What Are The Advantages of Distance Learning Courses? 

You may have thought about distance learning courses but not gone through with it. Here we explain why they are great! 

Teaching methods over the past few decades have changed dramatically. Teachers are no longer allowed to hit students or smoke in classrooms, and school dinners have drastically improved. However one of the ways in which teaching has changed the most is through distance learning courses. These allow students to be taught from almost anywhere in the world, assuming that they have an internet connection.

Conducted through specific teaching software or through communication software such as Skype, distance learning courses allow teachers to take either live lessons from a computer and have their students sign in through specific software, or create recorded lessons which pupils can view in their own time. Work is then either submitted online or manually. There is quite a wide variety of different courses available which each offer users different ways to interact and learn. If you are interested in distance learning courses then be sure to shop around.

But what are the advantages of learning from afar? Can it be better than studying in a classroom? Here we look at some of the benefits that distance learning courses offer to students and evaluate why you might want to consider studying from the comfort of your own house.

One of the main benefits of distance learning courses in comparison to courses which take place in one physical location is that of flexibility. Businesses had previously been deterred about sending staff on courses as they could often lose out on a few days work. With distance learning courses, however, staff can study for parts of the course once a week, for example, thus spreading the course out over a longer period of time and enabling staff to keep on top of their normal work. For students, they can study for a course around the main body of their school or university course and thus learn additional skills which could prove beneficial later in life. By allowing increased flexibility, distance learning courses have the potential to improve access to learning for people of all ages.

On top of this, distance learning course are often more cost-effective than traditional education both for the education provider and the school. Asking teachers to record lessons means they can replicate and reproduce the lessons at a low cost, rather than having to get a teacher to do the same class again and again. This reduced cost can then be passed onto students who can enjoy cheaper tuition with, arguably, no reduction in the quality of their learning.

Some people even believe that distance learning course provide a better standard of education. Video lessons can allow students to rewind and replay sections if they do not fully grasp the teacher’s meaning, and there are no distractions from fellow students. This does, of course, depend on the student being motivated and disciplined enough to study in their own time and from their own home.

The final main advantage of distance learning courses is that they can hugely benefit students with disabilities or learning disorders. Students who find it difficult to access classrooms or who may have been excluded for school for behavioural reasons can now have a suitable form of education as a substitute.

Distance learning courses could well prove to be the future of education. With monetary pressures increasing alongside pressure on people to gain formal qualifications, the answer could well be distance learning courses which are both cost effective and highly accessible to anyone. Distance learning is a fantastic way to learn; are you going to get onboard with it?