Online Learning is Better Than in Person

Online Learning is Better than In-Person
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Online Learning is Better than In-Person
Online learning entails the delivery of instructions or guidelines to students electronically by using various Internet and multimedia applications and platforms. Indeed, it is also known as electronic learning (e-learning). On the contrary, in-person or physical learning is a face-to-face delivery of instructions to learners. For many years before the advent of e-learning, schools relied on physical learning to educate students. However, the rapid advancement of technology has significantly contributed to the implementation of online learning by numerous educational institutions. Currently, many students can study in the comfort of their homes when they enroll in online courses. The primary things that have massively facilitated e-learning in numerous schools are the availability of Internet accessibility and the increased number of individuals with electronic devices, such as smartphones, which can get connected to the web. Today, due to various reasons that will be illustrated below, online learning is better than in-person.
The first reason online learning is better than in-person is that it provides individualization and more flexibility (Muller & Mildenberger, 2021). Many educational institutions have implemented e-learning successfully, leading to the replacement of classroom time with a web-based learning environment. One of the primary factors that hastened the implementation of online learning by numerous schools is the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic in March 2020. During that time various governments had to take strict precautions to reduce the spread of the virus, which included social distancing, closure of educational institutions, social isolation, quarantine of infected individuals, and wearing personal protective equipment among others. Since all schools were closed for a specific period, they took this opportunity to roll out online learning to ensure that students would study even when at home. From that perspective, learners had the flexibility to attend online classes. Virtual classrooms have become popular nowadays with numerous educational institutions offering online classes for a certificate, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate courses. The Internet has made online learning effective since students can communicate with their teachers and ask questions if the need arises. For example, Zoom allows participants of an online class to raise their hands by using emojis or sending messages to each other. The most significant thing about e-learning is that students can learn from anywhere, as long as, they have Internet connectivity (Muller & Mildenberger, 2021). Moreover, online learning allows individualization, where a teacher can modify his or her instructions when dealing with a specific type of student. That way, it enhances effective learning since students can choose the strategies that work best for them to improve their academic performance.
E-learning is better than physical learning since students get access to course materials that meet their personalized education needs. In traditional learning, learners had to take notes during the lecture and buy the specific recommended course textbooks. Those who did not afford the learning materials had nothing to refer to when revising, particularly if they failed to attend physical classes. In that light, students did not concentrate on the teachings in class since they had to write notes for revision purposes. They did not fully engage in the learning process, meaning that they did not ask questions or seek clarification for the points they did not understand. With in-person learning came personalized education, which gives learners better opportunities to participate in classroom discussions. Since students attend online classes from their choice of environment, they feel comfortable and have a more personalized learning experience. In a 2019 study involving 124 students from the University of Burgos who studied health sciences, about 74.2% admitted that they were satisfied with online courses (Saiz-Manzanares et al., 2019). For instance, using Moodle-based personalized online learning system enhanced problem-based learning that enabled learners to get immediate answers to the problems they encountered during the lecture, facilitating a deeper comprehension of the subject being taught. In addition, students are allowed to access more learning materials and use the ones they understand instead of struggling to comprehend specific concepts or theories that have limited elaboration in specific books. As such, learners control their learning process, and access to more resources enable them to know what they are taught, hence their improved academic performances.
Other reasons online learning is better than in-person are that it is cost-effective, student-centered, and environmentally friendly. Notably, online learners engage in multiple educational activities, namely writing, discus...