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Can All Courses Be Effectively Taught Online?

It is commonly recognized that using eLearning as an online learning method has many benefits, but does this mean that all courses can be taught or studied well using this online teaching medium? And it is this query that this post aims to respond to.

How All Courses Can Be Effectively Taught Online?

Many people have emphasized the importance of education as a means of achieving goals. Take a look at the impact of education, based on official figures, below to see how it may also have an impact on job advancement.

The salary difference between those with a four-year degree and those with only a high school diploma is excessively high, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employees with a four-year degree get an average weekly pay of $1,137, compared to $678 for those with only a high school diploma. Over a lifetime, this can lead to a difference of more than $1 million.

Who would not desire the $1 million difference, then? In order to stay ahead of their contemporaries, this is one of the main reasons why many people, especially those who are currently in the workforce, choose to pursue higher education.

However, as was already noted, a lot of these people who are interested in continuing their education are busy and might not have time to attend the conventional in-person classroom. As a result, many universities have begun to convert many of their courses to online learning for the convenience of these students and, of course, as a source of additional income for the institutions.

In addition to many other pros like cheaper cost and the promotion of self-discipline, eLearning clearly has the fundamental advantages of ease, comfort, and flexibility.

However, does this mean that all courses can be taught successfully online, regardless of the benefits? Depending on who you question, some people may answer “yes,” while others may respond “no.” Let’s first define eLearning and briefly mention some additional benefits before moving on to the investigation of the effectiveness of online classes.

The learning process has been transformed by the use of electronic learning, or eLearning. It is a technique for taking conventional classroom courses online using well-liked Blackboard. In addition to the benefits already mentioned, the era of eLearning, which was sparked by the development of personal computers and the internet, has brought about many more benefits.

Students in a wide variety of fields have the opportunity, made possible by the increased adaptability of the time allocated to them, to learn and complete their tests and assignments online through the utilization of online learning.

E-learning is also helpful in regions where access to traditional classroom education is restricted due to factors such as geography and political impacts.

In addition to this, it offers the advantage of allowing one to participate in the course of their choice without the need to travel to a different state by car or plane, which may be time-consuming and costly.

Now that we have all defined what eLearning is and discussed some of the benefits that are associated with online learning, particularly those that pertain to the convenience that it provides, let’s ask the question once more: is it possible to use eLearning in an efficient manner to teach all classes?

In order to provide an answer to the issue, this article will divide all of the classes into the following categories:

  • Courses in theory
  • Courses in theory that are supplemented by laboratory work, such as those found in the sciences, such as the geology, chemistry, and physics classes.

1. Theoretical Courses

According to the observations and insights of a great number of online teachers and students, online courses perform exceptionally well in the context of education programs that make use of resources like textbooks, lecture notes, or software programs that can be downloaded onto students’ personal computers and made available to them at any time and place. Excel, Adobe Photoshop, and the Geographic Information System (GIS) are just a few of the software programs that come to mind. As a component of the required work for the classes, students can effortlessly save them to their personal computers by downloading them from the webpage of the school’s library.

2. Theoretical And Laboratory Courses

This, however, is not the case for classes that require either a hands-on laboratory component or greater experience gained through direct participation. For instance, in classes like geology and chemistry, where students are required to take out experiments involving chemical reactions or study rocks and minerals in order to correctly identify the type of rock being studied, as well as other activities.

One can already hear some people suggesting that instructors should create videos of said experiments, or that students should be referred to watch great videos on platforms like Youtube and Vimeo to see how an experiment is being performed and the outcome(s) from such experiments. At this point, one can already hear some of these recommendations.

While it is true that the contents of the videos are comparable to what is done in the laboratory, the interaction is different, which may result in a different learning experience for the student. This is because the majority of students are not given the opportunity to participate in the “do-it-yourself experience,” which would provide them with a more in-depth and distinct comprehension of the laboratory work.

Therefore, as previously argued, online learning does have some drawbacks when it comes to teaching some courses. However, given that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for all people involved, including institutions and students, one could assume that this drawback would not prevent the use of online learning from continuing to grow. Instead, the field of online learning would keep developing until some of its drawbacks were eliminated. And in this regard, various suggestions for resolving the problem have been made.

Some educational institutions have been advised to combine online instruction with scheduled in-person lab sessions where students would do laboratory work. This method may seem perfect, but keep in mind that not all eLearning course participants reside in the same city as the institution or even in the same nation, which also defeats the objective of online learning and long distance learning.

Some people have also suggested sending lab kit supplies to students. However, since some laboratory items, like chemicals, cannot be mailed to students by schools, this plan could not be successful.

The third recommendation is for educational institutions to work together to establish study abroad programs at laboratories around the world. Although it seems like a wonderful solution, how realistic is it given the criteria for online learning?

The efficient use of online learning will therefore continue to prefer theoretical courses for the time being, at least until a solution is found.

More information about online education or e-learning, you can find more here.

You can find more about the consequence of online education by clicking this link.

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