The digitalization of the educational system has allowed the modern generation to learn many new skills from the comfort of their home. Moreover, this system has also helped to compensate for the missing classes due to COVID-19 lockdown and conduct academic activities online to ensure students’ safety and social distancing.
Some students and tutors appreciate this step taken by educational ministries worldwide. However, some people are in strong disagreement with this step.
A good debate has arisen recently among professionals of modern academia over the pros and cons of the online education system. Daily there are several articles published in magazines, newspapers, and multiple online platforms about the comparisons between online education and traditional education.
Many professionals have questioned the efficacy of the online education system to compensate for the loss of the traditional system due to the current pandemic.
After a good read of comments and debates of related professionals and educational experts, here we will compare both systems and give a final verdict about more efficacy of one.
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Table of Contents
Social Interaction
Interaction with the instructor and fellow students during the lecture and, more significantly, in laboratory work is indispensable. Researchers over the decades have proven peer interaction and communication with the instructor as crucial for effective learning.
Through interaction, learning is not just an enforced internalization of jargon and skills by a deserted and distracted mind. It makes a single phrase one learns effective and practical that entices students’ imagination and opens new doors of research.
Therefore, this fundamental question has arisen on an online educational system that if provides a significant or even a sufficient interaction between students and teachers.
Live classes have question and answer sessions that welcome students to ask anything they missed or if they have any queries about the new concepts they learned. Teachers try to answer every question by disciples in real-time and clear all their confusion.
However, the major drawback of pre-recorded lectures is that they miss any kind of good interactions. Communication is one way and cannot compare to real-time. Moreover, the online system ignores peer interaction completely.
On the contrary, a traditional education system offers maximum possible interaction between instructors and peers. Students have much more chances to learn new things. Studies have proven that the traditional system gives more chances of brainstorming making them learn things quickly and analyze things through multiple perspectives. Moreover, it is the best platform for peer interaction too!
Flexibility
When jumping to any medium of education, we need to consider the flexibility it offers. Students have maximum flexibility in the case of recorded lectures. Moreover, many instructors tend to record online sessions to help students learn things in case they miss anything or if they were not able to attend lectures due to any reason, e.g., loss of internet connection or any other technical problem that can’t be helped. Students can rewind and take the lecture in multiple sittings too.
Usually, instructors give a deadline to complete multiple assignments after a lecture. This education system provides maximum flexibility and accommodation for the students and lets them learn from the comfort of their homes considering their ease.
However, in traditional systems, students have to follow a tight schedule providing no flexibility of time and location. Students have to attend classes, submit assignments, and take exams on a particular location at a specified time. No doubt, it does bring discipline but does not compensate for the missed lectures anyway. If you need a constant push to get things done, then the traditional system is a good option for you.
Budget-Friendly
Between both systems, the online one is more pocket-friendly as compared to the traditional one. Moreover, it also saves secondary expenditures like traveling costs, food, and accommodation in case of students in remote areas.
Methods, Tools, and Facilities of Teaching
Online classes use the most modern technology and applications. Most of the students are using mobile phones, laptops, and iPads these days. It makes the best use of these devices for learning and education.
However, when it comes to lab work, the online system is a big fail! You cannot experience anything yourself, and verbal communication and even an online demonstration do no good. The system fails to provide any practical skill that is the major drawback.
Traditional classrooms, in comparison, provide better learning options and practical skills where every student has hands-on experience of every experiment and tool. In short, it provides a good grip to students over practical knowledge by helping them experience everything themselves.
Conclusion
The perquisites of both traditional and online educational systems are exciting. However, there are certain disadvantages of both which are needed to be considered before selecting any way of education. More specifically, a particular system is good in one condition while it has multiple limitations in the other.
Therefore, instead of choosing a particular system in every case, we can shuffle depending on needs. My best bet lies in using both systems simultaneously and in good coordination. Students can have on-campus practical work to compensate for the biggest drawback of the online educational system. Similarly, multiple scholarships can ease students’ pockets in the traditional educational system.
Moreover, online-recorded lectures can compensate for the loss if any students missed on-campus classes or if they belong to highly remote areas. The government should take steps and invest in the betterment of both to provide better learning facilities for the students considering their ease.
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