Introduction
The e-learning industry has grown exponentially over the years with the expansion, popularity and variety of online courses amidst the post-Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions. While many students accept e-learning as the way to go for uninterrupted knowledge transfer, others are not really interested in the virtual education but prefer the physical classroom setting. To begin with, the concept of online education can be otherwise called e-learning. E-learning has been referred to as a creative internet learning method that employs the use of virtual resources and computerized systems to develop a stress-free, individualized and fun-filled educational setting (Rodrigues et al., 2019). On the other hand, traditional education is that kind of learning run inside the four walls of the classroom and makes use of more or less crude means of transferring information. From time immemorial, classroom teaching has been perceived as effective in impacting knowledge to most students. However, online courses could be much more effective and accepted in teaching all students once some measures are put in place to combat the cons of e-learning while combining the pros of the traditional classroom setting. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of e-learning and to proffer measures on students’ easy transition from traditional classroom teaching to online education…
Azeez Olanrewaju Shoderu
Induction Module Written AssignmentUniversity of East London, UK through UNICAF
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Introduction
The e-learning industry has grown exponentially over the years with the expansion, popularity and variety of online courses amidst the post-Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions. While many students accept e-learning as the way to go for uninterrupted knowledge transfer, others are not really interested in the virtual education but prefer the physical classroom setting. To begin with, the concept of online education can be otherwise called e-learning. E-learning has been referred to as a creative internet learning method that employs the use of virtual resources and computerized systems to develop a stress-free, individualized and fun-filled educational setting (Rodrigues et al., 2019). On the other hand, traditional education is that kind of learning run inside the four walls of the classroom and makes use of more or less crude means of transferring information. From time immemorial, classroom teaching has been perceived as effective in impacting knowledge to most students. However, online courses could be much more effective and accepted in teaching all students once some measures are put in place to combat the cons of e-learning while combining the pros of the traditional classroom setting. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of e-learning and to proffer measures on students’ easy transition from traditional classroom teaching to online education.
Why Enrollment in Online Courses has increased
There have been many reasons why online courses have proliferated worldwide in the last few decades. According to Palvia et al. (2018), e-learning has grown exponentially as a result of the advent of new digital tools, the mass inclusion of the websites and the constant need for skilled workers armed with the renewed computer knowledge and expertise. For instance, MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) and learning platforms like Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) have been launched to cater for students e-learning programs. The reverse is the case for the face-to-face classroom which teaches students using traditional methods and physical interactions through the self-discovery, action learning, lectures, seminars, job shadow, role playing and physical discussion groups etc… (Owens and McManus, 2004).
Apart from these technologically motivated reasons, the Covid-19 pandemic played a role in the expansion of online courses as well. Though, the world was not expecting the sudden adoption of online courses when Covid-19 pandemic struck but it surely affected our traditional classroom teaching. And, many institutions had to cope with the emerging changes in the educational system. As the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2020) points out, physical classrooms around the globe had to be shut due to the governmental policies which affected billions of learners as well as tens of millions of teachers to rethink how they can shift from one-on-one teaching to the virtual space.Impact of E-learning to the Institutions and Students
If we look into the case of e-education in the United States for instance, it is quite evident that the number of participation of students in e-education for over 10 years kept growing while that of the traditional classroom students has been declining (Seaman, Allen, & Seaman, 2018). Not only is pandemic causing a redirection towards e-learning, students themselves are now choosing to avoid applying or going to colleges. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to notice a concurrent reduction in the amounts of students that are physically present in schools undergoing a program. And, the obvious reasons for this practice cannot be farfetched from the following:
“(a) increasing cost of a college education,
(b) skepticism about the incremental value of higher education,
(c) decline in the rate of timely degree completion,
(d) unwillingness to travel long distances,
(e) increasing cost of commuting,
(f) unwillingness to incur long-term debts, and
(g) social concerns, such as perceived insufficient institutional support for low-income, minority, and foreign students, and peers from different backgrounds, culture, or interests” (Palvia et al., 2018, p. 235). On a contrary, traditional academics in the higher institutions required more physical amenities in terms of classrooms, faculty blocks and admin workers to be employed to cater for learning which all cost quite a huge sum of money to maintain (Sener, 2010).
To the students, it appears that they also bear the grunts of the system as they have to pay expensive tuitions for the daily running of such schools coupled with the rigidity of the overall learning process; they spend on relocating from one country to another just to study and even get so tied up repaying student loans after acquiring the degree. So, many students search for more rewarding, less costly and flexible way to gain their degrees; here online courses come in.
Thus, just as schools have seen the evolvement of their courses and means of instruction, so as the students who seek the knowledge and degree from these institutions. The students are no longer limited due to the geographical locations their schools are situated and they have now developed active virtual learning communities (Barrett, 2010). So, a huge percentage of students now favor the online courses more than the traditional classroom since the physical classrooms are mostly viewed to be rigid, more theoretical and quite prohibitive, though nowadays, schools strive to create more effective online education more than ever (Paul and Jefferson, 2019).
