Can online courses win over live training?

Hi Habr, today the LendWings project will post some problem information in e-Learning. I came across an interesting article in the magazine “The Guardian” on the pros and cons of online educational courses , and decided to share with you the translated text.

The essence of the experience is that if the topic arouses interest, then I set myself the goal to conduct surveys on the advantages and disadvantages of distance education among domestic education specialists, and also gather information on online courses from various Russian-language educational institutions.


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Learning online does not mean isolating a student from the outside world - there are many ways to communicate with like-minded students on the course and teachers.

For most students, the period of study at the university is the time of the appearance of new friends, interesting adventures and impressions of university life. But when you study online, your bedroom becomes a classroom, and online chat is a bit of a university cafeteria and not everyone likes it.

Is it possible to replace live communication with online communication and can distance learning not lead to isolation of the student?

If you have chosen online training for yourself, this allows you to more flexibly plan your time, do basic work, family or children, and the training is purely academic.

However, many well-known personalities from the world of education, such as Richard Rees, vice president of the University of Manchester, believe that for a person who has chosen online education to be part of the online community is very important.

Here is what he says:

From the point of view of the learning process, help from classmates is important regardless of whether the student is studying offline or online. We encourage our students to collaborate on research and collaboration. And we believe that this is also important for students undergoing distance learning.

Online forums, Facebook groups, and more - all of which help online course students interact with each other and with teachers, and this is undoubtedly an important part of the learning process.

Rhys also reports:

Of great importance is the feeling of community and involvement in a common cause, it is a much greater stimulus than the feeling of isolation that can arise if a person is engaged alone.

Indeed, for online learning is very important to have a connection with the teacher and classmates. Forums, mail, conferences in Skype - any way of communication is better than lonely watching video lectures and performing practical tasks with a computer assessment of your abilities.

Tony Priest runs the online course at the University of Leicester, where they also resort to the help of the “online curator” in their educational programs.

Each online curator is responsible for his group of students with whom they communicate in forums, arranges webinars, answer their questions

- commented on Tony.

For some, such communication will not recreate the atmosphere of student life, but many researchers of e-education, believe that round-the-clock online communication may be more productive for learning than limited communication in real life, where there are so many irritants and distracting factors.

I can agree that in some cases, live communication wins, but in my opinion, the ability to receive information around the clock, have constant access to materials and literature, communicate in forums and chats is a great advantage of eLearning

- adds Priest.

Amy Woodgate, distance education project coordinator at the University of Edinburgh, also agreed with these findings:

People see distance education as a kind of unnaturalness and problems of isolation of a student. But in fact, a disciplined student learns much more effectively online than in actual classrooms.

There is an opposite point of view:

Students attending their online studies are divorced from real life and this is a big test for them.

- considers Steve Mills, the head of the student union of Aberdeen University.

In my opinion, the most important aspect of studying at the university is the institution of new friends, joining different communities, participation in public life, and all this is absent in distance education

- continues the thought of Steve.

Some distant educational sites take into account these shortcomings and regularly hold real student meetings.

Here are some basic tips for studying online:

• If the site has an online forum, then participate in the life of the community, it will stimulate you.
• Set your own deadlines if they are not provided for in the courses themselves.
• Even if you are not a sociable person, creating contacts among your online classmates, you are engaged in networking and working for the future, for example, among business course students there are your future partners or even competitors.

What other tips would you give to students studying online courses? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

LendWings Platform thanks for reading this article.