Online learning today is often the only way to get an in-demand profession. But you will have to put up with something because you will only see the teachers through the screen, you are always distracted by fun activities, like slots online NZ or videos with kitties on YouTube, and it will be harder to motivate yourself. Let’s understand the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning and find out how to solve the problems you’re sure to encounter when studying online.
What Is Online Education
An online education is one in which students and instructors do not interact in person, but instead use online tools such as video conferencing services, chat rooms, and collaborative programs.
And online degree programs can differ in many ways – they can be entirely distance or hybrid, short or long term, with or without a state diploma, live or recorded.
Benefits of Online Learning
You Can Study From Anywhere
The main advantage of the online format is that you are not tied to a major city. Your community may not have a university with design programs, but that doesn’t mean you won’t become a designer.
You Can Study When It’s Convenient
Missing a lecture at a regular university is a problem. You have to ask your classmates for notes, and a missed lecture gets a credit in the journal. With online learning it’s not like that – many programs are originally designed for note-taking, in other cases you can review the lesson at any convenient time.
You Can Combine With Work
Online learning is designed for adults who have decided to learn new skills or change careers. This includes those who work five days a week. So, online classes are often held in the evenings and on weekends – you can go to work, and in the evening to connect to webinars.
Modern Tools Are Used
Online learning has features that the traditional format doesn’t. For example, the possibilities of joint work in online services – students can create and edit projects together, and teachers can not just retell the material, but accompany it with visual presentations and demonstration of the computer screen in real time.
Online Education Can Be Affordable
Prices for online education start at zero rubles – you can try out the format for free on Coursera, for example. Online education will almost always be cheaper than paid offline learning – simply because such a business spends less money on renting premises, teachers’ salaries and other costs of the traditional format.
Skills Can Be Acquired Faster Than in a College
If you want to learn a particular skill, you’re sure to find some online course that will help you learn it. If you want a profession, you’ll find a program that touches on everything you need and nothing else. Online schools are quick to adapt to market demands and focus on what is sure to come in handy.
Disadvantages of Online Learning
No Environment and Community
The problem: classes are classes, but there is no informal communication, as in the corridors of the institute. Students get to know each other less and do not start common projects.
Solution: take matters into your own hands – organize yourself in chat rooms, add your friends on social networks and try to arrange offline acquaintanceship. For example, at a themed conference related to your training.
Not All Employers Believe in the Effectiveness of Online Education
The problem: come to get a job, and you are not taken. Because the HR-manager or the boss does not believe that the Internet can really teach you something.
Solution: go for an interview at another company. Distrust of technology is a marker that there could be many more unpleasant situations waiting for you with such an employer.
There Are a Lot of Cheaters on the Market
The problem: some courses promise success in the profession in three months, but in fact give a certificate and 0 useful knowledge.
Solution: carefully study the programs before buying – do trial lessons, read reviews, evaluate the work of graduates, and ask questions to managers. And don’t be fooled by offers from the category of “a profession in three months” – in the short term it is unlikely you can really learn a new business.
You Have to Discipline Yourself
The problem: no one controls and does not hurry, and even marks for outstanding tasks are not put. As a result, you procrastinate until the last piece of homework, have accumulated a lot of tailings, and are about to abandon everything.
Solution: there is only one and not easy – to make an effort on yourself. With self-discipline will help schedule time management techniques and self-imposed deadlines.
