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How is Online Education Changing the Way Students Learn?

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, far greater focus has been placed on remote forms of education, particularly online learning. As face-to-face learning on campus was greatly diminished by social distancing measures, the Internet provided a platform for many to continue their studies. The sudden rise in online teaching spawned more discussions regarding the future possibilities for remote learning.

Of course, before the pandemic struck, students already used the Internet for research and homework help. Especially when struggling to write an essay for a college exam, it’s common for students to turn to the Web to look for help while thinking, Educational resources and research databases are the mainstays of online education, yet they only just scratch the surface of what the future may hold.

The Benefits of Online Education

Online education can change the way students learn in many positive ways. Here are a few of them. Students no longer have to miss class for an illness or late-night study session, because they can view lecture material on their own time and access course materials from anywhere. Instead of talking to a substitute teacher, they can watch video lectures by professional educators. Instructors post additional resources online, like study guides and writing assignments, so students don’t waste time trying to figure out how to write a proposal or make PowerPoint slides that showcase their research findings.

Why parents should encourage online learning?

Today’s students are growing up in a world where online learning is becoming more and more commonplace. Unlike previous generations, they may not see anything unusual about doing homework while simultaneously streaming a movie or FaceTiming with friends. As a result, children and teens could be coming to college better equipped to manage their time and multitask than their predecessors were just five years ago.

How is Online Education Changing the Way Students Learn?

Augmented Reality and Databases

Augmented reality (AR) programs are proving to be revolutionary when it comes to learning. Programs like Google Earth allow students to explore faraway places they might never otherwise have the chance to visit. Over the past few years, many museums and cultural institutions have begun to digitize, offering people a chance to visit them virtually.

As an example, Google Art & Culture has begun the process of digitizing and archiving some of the world’s most revered works of art as scans with incredibly high resolution. That has given young people an opportunity to study masterpieces more closely than they would ever be able to achieve with a physical museum visit. This initiative is an excellent example of how online learning is having a democratizing effect on the education system.

Videoconferences

Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, many students had to switch from classrooms to their screens. It became increasingly common for schools and universities to conduct lectures and seminars online via videoconferences rather than gather students in lecture halls, which had a major impact on how classes functioned in learning today.

Many students can now attend classes from far away, eliminating the need to be physically present on campus. In many ways, that greatly benefited some learners. Many save a lot of money that they would have otherwise spent on a college dorm, giving them greater financial freedom and easing their burden. Others save time and money due to the reduced need to commute to school.

Quiz Apps

One increasingly common feature of online education is the use of quiz apps. Teachers can remotely test their students’ knowledge by creating customized quizzes for a given subject. Students can take these online quizzes as a fun way of preparing for an exam or revising a project.

With many platforms available, students even have the ability to devise their own quizzes and send them to each other. Using these fun and addictive platforms is one of the best tricks for online learning designed to raise students’ grades.

The Future of Online Learning

While online education has only recently begun to make its mark on K-12 classrooms and universities alike, it’s been touted as a possibility for decades. Since 1997, more than 20 million students have studied online, and that number continues to grow. The advent of live video streaming services such as FaceTime and Hangouts are making these platforms accessible to more students across a wide variety of settings. In short, online learning is nothing new—but now it’s getting better.