Online Learning and Its Pros and Cons
The commodity of our home is always an advantage when it comes to both learning online or working remotely. In the last year and a half, it’s been especially popular mostly because of the Covid19 pandemic. Many people changed their offices for their living rooms or their classrooms for their sofas. Although it sounds very good, and indeed it provides different benefits, there are also some disadvantages of that kind of learning. In this article, we will bring up and explain some main pros and cons of online learning.
No commuting
The lack of commuting can be a benefit for many people because it is a time and money saver since you don’t have to use public transportation or a car. You don’t have to get up so early either, which is especially good on winter or rainy days. If there was a dress code you had to follow, you can now forget about it and put on some comfortable clothes. Nature will thank you as well since less traffic implies less pollution.
No social interactions
Despite the aforementioned benefit, what many people truly enjoy when it comes to school or university is social interaction with their peers. You might feel a little bit alone since there are no more sharing notes after the class or discussing the lessons. If we mention one on one classes where you only interact with the teacher, it is even more obvious why extroverts prefer an environment where they can socialize more with different people and might take e-learning as a disadvantage.
Flexible schedule
If you’re not an early bird, online learning can be a lifesaver since you don’t have to get up early anymore and leave the house while trying not to get late. The flexible hours can make you use your productivity when it is at its peak. Some people are more productive earlier during the day, and some of them are night owls. Whatever group you belong to, having flexible hours makes you organize your schedule the way you want.
Lack of motivation
There might be one weakness of that much flexibility. Suddenly you have a lot of free time and nobody watches you, so you can watch a movie, cook, play a game or invite some friends over. This can decrease your motivation for learning unless you’re a self-disciplined person and can resist all those temptations. To avoid this, try to establish some clear rules from the beginning and make some schedule that you will follow during the day.
A wide variety of learning materials
Another good part of online learning is that there are plenty of materials available on the Internet and you can learn pretty much anything. It depends on you how much time and effort you will dedicate to it. If you´re interested in long-term language or programming learning, for instance, it would be useful to have a learning management system for RTOs that is trustworthy, resourceful, and thorough.
The limited scope of subjects
Despite so many materials being available online, the subjects are limited. Some things can never be taught well online, like performing surgeries, forensic analysis, playing basketball or any other sport, driving, etc. If you’re lucky enough to study something that can be learned online, then you won’t have any problem. However, if your career is more practical, then, it might be inconvenient to perform e-learning only. Some practical classes will have to be involved as well.
Setting your own pace
Like we mentioned earlier, if you have a flexible schedule, you can learn whenever you like and even pass the same lesson several times or skip something that you don’t find interesting or relevant. Your progress depends only on you since you don’t have to wait for other students to finish their tasks. This requires self-motivation to some extent. Skip things that you already know and master those that have troubled you and the progress will be visible in a short time.
Scholarship options are limited
Another con of online learning is that no matter how many lessons and material you can find on the Internet, those courses are not always able to provide you with some further possibilities, like scholarship programs to master your abilities. The private courses are not like universities, so there are usually no potential scholarships available, but you can still find some discounts if you follow the information on those courses regularly.
This article has provided you with some strengths and weaknesses of online learning but it is up to you to figure out, based on your career and personal preferences, whether you would like to keep learning in a classical way or you would like to start some online courses on a good learning management system. If the pandemic left you without an option to choose, then have in mind these pros and cons and don’t fall into a trap of losing motivation or not socializing with your peers. Take advantage of the benefits instead and nurture your education.