Covid-19 has affected the whole world and forced people to change how they live, work, and educate themselves. Historically, every student followed the same traditional way of learning by going to schools or universities worldwide. There are numerous advantages of online learning which we’ll cover here.
Traditional ways of learning changed in 2020 when covid-19’s spread frightened everyone, forcing them to stay at home. Governments were forced to shut down schools around the world. As a result, education was forever transformed, and the age of e-learning was upon us. Educators were engaged in a race against time to adopt new methodologies of teaching (embracing technology) or be left behind.
What is Online Learning?
Online learning or e-learning is any learning that takes place over the internet. For example, education is provided where the lecturer and students communicate online through different platforms. So, any learning that takes place remotely would be considered online learning or distance learning.
Online learning differs from traditional learning, where a student had to go to school or an academic institution to gain knowledge. Yet, here education comes to you in the form of online classes. There are different types of online learning:
- Learning that is not real-time-based but comprises recorded lectures and assignments.
- Learning that requires instructors and students to communicate simultaneously through any platform like a blackboard, etc.
Check out the dissimilarities between Distance Learning vs Online Learning with a complete guide.
Top Advantages of Online Learning for Students
While most educators and students have turned to online platforms for education due to the pandemic, here are some of the online learning advantages:
1. Cost-Effective
It’s no surprise that college costs a lot more money than online learning. You have to pay for expensive tuition fees, living expenses, and meals. It’s not logical to spend that much money and gain the same knowledge and skills you get from online learning, although the cost of online courses varies.
Obviously! All you are doing is learning online from top-notch education providers worldwide at a minimum cost. According to “Education Data Initiative,” when tuition and cost of attendance for four-year colleges were compared, an online degree is $10,776 cheaper than an in-person degree.
2. Good Time Management and Flexibility
Going to college to get an education requires extra effort and time. Students have to go to college, sit through up to 2 hours of lengthy lectures, waste time on the commute, and come home tired. After that, do homework, sleep, and do it all again the next day.
So, why would you go through all that trouble just to get the education you can get at home online easily (if your college is offering online courses)?
In a traditional classroom setting, students have no power over the class schedule; they would have to take all the classes given in their study timetable. Although some students enjoy that discipline, it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. Other students value flexibility and want to have the option of learning from home, where they can record lectures and take them whenever they have time.
3. Comfortable Learning Environment
Taking online classes while wearing your pajamas is one added benefit of studying online. You can also take breaks whenever you feel like it! Feeling hungry, just go to your kitchen and eat what you want. Feeling tired from the long hours of online classes, then just getting up and stretched out.
Studying from home comes with many extra benefits and ease, which would not be possible in a traditional classroom environment. For example, you can pretty much do whatever you do on a typical weekend and complete your lectures simultaneously.
4. Learn New Technical Skills
Nowadays, almost every company is using virtual learning platforms. Having said that, it is of utmost importance for students to adapt to such technical skills. What’s better than learning this skill set while completing your degree or course? With online learning, you will be introduced to some technical communication and project management tools to complete your assignments and take lectures online, making you better equipped for the job environment.
Some of such tools or platforms are:
1. Dropbox (500 million registered users): Share any document with ease and collect all your work in one place for everyone to look at.
2. Slack (10+ million daily active users): Messaging platform where you can share files and communicate instantly online.
3. Basecamp (16+ million users): Another project management tool that can help you get in touch with your team faster.
4. Trello (50+ million users): This tool would be helpful to learn because it enables your team to create, assign and manage tasks easily on any platform, anytime.
5. Customized Learning
You can only communicate with your professors during specific meeting times or a little bit after class during traditional learning. Usually, you also have to set the meeting with your professor 2 or 3 days beforehand.
With online learning, you don’t have to worry about those things; instructors can use quick real-time communication to check in with the students to ensure they can access course resources and complete their tasks within a reasonable time frame.
