Blended and Online Learning

In today's class, we learn about the concept of online learning and blended learning. 

Online Learning

Online learning is an education that takes place over the Internet. It is often referred to as 'e-learning' among other terms. However, online learning is just  a type of distance learning, an umbrella term for any learning that takes place across distance and not in a traditional classroom. 
There are multiple types of online learning, such as online courses, online revisions, online training, online library, applications, and games. 
Many online universities and institutes  have been offering online courses for undergraduate studies, master's studies, diploma programs, and even for PhDs. For students, online revisions are not unfamiliar to them as all the notes are easily accessible through the Internet. Some companies and schools need training for their employees or students. Online training has its benefits, like time-saving, it is cheaper, and it saves time for people to travel to another place.  As for the online library, it is extremely helpful, especially now that people are not encouraged to go outside due to the pandemic. Besides, not all books are available in the local libraries or on campus. Online libraries and other informative services are a part of online education help to solve the problem. 
In the Internet, there are many applications, or apps, to help students learn languages with ease.  There are also simulation apps for various science, mathematics, and technology topics. At home, students can manage their own learning time with the help of these apps.  Playing games is one of interactive ways to engage students with their education. There are games that help students to revise topics that they have learned in school, like practicing new vocabulary, physics concepts, and mathematical concepts.

What Are The Advantages Of Online Learning?

1. Efficiency

Online learning offers teachers an efficient way to deliver lessons to students. Online learning has a number of tools such as videos, PDFs, podcasts, and teachers can use all these tools as part of their lesson plans. By extending the lesson plan beyond traditional textbooks to include online resources, teachers are able to become more efficient educators.

2. Accessibility Of Time And Place

Another advantage of online education is that it allows students to attend classes from any location of their choice. It also allows schools to reach out to a more extensive network of students, instead of being restricted by geographical boundaries. Additionally, online lectures can be recorded, archived, and shared for future reference. This allows students to access the learning material at a time of their comfort. Thus, online learning offers students the accessibility of time and place in education.

3. Affordability

Another advantage of online learning is reduced financial costs. Online education is far more affordable as compared to physical learning. This is because online learning eliminates the cost points of student transportation, student meals, and most importantly, real estate. Additionally, all the course or study materials are available online, thus creating a paperless learning environment which is more affordable, while also being beneficial to the environment.

4. Improved Student Attendance

Since online classes can be taken from home or location of choice, there are fewer chances of students missing out on lessons.

5. Suits A Variety Of Learning Styles

Every student has a different learning journey and a different learning style. Some students are visual learners, while some students prefer to learn through audio. Similarly, some students thrive in the classroom, and other students are solo learners who get distracted by large groups. The online learning system, with its range of options and resources, can be personalized in many ways. It is the best way to create a perfect learning environment suited to the needs of each student.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Online Learning?

1. Inability To Focus On Screens

For many students, one of the biggest challenges of online learning is the struggle with focusing on the screen for long periods of time. With online learning, there is also a greater chance for students to be easily distracted by social media or other sites. Therefore, it is imperative for the teachers to keep their online classes crisp, engaging, and interactive to help students stay focused on the lesson.

2. Technology Issues

Another key challenge of online classes is internet connectivity. While internet penetration has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years, in smaller cities and towns, a consistent connection with decent speed is a problem. Without a consistent internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity in learning for the child. This is detrimental to the education process.

3. Sense Of Isolation

Students can learn a lot from being in the company of their peers. However, in an online class, there are minimal physical interactions between students and teachers. This often results in a sense of isolation for the students. In this situation, it is imperative that the school allow for other forms of communication between the students, peers, and teachers. This can include online messages, emails and video conferencing that will allow for face-to-face interaction and reduce the sense of isolation.

4. Teacher Training

Online learning requires teachers to have a basic understanding of using digital forms of learning. However, this is not the case always. Very often, teachers have a very basic understanding of technology. Sometimes, they don’t even have the necessary resources and tools to conducts online classes. To combat this, it is important for schools to invest in training teachers with the latest technology updates so that they can conduct their online classes seamlessly.

5. Manage Screen Time

Many parents are concerned about the health hazards of having their children spend so many hours staring at a screen. This increase in screen time is one of the biggest concerns and disadvantages of online learning. Sometimes students also develop bad posture and other physical problems due to staying hunched in front of a screen. A good solution to this would be to give the students plenty of breaks from the screen to refresh their mind and their body.

Blended Learning

Blended learning is a style of education in which students learn via electronic and online media as well as traditional face-to-face teaching. There are 6 types of blended learning models which vary by teacher's roles, physical spaces, delivery methods, and scheduling. 

