Can Online Learning Really be an Effective Option?
Let’s start with an honest personal opinion — I think the answer is, “it depends.”
When I was attending college I was also working full-time. Life was extremely busy and unfortunately, many of the courses taught in my university’s finance/business program were only available during the workday. This left me with very few options early in the morning, late at night, or online. To say I struggled with scheduling would be a serious understatement.
So, apart from the early mornings and late nights, I took a handful of online courses. Candidly, they were difficult. Watching pre-recorded videos and taking online quizzes to essentially prove to my professor that I watched his/her videos and was semi-engaged was not conducive to learning. I also found myself more easily distracted, and significantly less motivated, than I did when I attended classes in-person.
I know many learners struggle with the same issues I did. With that being said, that is not true for all students. There is a significant number who thrive in an online/digital format.
COVID-19 is still bearing down on students everywhere online learning looks like it is here to stay, and rightfully so given some of its advantages.
- Flexibility
- Lower cost (in many cases)
- Accessibility
So with all of that being said, is online learning effective?
A recent Techcrunch article titled “Why hasn’t digital learning lived up to its promise?” caught my eye.
In the article, the author (Tom Adams), shared the following insight.
Simply listening to a lecture is not effective in the real world, and yet that largely remains the default mode of education online. The impact of COVID-19 has only exacerbated these long-standing shortcomings. To create the digital learning experience students deserve — to finally fulfill the untapped promise and potential of educational technology — we must create tools that reflect not only advancements in technology, but in what we now understand about how the mind works and how students learn.
After listening to numerous online lectures I could not agree more with Tom’s statement.
What is the point of learning? Why do people pursue an education?
Easy default answer: because learning is valuable.
Practical answer: because education leads to skills marketable in the job market and will contribute to some corner of the world in some way and get paid for it.
If learners are going to benefit significantly from an online course then it needs to be:
- Engaging
- Personalized
- Applicable
Without these three things (I am looking at you recorded lecture) online learning falls short of what it should accomplish. There are a lot of organizations working on solving that problem. I am excited to see how they revitalize online learning and make it more effective.
At edifi, you can explore your online learning options and choose the one that is best for you. Check us out at www.learnwithedifi.com