Read more: Complete Guide for the betterment of Student Engagement in Online Classes.
Also, learners can email, send a message, or have a phone conversation with their teacher and get the answers to their queries. While many students cherish communicating verbally in classrooms, with online learning communication gap is reduced, and the trouble of speaking in class, especially for those who are shy, becomes non-existent.
6. Networking Opportunity
With online learning, you don’t need to be restricted to only a few people from a particular ethnicity, race, or nationality. With e-learning on platforms like Coursera, you would be introduced to a whole world of people from different cultures and ethnic groups. This, in turn, will enhance the likelihood of broadening your knowledge of their culture and may also make you more social.
Another opportunity with this would be a chance to collaborate or do projects with people from other countries, which would not be possible with traditional learning. Hence, online learning can present you with opportunities of having international exposure and work experience in a diverse environment.
7. Improve English
Let’s be honest here, English is the world’s language, meaning almost everyone should learn to speak and communicate in English proficiently. By learning online, you will be acquiring knowledge from teachers worldwide who speak English. In addition, the friends you would make from different parts of the world would also speak English.
One smart person said if you want to learn a language, speak it with their native speakers. FYI, that person is me. With most of the courses taught in English, you will become more fluent in speaking the language. Therefore, your English will improve, making you much more assimilated into the international scene of e-learning.
8. Savings on Commuting
Realistically, traveling to a university or college to attend a lecture or meeting is costly. Whether you take a bus, car, or any other transport method, you pay for that. You could live in the city center or suburbs; transportation will cost you. However, you can save on gas, fuel, tickets, tolls, and public transport daily with online learning. Not only cost, but you save time as well. E-learning is a convenient way to learn while staying at home and not worrying about travel expenses.
9. Online Learning can save energy
Research done by Stanford University suggests that online learning positively impacts saving energy worldwide. Such as, a study suggests that if 30 million students study online, they save 12-million-gallon worth of fuel per day.
Saving fuel means that students that travel 5, 10, or 15 miles to university or college daily by cars, buses, or bikes are a significant contributing factor to fuel consumption. Hence, online learning would save the world from major climate crises by consuming and burning fewer fossil fuels.
10. Work and study at the same time
The apparent disadvantage of traditional learning is that if you are studying, you can’t do any kind of work full-time. You can go part-time, yet your degree course length would increase, leading to more transportation and meal costs in the long run.
Check out our blog on important challenges in online learning and ways to overcome them.
Another reason along the same line would be that most employees can’t take 4 to 5 months off work to learn new skills from an educational institute. Online learning solves this problem, where you can study while you work. Imagine coming home from a long shift at work and even thinking of going to university when you are that tired is frightening, right? Well, with e-learning, you just need to open your laptop and start upgrading your skills from universities worldwide; that’s how powerful e-learning is.
Final Thoughts
Traditional learning may have been a very effective way of learning and increasing your knowledge, yet with new technologies and platforms emerging online, this is not the case. Most people are working and studying from home. Why not? This is an excellent alternative to the old-fashioned way of learning.
With the multiple benefits that e-learning offers, from cost, saving the world, or reduction in commuting; one thing is clear; online learning would become your first choice. So, come along and try this alternative learning method that everyone is talking about nowadays.
FAQs
1. How much time should I spend online daily?
The average time would be 3 to 4 hours considering 2 hours per course every day.
2. Do I have to log in at any particular time?
You need to log in at a specific time according to your timetable or see recorded lectures at your own pace at any time
3. Do employers accept online degrees?
Due to covid-19 majority of public, not-for-profit, Ivy-league universities offer online degrees that almost every company in the world is accepting or will be accepting online degrees in the coming future.
4. Is online teaching more productive than traditional learning?
Yes, you save fuel and time, increase your networking opportunities, reduce energy usage, and have ample time to do other things.
5. What problems can you face while learning online?
You can be so relaxed that you take studying for granted and do not attend your lectures, leading to your grades dropping.
