Is Online Learning More Effective Than In-person Learning?

Regular education has been practiced since time immemorial. This method of education has been used for a long period and up to today, its efficacy is still debatable.

Whether a student has understood a concept or not, or whether they are paying attention during the lecture is quite difficult to determine in a traditional class-based setup.

This is where researchers turn on E-Learning as a solution to these problems.

However, to most of us, virtual learning months ago was a phrase that we thought of a bit differently.

This is because just before the pandemic struck and caused a lot of uncertainty in different Industries especially the Education industry, Elearning was not popular as it is right now.

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Learning institutions were forced to switch to this method of learning since the government shut down all physical face-to-face classes and any social interactions for that matter.

This was to control and curb the spread of the infectious disease; coronavirus.

For these, both students and instructors had to adapt quickly to the digital space as virtual education was the new norm.

Efficacy of E-education and regular education.

Researchers have long debated the efficacy of virtual learning compared to traditional class-based learning after e-learning presented some lucrative advantages.

The differences all came down to the type of interactions these two systems offer.

Let us examine these factors that make both in-person education as well as virtual learning effective and determine which one outweighs the other.

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What makes traditional education irreplicable,

In a classroom setup, any teacher will tell you that a lot is going on.

This is besides students noting down whatever the teacher is dictating or copying whatever is being written on the board.

Take for example a group work assignment where the teacher divides the students into groups and give them problems to work on.

You will notice that the students will indulge among each other while the instructor moves from table to table, giving little directions to each student and actively answering any questions they might have.

Educational experts have coined this activity as interpersonal interaction; an aggregate of all the little and seemingly insignificant conversations and exchanges that occur within a classroom setup.

Little as it might seem, interpersonal interaction has proved to be important as it allows both students and their instructor to actively engage and is said to be fundamental to students’ learning, satisfaction and general performance.

This type of interaction is almost impossible to replicate in a virtual learning setup making it a little bit less effective.

How online learning is catching up.

For virtual learning to be effective as traditional education, there is a need to establish a variety of ways to achieve intrapersonal interactions.

This is to attempt the replication of an in-person class environment.

How does virtual learning do so?

Focusing on quality rather than quantity.

Sparking small conversation that would have been naturally had in a classroom setup proves to be a little bit challenging in a virtual setup.

One common solution that education experts have discovered is the use of discussion boards.

Students are required to engage with each other by posting comments on these discussion platforms; either by prompting questions or giving responses and feedback.

These platforms are quantitatively measured by instructors and integrated into the overall grades of the student.

Rather than counting the number of posts that each student makes, experts recommend a framework known as purposeful intrapersonal interaction.

This framework is aimed at looking at intrapersonal interaction from a qualitative perspective rather than a quantitative one.

It calls for instructors to examine students’ response and feedback and determine their value.

The activity endorses interpersonal interactions within a virtual set up which resultantly raises virtual learning to an almost equal level with traditional learning in terms of interaction.

Conclusion.

It is fair to conclude that the efficacy between E-Learning and normal learning is yet to be determined after better technological advancements have been made in the E-learning industry.

Now, both of the systems hold almost equal advantages and disadvantages.

E-Learning has however come off strongly considering it has been a newly conceptualised system and it presents a good amount of perks compared to traditional class-based learning that has been used for a long period.

In conclusion, different people might find different systems favourable.

This is because students face different challenges and circumstances which make either systems effective in their particular situations.