eLearning Basics For Beginners
All you need is a PC/tablet/smartphone with a good internet connection, and you’re good to go. Also, many eLearning providers give away courses that can run independently without requiring an internet connection. However, the new-age learning process over the web has yet to cover a major portion in India and the world alike. Some say that eLearning cannot match the classic classroom teaching process. We believe this is not the case. Both teaching modes are good in their own place. However, with eLearning, we can bring about certain advantageous differences over the regular classroom learning process, which will be beneficial for the learners.
So, how exactly is eLearning different from that of the classroom teaching process? In this article, we will discuss the basic differences between eLearning and classroom learning based on 4 important factors, such as time, freedom to study a course of one's own choice, degree of understanding, and cost-effectiveness.
Time-Independency
Remember those school days of childhood where we did not want to get up early morning for school, but we had to anyway? And then take an hour or two finish our routine chores and head to school? It happens today as well. A lot of time, say almost 2 to 3 hours, is lost in getting ready and reaching the school/college. If we actually calculated from the time we leave our bed in the morning to when the first period at the institute begins, it takes almost 3 to 5 hours until actual studying begins.
But if we look at eLearning, it provides us with an abundance of time. You don’t have to go anywhere. Simply get-up, get ready and head to your PC/tablet and begin your course for the day. eLearning saves a lot of that time which you lose in the process of traveling and all other things.
On a brighter side, this also positively affects the child’s creativity and helps develop his creative interests. Studying will not be a time-bound and burdensome process. Alongside studies, the student also gets to develop his hobbies and perform non-curricular creative activities with the additional spare time he gets. Awesome, isn’t it? eLearning helps maintain the balance between the academic and non-academic sides of a learner.
Accessibility Of Topic
This is one factor that actually links the learning process with the learner's interest in gathering knowledge. Accessibility can simply be referred to as the freedom of selecting which subject the learner wants to read.
Usually, in a classroom scenario, let it be school, college, or university, there is a system of periods where a subject is allotted a fixed timeslot. However, with the eLearning approach, there are no such rules. There are courses right in front of you. Choose your favorite subject, and get going.
Top eLearning providers today bring out courses that follow the same approach as in a classroom. There are fixed modules, as per the requirement of the subject. A student is free to learn any subject as per his wish; let’s say, a guy who is preparing for JEE likes Physics. So, he can begin his day by studying Physics.
The process of learning majorly depends upon how the concerned learner is able to invoke his own interest and actually get involved in the process, rather than just superficially skimming the lesson.
Accessibility in eLearning also enables a learner to give an exam at his own convenience. You can take your exam at a cybercafé, which is nearer to your house. There is no need to travel a long distance to a crowded examination center. That does not mean one can skip the exam or do any cheating. There are strict anti-cheating methods incorporated by eLearning tools that may disqualify the examinee. As we said, technology has advanced a lot, and the accessibility factor makes a huge difference between regular, classroom teaching and an eLearning facility.
Ease Of Understanding
Mugging up used to be the trend back in the day, where a student may understand a topic or not but he has to learn it by heart anyway and reflect the same on the examination answer paper. However, eLearning is here to break the norm. It incorporates a steady outflow of knowledge to the learner. In this way, the learner can keep up with the new topic while practically executing it via assignments and exams. The understanding will never be affected.
Often, we have students who may not be confident enough to ask and clarify their own doubts among hundreds of other students in the classroom. With eLearning courses, we have plenty of animations and simple breakdowns of difficult subjects, so that a student can easily grasp it.
Also, eLearning tools provide dedicated, doubt-clearing sections. A learner can also demand a separate one-to-one, doubt-clearing session with a teacher/mentor. A lot of eLearning software provides these features. It will be a one-to-one session, and a student can confidently clarify his doubts.
Cost
One of the most important factors in education is cost. Usually, we refer to the cost of education as fees. Now in a regular school/college education, the fee is divided into many categories which sum up to a hefty amount in millions. Educational institutions charge a high amount of fees for education as well as for other things, such as transportation, hostel, mess, examination fees, etc.
Many families do not have the luxury to afford modern-day education. Yet, they make sure their children get the right education. Here eLearning can come to their rescue. With any eLearning tool, you get plenty of course materials for various subjects. The price you pay is usually a one-time subscription amount. This figure is fairly low compared to what one has to pay annually to an institution as fees.
Additionally, eLearning also makes education accessible to everyone. Every human being holds a basic right to get an education in their life. So, you can observe how eLearning is doing much more than just imparting education over the air. It brings all those advantages and ease, which will help in the growth of a student (of any domain), in a creative and affordable way. A learner avails all of the above from eLearning tools while maintaining the discipline and traits of a regular classroom learning environment.
So these are some basic, yet important, differences between eLearning and classroom learning. Both forms of education are important. However, change is vital for growth, and we believe eLearning is that change that will shape up the future of education in India at a global level.
Originally published at blog.hexalearn.com.
