6 Queries Learners Have About Online Learning
It isn’t a hidden fact that the expeditious spread of novel coronavirus has led to the shut down of businesses across the world. As per a report, about 1.2 billion children are pursuing online classes officially organized by their schools. This has resulted in a dramatic change in the educational perspective.
The exclusive rise of online learning has convinced people that teaching can be undertaken remotely and via digital platforms. Studies depict that eLearning has proved to be useful in enhancing the retention of information.
They also require less time. Therefore it can be stated that the adoption of this form of education will persist even after the pandemic ends. But there is a question. Don’t you think such a huge shift in the process would influence the worldwide education market? Researchers say that prior to the COVID-19 spread, there was high growth in acquiring education technology. In this blog, we shall cover every in and out of online learning. We will talk about various platforms that promote this kind of learning, pros, and cons, etc. So what are we waiting for? Let us dive deep in.
1) What Does The Term “Online Learning” Actually Mean?
Online education is the brand new and most popular form of distance learning today. Within the past years, it has created a huge impact on the education system. online learning is a form of education that crops out through the Internet. The other names of this form of education include- digital learning or eLearning.
It falls under the category of “distance learning” – because, unlike traditional classroom learning, eLearning can take place across distances. An individual can pursue the course of their choice via the internet from wherever he wants, provided that he or she should have the required device to attend classes such as laptop or PC, tablet, smartphones, etc.
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2) Are Distance And Digital Learning Related To Each Other?
Digital learning is evolving day by day with the increased usage of the internet. Following are a few categories of this form of education, though many types are predicted to be discovered in the future.
Correspondence Courses
These are organized through regular mail with less interaction.
Telecourses
In the course of this type, the study material is provided with the help of radio or television broadcast.
CD ROM Courses
In this form, of course, the student interacts via static computer content.
As the name suggests, in mobile learning, the learning takes place via mobile devices.
3) Is Coronavirus Pandemic Responsible For The Rise Of Online learning?
In a comeback to significant requirements, many online platforms have gained huge popularity due to the current covid 19 situation. People are strictly advised to stay at home and being at home gives rise to online learning. A company called upGrad has come into the spotlight during this situation than it had before. upGrad is an online education platform that is designed to prepare individuals for the corporate world.
One can easily obtain a professional degree online just by sitting at home. Their material has been prepared by industry experts and teachers from renowned institutes. The founders of this platform are- Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, Ravijot Chugh.
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4) Is Online Education New Normal? What Are The Advantages Of The Same?
Yes, this is the new norm. Since the corona pandemic has rolled out, we’ve been hearing various new terms frequently. Some of these include- quarantine, new normal, etc. When it comes to the education market, the new normal is online learning. Needless to say, the current situation of COVID 19 has given rise to new ways of learning.
Students and working professionals have become used to this form of education. Digital learning is useful not just to learn the course material for students but also expands to learning extracurricular activities.
Some of the advantages of eLearning include:
It is a productive means for providing lessons to students. Also, online learning has many tools to offer that include- videos, podcasts, and PDFs more. The educators can make use of all these tools as part of their teaching strategy. By employing these, as a part of the tutoring plan, the learning becomes more efficacious and interesting for the students.
Time and place convenience is yet another merit that can’t be overlooked. The ease of attending classes from home or any other location as per one’s choice is something that you can’t ignore without appreciating. Also, the lectures can be recorded and shared for future use. This helps the learners to access the class material at their own appropriate pace.
Online learning has proven to be cost-effective. It is a cheaper means of learning. It takes away the cost of student transportation and other charges.
As we already threw light on teaching style, individual attention is yet another factor that can be counted as one of the major pros. Through this method of teaching, different teaching styles can be used. Since every student has a different journey and learning abilities, making a variation in the teaching plan might yield better results.
5) What Are Some Of The Reliable eLearning Platforms?
The Internet has flourished with several learning platforms but not all of them are trustworthy. These programs have helped many students, professionals as well as freshers to brush up their skills in any field they need. Some of the most popular and authentic platforms include:
Udemy
Udemy was found in the year 2010 by Gagan Biyani, Eren Bali, and Oktay Caglar. It offers a massive open online course (MOOC) specially designed for professionals, adults, and students. This is an online learning platform that delivers many content creation tools. Some of them are- PowerPoint, PDF documentation, etc. These tools help the tutors to create online courses on the topic of their expertise.
The course material is further uploaded in the form of videos, PDFs, ZIP files, etc. Udemy also proffers interaction through online discussion forums. This learning software offers both professional and non-professional courses. You will discover courses in piano learning, cooking lessons, drawing classes, etc. It offers both paid and non-paid courses. Signing up with Udemy is free of cost.
They offer certificates after the successful completion of many of the courses. Apart from this, Udemy provides a feature called Udemy for Business that allows businesses access to target over more than six thousand training courses. These courses are on several topics such as digital marketing, programming, management, etc. As per reports, in the year 2015, the top 10 educators earned more than 17 million dollars as their total revenue through this platform.
