This “New Normal” has become the most bittersweet phrase since the beginning of the Covid 19 induced global pandemic. Every country imposed a nationwide lockdown to prevent the infection from spreading, which is highly contagious. This poses a crucial question regarding the form of education. People in the post-pandemic world are bound to feel insecure about the traditional education model. To declutter this, in this article, we’ll briefly discuss the online classes & offline classes, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of both. We hope to solve this debate of Online classes vs Offline classes for you, at least to some extent. Read On to find out!
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Online Classes
With the emergence of technology, delivering education has forever changed. Online education has become a flexible instructional method of teaching wherein students can easily access study material in the comfort of their homes. Online education helps inculcate the habit of self-discipline and time management within students and provides them access to an unlimited number of educational resources. The students can decide their own pace of learning.
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Advantages of Online Classes
Below are the advantages of the online classes:
1. Flexible schedule and personalized learning
By studying online, you want your learning environment that serves best for your needs: be it your bedroom, your study, the cafe across the street, or your local gym, listening to your teacher’s lecture podcast as you run on the treadmill is excellent. You even have the liberty of playing peaceful music to concentrate better.
2. Career advancement and hobbies
An online course where you don’t have to log in at a specific time for a live session, but you can study and communicate with your teacher and classmates at your own pace. Further, you can even pursue other hobbies or interests & spend time honing your skills. So that by the time you finish your online course, you will have more work experience and learn new skills that will aid you in advancing in your career!
3. Learning self-discipline through routine
Having to be more self-disciplined is a disadvantage. Learning online requires more self-motivation and crisp time management because you will pay a lot of time on your own without someone physically available to keep you focused on deadlines. This will help you become more internally motivated, a feature that will make you stand out in the workplace and away. It will look great on your CV/resume.
4. Low costs and no/fewer debts
Online classes mean that you pay the tuition fee, book supplies, an online application fee, and a few other items. You don’t need to acquire the housing and transportation costs, which translates to lower debts and more savings. Further, online education is multifold cheaper than offline classes.
5. Unlimited choices of courses & teachers
Offline classes may restrict the choice of subjects to take as well as teachers to study from. Studying online at your own convenience lets you no longer worry about class location when deciding what to learn next. By taking an online course, you can choose & concentrate on the subject you are interested in and select from various online courses and programs.
6. Saves Time & Energy
Taking online classes means that you don’t have to travel to class, which means no time spent on the bus and more study time sitting on your couch. You no longer have to bother about bad weather that can cause you to miss an important class.
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Disadvantages of Online Classes
Some of the disadvantages of online study are as follows:
1. Lack of physical student interaction
When we think about a traditional classroom, lively group discussion, and students raising their hands to ask the instructor questions convincing comes to mind. Naturally, this does not happen in online classes. These interactions are needed for some individuals to bring the material to life.
2. Requires Personal Discipline
Staying motivated and keeping up with assignments may be more difficult for online pupils than for those attending traditional classes. It is essential for students attending online classes to be on top of their time management skills.
3. Lack of practice-based learning
Online learning cannot be used to transfer practical knowledge because we have to visit the field and understand the environment of the sport like the stadium cricket, fields for hockey, football, etc. Hence it is essential to note that e-learning cannot replace working experience in the actual area.
4. Technological dependence & digital divide in the country
The technological boom has been the driving force for the popularity of online study by being adopted, especially by the younger generation. But with time, we are highly dependent on the online study, or you can say technology. According to a report, 28% of adults don’t know how to use computers, making it difficult for those who are technologically challenged.
Offline Classes
Offline classes are the traditional counterpart to online education and the original method of learning that allows students to have regular physical interactions with their peers and teachers. Online education is predicted to be the future of learning, however, it cannot be expected to entirely replace the holistic aspect of offline education. Offline education is not affected by technological issues and provides an excellent opportunity for students to develop a strict schedule and adhere to it.
Advantages Of Offline Classes
Some of the advantages of offline classes are as follows:
1. Vigilance of teachers
Through the offline study, the teacher will understand if each student is getting the point correctly by asking them to do activities related to the work. Offline studies can turn out to be more beneficial for the students of lower classes.
2. Doubt Clearance
The other advantage of offline classes is that it helps the students clear their doubts and clarify their mistakes when a particular subject is taught simultaneously. Whereas most lectures are pre-recorded for online study, making it difficult for students to query their doubts. This is where Filo’s unique model of Immediate doubt-solving sessions in online classes can be of great use to students wanting to opt for online studies.
3. Less Technological dependence
Offline classes are also available to those who do not have proper internet connections or those who do not have any smartphones, as most students don’t have either. There is much scope for social interaction among students due to face-to-face recognition. Offline classes provide an extensive range of coverage with classroom discussions, debates, etc.
4. Helps Learn Body language
Face-to-face teaching can help the teachers understand students’ body language as if the students are interested in topics or are the teachers keeping students interested in the class. It can be possible through offline study only.
Disadvantages of offline classes
Some of the disadvantages of offline classes are as follows:
1. Over-dependence on teachers
In offline classes, there’s a lack of an independent way of learning. Another disadvantage of offline study is that the students are overly dependent on teachers for the smallest of things making the teacher overburdened.
2. Way More Expensive
Offline classes are very expensive than online study due to the travel and accommodation expenses and many more, if the student is coming from a place where there is no school or institution or if they are far away.
3. It’s Limiting & Restricting
The learning can only occur between the school timing as it is restricted to fixed timing. Chances of searching more and finding new things out for themselves from the students are limited.
4. General & not personalized
Offline classes are not suitable for introverted students as they prefer being themselves and avoid socializing or interacting with others. Each student is different than the other & so a ‘one size fits all’ approach is very detrimental for a student’s growth.
Which One Should You Go For?
Even though online education is flexible and accessible, students and teachers struggle while accessing these online platforms. Due to financial problems, some teachers and students cannot access the internet or have smartphones, computers, etc. So, for students with these facilities, online classes are the best way to go.
However, with the impetus provided by the Indian government to digital India & online education, in years to come online classes are expected to grow significantly. With technological advancements and improvements in digital connectivity, this form of learning will have reached even the remotest parts of the country.
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