While technology is taking over everything, why would academics be left behind? The smart device glued to our palms does have more utility than it is often given credit for. However, it depends on the user how they choose to use their resources. While parents blame the cell phones and laptops for students’ downhill grades and fleeting attention, it is overlooked that these devices can actually be used to gain grades instead of losing them.
Here we shall draw a brief comparison between traditional education and online lessons, and attempt to evaluate their pros and cons. Let us begin with the unorthodox mode of teaching.
Online Classes – pros:
- World class faculty:
With online classes, it becomes much easier to overcome regional or geographic barriers. A person residing in any part of the country can avail these classes and hence a person living in Asia can easily follow the guidance of European faculty and vice versa. The positive aspect of such a global nature of learning is the students’ perspective widens and this helps to stretch one’s scope of knowledge.
No doubt online classes are the current preference with an abundance of amenities, evading the positive factors of traditional education is not the solution. Read to know Is Online Education Taking on Traditional On-campusing schooling?
- Round the clock access:
Students can look up for lessons whenever they wish and they do not necessarily have to fix a particular time of the day to attend the classes. Hence, a student can take care of all his work and learn his lessons at his leisure. This also keeps the student focused and encourages him to learn willingly.
There is another bright side of this feature. A student might prefer to study late at night and at an odd hour, if he faces a crisis, he will not have any help at his disposal. Since the online classes are accessible 24*7, students can easily get their issues sorted and their doubts cleared.
- Pocket-friendly:
This mode of education is constantly gaining popularity because they are easy on the pocket and college/ university students always look for ways to save up their resources. Now, online classes can be of two types: they can be paid or unpaid. The unpaid ones are a much-hailed choice but the problem is sometimes, they might turn out to be unreliable. That is, the quality of service is not guaranteed in that case.
The other kind of online classes come as a package where the student is required to purchase a package to attend the lessons. Yet, it remains a more economic choice since the expense will always be less than the recurring fees of a traditional tutor. The flexible hours and all-day-through access are the added bonus.
- Additional help:
Students can also find online homework help websites which will do assignments for them for a reasonable fee. This is an additional service which students get to enjoy online. When they can’t resolve their assignments on their own, they can use the expertise of professionals score high grades.
Online classes – Cons
- Might not be interactive:
Online classes might or might not be interactive. In cases where there’s no scope for both ways communication between the teacher and student, the student might have queries which will remain unanswered. Hence the student has to find a service where interaction between the teacher and student is possible. The homework help websites usually have this feature covered.
- No scope for evaluation:
While taking online classes, a student will not be able to evaluate himself. While he thinks he is learning what he sees, until and unless he appears for tests, he would not realize whether he is learning things the right way or not. Mock exams are held by some of the sites providing online tuition, but they might charge an extra amount for conducting such tests. Students are usually reluctant and hence, they can be unaware where they actually stand.
Traditional Classes – pros:
- One on one interaction:
In thecase of a traditional classroom, there’s scope of open communication and discussion between the teacher, the student, and his peers. When I doubt, the student can directly ask the teacher out and particularly in thecase of a private tutor, the problem would be solved with care.
- Healthy competition:
Traditional classes promote healthy competition among students. When a group of students attend a class together or take lessons from the same teacher, they’ll be naturally inclined to do better than their peers and this tendency motivates students to put in better efforts.
Traditional Classes – cons:
- Often fails to provide a broader outlook:
While dealing with a subject like mathematics, a student can learn only one or two procedures while working on a certain lesson in a traditional class. If a student attends online classes, where teachers from different parts of the globe come together, more methods can be experimented with. Hence, students often don’t learn to think out of the box when they attend traditional classes only.
- High expenses:
Having a private tutor to help you out with your lessons can be rather expensive, provided that one has to bear the cost in additional to their college/ university tuition fees. Classroom discussions can be beneficial on one hand but on the other hand, it makes it near about impossible for a teacher to tend to each and every student individually. Hence the need of private tutor arises, but in comparison, online lessons are a more economic option.
- Not available whenever you need:
Say if a student decides to work out his assignment at a late hour and come across a problem midway, there’s no way they’ll be able to use the help of a traditional teacher at 3 in the morning. This could be a problem for students who cannot afford to have fixed dedicated hours for students. Even when they do, emergencies may still arise and students depending on traditional teaching methods alone are often left helpless in such situations.
Of course, both methods of teaching have their highs and lows.Again, while one method may suit some students, the alternative method may be deemed more efficient by other students. Everyone has their own way of learning, and each student must decide for himself which method works best for them! You can get some additional information in Learn the Difference between Online and Traditional Education.
Selected professional websitesmaintain the level which helps students to generalize the best benefits and apply it accordingly.