Face-face Driver

Face-to-face teachers deliver most of the curriculum. A physical teacher employs online learning in a technology lab or the back of the classroom to supplement.

Rotation

Within a given course, students rotate on a fixed schedule between self-paced online learning and sitting in a classroom with a face-to-face teacher.

Flex

An online platform delivers most of the curriculum. Teachers provide on-site, as-needed support through in-person tutoring or small group sessions.

Online Lab

An online platform delivers the entire course, but in a brick-and-mortar location. Often, students who participate in an online lab program also take traditional courses.

Self-Blend

Students choose to take remote online courses to supplement their school's traditional curriculum. This model of blended learning is extremely popular among high school students.

Online Driver

An online platform and teacher deliver all the curriculum. Students work remotely, and face-to-face check-ins are either available or mandatory.

What are the benefits of blended learning?

Advantage 1: Well-suited for large groups

The first advantage is that blended learning helps you reach a larger audience in a shorter time. Why? Because contrary to the traditional methods, blended learning doesn’t require the trainer to be present all the time. Traditional classroom settings are constrained to a limited number of people at the same time.

For some training topics, it’s impossible to transition to online training completely. For instance, some training requires practical and hands-on activities.

Advantage 2: Better preparation and feedback

Another important benefit is that blended learning makes traditional training more valuable. When people can complete assignments independently, they can come to class with the same knowledge level. There is more time for useful discussions and to practice what they have learned.

While they complete the online materials and assignments on their own, you can do less work and relax. Yet, it’s also possible to assist learners who require more information, which is one of the main benefits of blended learning. You can complete the feedback loop when you adjust your training based on the first training sessions’ results.

Advantage 3: Great for the non-technology fans

Some people in the education sector are not big fans of technology, even though they recognize its benefits. Also, some employees and customers might not like it either, mostly when they are already used to face-to-face training.

Blue-collar workers and more traditional learners, for example, might appreciate hands-on training much more than learning from their smartphone screen. Given that no one can deny technology’s benefits, taking up a blended approach can solve this problem.

Advantage 4: Employees set their own pace

It can be hard to learn with other people, especially if they have different learning styles. On the other hand, some might enjoy learning in a group. A rotation model could do wonders for your organization. It gives your employees time to grasp more difficult topics on their own and lets them share their knowledge and skills with others.

Many would also find it challenging to manage their time if they tried to complete a course alongside their regular job. With the online driver blended learning model, you can grant your employees a generous amount of flexibility in deciding when they're going to study.

Advantage 5: Reduction in costs

Blended learning helps you cut costs. It requires fewer classrooms or training centers, fewer instructors, less commuting time. Less money is spent all around.

Keeping people engaged and interested in what you are saying while teaching a mandatory training course can be daunting, even if you are the trainer! Imagine having to repeat yourself over and over and not being able to measure if your trainees have paid attention to what you said!?

What are the disadvantages of blended learning?

Disadvantage 1: Temporary increase in the workload (transition phase)

It's not easy to switch to a new method if you are already accustomed to a traditional approach

It’s hard to disagree that there’s a significant amount of work involved in the early stage of blended learning where you set everything up. It’s not easy to switch to a new method if you are already accustomed to a traditional approach. You might wonder how to balance face-to-face training with online training. It can take a while to reap the benefits of this learning approach.

Disadvantage 2: Lack of motivation

Another disadvantage is that, depending on how you set up blended learning, it might diminish the motivation of your participants. Not every blended learning model is suited to every person, task, subject, or organization. In the way you consider children’s’ reading levels when choosing books for them, you should consider which approach will work best for your employees or customers.

Employees who are used to working with their hands might also dislike sitting in front of a screen for too long. As you can imagine, it's essential to consider these things when you prepare your learning methods and materials.

Disadvantage 3: Basic technology knowledge

Your participants must have a basic knowledge of technology to take lessons and complete assignments online. Your employees won’t learn too much from a screen if they don’t know how to do it or are not interested. This issue can be solved with a quick introduction to the new training techniques and its benefits.

Disadvantage 4: Plagiarism and credibility problem

Plagiarism is a well-known issue in the e-learning world. It might be hard for online learners to resist the temptation of looking up things on the web while learning from a computer or smartphone.

To prevent plagiarism, you can use plagiarism checkers. Timers, randomized questions (so all participants get a different selection of questions for their test), and secure browsers that block web navigation help prevent participants from looking up answers during online tests or courses.

Reference

Gautam, P. (2021, May 12). Advantages And Disadvantages Of Online Learning. eLearning Industry. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://elearningindustry.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-online-learning