Some pros and cons of E-learning
E-Learning was recently introduced as an alternative way to educate the mass amount of students who are currently unable to attend school because of the -19 outbreak. E-Learning is essentially teaching, learning, communicating, and submitting material online instead of in person. Although E-Learning is not the default method for schools and universities to educate their students, there has been an increasing amount of online courses for students to take advantage of. For example, Khan Academy has been educating students and adults alike since 2008. This non-profit website contains loads of learning materials that allow students to learn at their own pace. In addition, Khan academy teaches mastery and builds a strong foundation for students to grow on.
I have acquired quite a bit of experience from my continued use of Khan Academy as well as from using the popular language learning website Duolingo. That being said, I am still relatively new to the whole idea as my whole life I have been taught in the classroom. As I moved up in grades, I noticed more and more adaptation and incorporation of technology (See Smart boards and Chromebooks). All this tech was pretty cool because it allowed new ways to learn, but it also brought in a lot of distraction. All too many times have I used my Chromebook in ways that were not solely for the purpose of my school education, although reading the Wikipedia page on Bullmastiffs was surely enriching.
Day one of E-Learning was interesting to say the least. Again, I don’t have much experience with E-Learning, but as a concept overall, I have thought of some pros and cons in comparison with learning in the classroom
Pros
1. It’s convenient. Now we no longer need to travel to a classroom to do some learning. All that is required is a functioning device with internet and vola, now all course material can be accessed and educational videos can be watched.
2. Learning at your own pace. No longer should anyone feel burdened when they don’t understand a concept. With videos and social isolation, there is nobody to make fun of you while you re-watch an explanation for the fourth time until you finally understand it. If there are concepts you need to brush up on, in theory, you can watch a video from a previous lesson until it stays solid in your brain.
Cons
It’s convenient. It is so convenient that it is detrimental to the learning experience. I am not saying this applies to everyone, but if a teacher is not in close proximity to me, imploring me to think and to do my work, I will seldom do the work on my own. Sometimes I lack the motivation. Other times I don’t see the purpose so I convince myself to do something else. Since it is so convenient, I can see myself struggling to put myself into the learning mindset, especially because it is my senior year.
Learning at your own pace. If there are concepts out there that you really don’t understand, watching a video of someone explain that concept the same way, over and over again really won’t help you. Similar to the reason above, if you do not want to learn very much, or basically scratch by with the bare minimum, you can.
Thanks for reading my blog, I know there are some more pros and cons out there and these are just the first ones to come into my mind.