WizIQ
WizIQ is another name that has passed all the rules of authenticity. This platform allows instructors to conduct live as well as on-demand webinars. This is a well-known virtual classroom and LMS software for academic course content creators. WizIQ was discovered in the year 2007. Mr. Harman Singh is the founder of this website and the main office is located in North America.
The major reason behind the popularity of this platform is easy usability. It offers a trouble-free way to create a course and then publish them in the online marketplace. WizIQ provides assured video hosting along with multiple teacher accounts. It takes away the troubles of development, the issue of server architecture, and setting up rates. It enables the instructors to concentrate on their crucial tasks.
WizIQ’s Live Class feature permits the learners to communicate with the educator in real-time. They can ask their queries in a live session. It provides a host of plug-ins for well-known learning management software like Sakai, Moodle, etc. It consists of over 4,00,000 instructors, 4 million learners and is used in 200 countries. You need to have a smartphone or laptop to access the modules of WizIQ.
Coursera
Coursera is an online learning platform that was born in the year 2012 by Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng. Its modules can be accessed anywhere and anytime. Coursera has partnerships with 150+ leading universities and organizations across the globe. So far this eLearning platform has organized 150 million enrollments and has proved to be valid and scam-free. Coursera is one such website that you can access in your free time just by signing up for any course you wish to do as per your targeted skill.
The technique of gathering knowledge through Coursera requires attending video lectures and the learners are supposed to go through the recommended books and articles to grasp the knowledge on the subject in a better way. They organize tests so that the candidates can come to know where they need to improve. Also, the assignments and peer assessments deliver students a better understanding of their subject.
On successful completion of the course, many universities award a Certificate of Completion signed by the educator. Their courses are quite budget-friendly and most of their courses are job-oriented. As per research, 72% of learners experienced career benefits and 26% have bagged a new job. Coursera provides a popular IBM Data Science Professional Certificate for the ones who are looking forward to making a career in data science.
Ruzuku
Unlike the above three online learning platforms, Ruzuku isn’t very popular amongst the learners. But same as others, it is also a legit eLearning platform. This platform offers an easy way for subject matter experts to produce and publish content.
edX
edX provides one of the best eLearning solutions and is trusted worldwide. It offers free-of-cost courses from universities of high repute such as Harvard University and more. It was founded by the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University in the year 2012.
Currently, it is used by 20 million knowledge seekers. This platform offers courses on computer science, psychology, writing, electronics, biology, marketing, etc. It is a non-profit and open-source MOOC provider. A certificate from edX increases the value of a candidate’s resume and attracts employers. It offers a trouble-free and clean interface.
Skillshare
Skillshare is an online learning group with several inspiring classes. It is specially meant for creative and peculiar individuals who are interested in topics such as design, illustration, photography, video, freelancing, and more. Through this platform, many learners have benefited, found inspiration, and taken the next step in their creative journey.
It offers courses in only four categories and doesn’t offer any certification on course completion. Skillshare is a popular community that provides a supportive discussion forum where students can discuss questions and answers with each other. It confers a free trial of 14 days. Educators on Skillshare are paid as per the minutes watched from their video and premium referrals.
- LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is an eLearning platform that offers online training as well as a complete solution for creating, selling, and marketing courses. It is a cloud-based digital platform that proffers Entrepreneurs, Professionals, and Training Managers; solutions as per their requirements and a group of specialists to help achieve the targets.
Apart from selling eLearning courses, LearnWorlds consists of in-built attractive templates, modular page builders, Assessment Engine, Automated Certificates, etc for delivering a comprehensive online learning experience. It comes with an interactive video editor, automatic video transcripts, an eCommerce system, and a strong website developer. It allows its users to build a whole e-learning website and create online courses. LearnWorlds offers many tools to promote them both as B2B and B2C offerings
Thinkific
Similar to LearnWorlds, Thinkific is a software that enables users to build, market, sell and provide their customized online courses. Their main objective is to benefit both learners and entrepreneurs via eLearning. An entrepreneur can create a robust online business only if they have all the control over their data. The major reason Thinkific has a great fan following is that it offers easy usability.
All the tools of the software are built as per the user’s convenience to maximize the merits. It comprises a landing page builder, in-built marketing tools, white-label options, etc. Apart from all this, their support team is always available to help the users in case they face any issue while operating the platform. Thinkific doesn’t have social features and focuses more on marketing as compared to learning. Hence, this is one of the best tools for small or medium business subject matter experts.
Teachable
Teachable is an online learning platform that delivers the everyday instructor. It offers easy usability. This software provides trouble-free solutions for uploading course content, interacting with students, and customizing online schools as per requirements. It doesn’t support SCORM or TinCan. Some of the benefits of using this software include in-built eCommerce features, marketing, and sales tools.
