since the beginning of the global pandemic Coronavirus (also known as Covid-19). Coronavirus is a deadly infection first discovered in China in December 2019. With time it spread globally and took the form of a global crisis.
For the first time in many years, a disease had stopped the entire world from functioning normally. Every country imposed a nationwide lockdown to prevent the infection from spreading, as it is highly contagious. Since then, everything has become online, from classes to offices, grocery shopping, everything.
This form of life is called the “new normal”. Schools and universities are conducting classes, exams, presentations, viva, etc., all online.
Advantages of Online Education:
- It is flexible; can be accessed from anywhere with a device and internet connection.
- Budget-friendly.
- Convenient attendance.
- Class recordings are available for later references.
- One of the major disadvantages faced by students learning online is managing screen time. Online education requires staying logged in on the screen for an extended period regularly.
- Long-duration screen time becomes a great difficulty for the students and harmful for their health as well, especially the eyes.
- Another disadvantage includes technical glitches. Poor Internet connectivity issues also arise multiple times during online sessions. Small towns/cities, urban areas face the most difficulty maintaining stable Internet connections. It destroys the learning of the students.
Other disadvantages include Feeling of isolation by individuals, Minimal peer help, Group work not being as efficient as it would be if done offline.
Advantages of Offline Classes
Students are fully attentive towards class only; less distraction. Online classes have more possibilities of distractions where students may surf on other online platforms or pay less attention in class.
Teachers can provide individual attention to the students, address their issues and solve it quickly.
Disadvantages of Offline Classes
- Students may lack the opportunity to learn advanced techniques.
- Time management becomes an issue for students who reside far away from campus.
- No recording or any other form of data is not always available for students who missed the class or later references.
Offline education will allow younger kids to create a habit of functioning in a different environment and explore it. Most young kids do not want to study with their parents or elder siblings, for which going to school is beneficial for them.
Some Tips for Teachers for Efficient Online Education
- Making short sessions/periods of classes. Preferably 40-45 minutes.
- Minimum 15 minutes break between every class.
- The last class of the week can be held as doubt clearing sessions.
Assigning tasks and deadlines according to other classes, so the students do not have submission deadlines with the same dates for more than one subject.
Some Tips for Students Attending Online Education
- Stay away from the screen during break times.
- Eat healthy, Have enough sleep.
- Discuss any doubts with teachers at the soonest possible.
- Note down doubts for doubt clearing sessions.
- Inform teachers beforehand or immediately of any technical glitch.
Bottom Line
Online Education has brought a positive impact on the lives of students and working professionals. It has given an opportunity to take up additional courses along with their studies or job as per their convenience.
Online education is convenient wherever you want to give it anytime and in any situation and has less basic requirements than offline education. Online education is generally preferred by non-school students as well.
But students learning online do not have easy access to teachers. So the problems of these students do not go away quickly.
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