Admittedly, not all students buy the idea of taking online courses in place of attending the physical colleges and universities. In the traditional classroom, students get instant or near-immediate feedback from their instructors or lecturers about their areas of concerns; however the case is mostly different in the virtual world of learning. As the Howland & Moore’s study (2002) claim, students interrogated during their research complained about the struggle they faced getting instant feedback from tutors as regards their assignment since the discussion forum set up by the faculty for communication was quite ineffective to cater for the student-tutor interactions.
In addition, the study also showed that students who preferred traditional classroom teaching to online courses possessed no form of technical expertise; hence, they could not operate the computers or its software and found the online course rather demotivating. Indeed, online courses require a student to be self-driven in order not to often miss deadlines on assignments and tests for instance, unlike physical classrooms where other course mates could be discussed with to help remember due dates for submissions (Yang and Cornelius, 2004).
In spite of all the abounding negatives of online courses and the inclined preferences of some selected students, other students favor the e-learning platform for their studies. They emphasize the effective nature of virtual classes and value of deep thinking it brings to the learning atmosphere which is often linked to critical writing online. A study carried out by Petrides (2002) indicated that students are much more likely to reflect well on a subject matter online when asked to reply through creative writing as opposed to the verbal replies given in the traditional classroom setting due to the fact that such comments are posted for longer on the discussion forum and would have more lasting resonance with others once they reflect on it as well. Also, the study of the students showed that online courses were regarded as very flexible to the time schedules of students and quite positive to the study choices of each student regardless of their teams of academic engagement.
To buttress, more researches like that of Poole (2000) explored deeply these student preferences and found out that many of them decide to take the online courses when and how most convenient for them. It was found out that they would frequently access their e-learning programs through their home computers during the work-free periods like weekends. Moreover, virtual educational programs offer much more adaptability, flexibility and creativity in line with the sole purpose of mainstream academia which is to develop the individual in order to help contribute to the community and lead a better life afterwards.
Developing the Effectiveness of Online Education
In a bid to achieve world-class education through online courses, some criteria must be set to take care of the disparity between the traditional classroom teaching and online courses. This is to say that the teacher responsible for impacting knowledge in the lives of the students online must initially set some learning pathways and teaching processes which will not be too rigid to implement virtually and the students in question should be allowed to create their own communication guidelines that would foster smooth studies amongst their peers and foster healthy relationship with their instructors online (Palloff and Pratt, 2007).
Sener (2010) predicts that, in the near future, students will mostly be involved in one type of e-learning or the other be it fully or partially in their various courses of study mixed with traditional classroom teaching. In the same vein, students must be made to know how well to use the digital applications or platforms and devices of virtual education so that they can feel much more comfortable learning online just like in the traditional classroom setting in order to help develop a positive mindset towards education and increase students’ involvement. Moreso, teachers should take note of the attained knowledge of the students while working with the gadgets and virtual learning environment together with their faculty (Palloff and Pratt, 2007).
Conclusion
Ultimately, this paper has argued that online education is the call of action in academia not just in the recent past but also in the closer future. So, students will have to make a complete or partial switch from the traditional classroom setting that they are familiar with to the e-learning world. And, they alongside their teachers have to find effective measures to be employed in order to fight against the ills of the online education while adapting the good sides of the traditional classroom learning online. Further researches should tackle more the need for teacher training as regards to the utilization of digital platforms to teach students virtually.
Reference List
Barrett, B. (2010) ‘Virtual Teaching And Strategies: Transitioning From Teaching Traditional Classes To Online Classes’, Contemporary Issues In Education Research, 12(3), pp. 17-20.
Howland, J. L. and Moore, J. L. (2002) ‘Student perceptions as distance learners in Internet-based courses’, Distance Education, 23(2), pp. 183-196.
Owens, J. D. and McManus, J. (2004) ‘E-Business: Knowledge transfer from higher educational institutions to industry’ International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 29-30 October.
Rodrigues, H., Almeida, F., Figueiredo, V. and Lopes, S. L. (2019) ‘Tracking e-learning through published papers: A systematic review’, Computer Education, pp. 136, 87–98.
Seaman, J. E., Allen, I. E., and Seaman, J. (2018) Grade increase: Tracking distance education in the United States. Wellesley: The Babson Survey Research Group, MA, USA.
Sener, J. (2010) ‘Why Online Education Will Attain Full Scale’, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 14(4), pp. 3-16.
Palloff, R. M. and Pratt, K. (2007) Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Palvia, S., Aeron, P. Gupta, P. Mahapatra, D., Parida, R., Rosner, R. and Sindhi, S. (2018) ‘Online Education: Worldwide Status, Challenges, Trends, and Implications’, Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 21(4), pp. 233-241. doi: 10.1080/1097198X.2018.1542262.
Paul, J. and Jefferson, F. (2019) ‘A Comparative Analysis of Student Performance in an Online vs. Face-to-Face Environmental Science Course From 2009 to 2016’, Frontiers in Computer Science, 7(1), pp. 1-9. doi: 10.3389/fcomp.2019.00007.
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United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2020) COVID-19 Educational Disruption and Response. Available at: https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/ (Accessed: 8 May 2020).
Yang, Y. and Cornelius, L. F. (2004) ‘Students’ Perceptions towards the Quality of Online Education: A Qualitative Approach.’ Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Chicago 19-23 October.