Teachable also consists of an incorporated email marketing tool. This is one of the highly recommended options for new coaches, course developers, etc. It doesn’t offer community-building features and the customer care isn’t very responsive. Teachable is a great platform for creating an online business.
Kajabi
This is a digital platform that proffers the tools to sell digital products such as online courses. Just like Teachable, it also consists of an in-built email and marketing tool. Also, it is quite difficult to set up Kajabi as compared to Teachable and LearnWorlds. It is designed for non-tech course providers, freelancers, small business owners who want to vend simple format courses.
This learning platform offers several integrations with well-known software and a collection of pleasant themes to choose from. It enables the users to create landing pages, though it has an expensive price range. Kajabi provides a 14-day trial with a credit card and then asks the user to opt for their customized subscriptions that are- basic plan, growth plan, and Pro plan.
Academy of Mine
Academy of Mine is one such online learning platform that enables its users to create interactive content with PPT, PDF, and more. Unlike the last two platforms stated above, this tool supports SCORM. Their support team is very responsive. Academy of Mine is specially designed for large firms, public administrations that are looking forward to proffering training and certifications to their learners. It requires a lot of effort for site customization and is expensive. This is a white-labeled platform.
Podia
Podia is an online learning platform that offers trouble freeway for educators to earn and learners to learn. They offer live chat support to their users. This software provides easy solutions for memberships, online courses, and more. Apart from this, Podia confers free tools to the business owners who are looking forward to creating an online school, store, or website. It also provides options for affiliate marketing. Unlike the Academy of mine, it doesn’t support SCORM or TinCan. This is a well-suited software for smaller video-focused learning. It doesn’t provide any white-label option. Podia offers a free trial of 14 days and works effectively for artists who wish to monetize their course content and knowledge with easy training activities.
Udacity
Udacity is a platform where learners can learn lifelong, the skill that they require. They help the students to get their dream jobs and create the life that they want. The founders of this American company include- Sebastian Thrun, David Stevens, and Mike Sokolsky. Udacity’s paid courses are organized by professional educators that deliver feedback on your projects. This is one of the most used global communities for juvenile learners from all over the world to develop a profound understanding of technology.
The Nanodegree program proffered by Udacity is industry-recognized and for the students who want to upgrade their knowledge. It has been designed in collaboration with- Google, Facebook, Salesforce, GitHub, etc. This program has a certain timeline which the learners are supposed to strictly adhere to and complete within those hours. The industry-based projects under this course curriculum are created to make sure that the students are ready to fulfill industry goals. These projects are tailored precisely to leverage learners’ practical knowledge.
Pluralsight
Pluralsight is an online learning platform, carefully tailored as per the convenience of working professionals. It consists of courses on trending tech topics such as software development, data science, cybersecurity, etc. The course library comprises 7500 individual lectures across various niches. This company was founded in the year 2004 by Aaron Skonnard, Keith Brown, Fritz Onion, and Bill William.
As per the report, it consists of 1400 subject matter experts and provides more than 7000 courses. It is a corporate LMS that can be customized as per the requirements of the small or medium enterprise, freelancers, etc. Some of Pluralsight’s major features include- discussion forums, mobile and offline viewing, and more. This software is counted amongst one of the most popular eLearning sites because it delivers rich training material and a pay-as-you-go subscription option. Thus you can expect a variety of study material through this platform.
6) Are There Any Disadvantages Of the Online Learning Process?
Everything has its pros and cons and digital learning is no different. Here is a brief list of disadvantages that this form of learning brings with it.
It requires more time for the tutor to explain the course as compared to offline classes.
Online Learning offers less scope for human interaction. At schools, children learn to keep calm, socialize, meet new children, compete with others, etc. All these are also part of development. Students can’t effectively learn all these values through this type of educational activity.
Students need to have a high level of self-motivation to learn from a digital platform. In classroom learning, there are tremendous factors that push the students to learn which include- face-to-face interaction with teachers, group activities, strict adherence to the routine assigned, etc. However, when learning takes place via online mode, the number of factors reduces, and hence students lose the impulse of studying. Another aspect that is highly affected by the lack of face-to-face interaction is communication skills. As per a study, e-learning leads to a shortfall in the growth of communication skills for students.
Online educators emphasize more on theoretical knowledge rather than practical. Yes, this is a major disadvantage that is encountered while learning through online platforms. The main cause of this is that it is difficult to conduct practical lectures as compared to theoretical ones. Also, conducting a workshop requires a lot of pre-planning as compared to theoretical classes.
Also, one of the biggest demerits of digital learning is the high scope of students to cheat during an online assessment. This is because during this type of assessment students give exams in their own environment. These can be made secure if the exams are performed while the webcam is turned on but still, it becomes to track every activity, unlike offline exams.
Issues with delegation and quality assurance are yet another problem. Not all the platforms are accredited or authentic. Sadly, at this point, many digital learning platforms are unaccredited and the study material quality is checked by none other than instructors themselves.
