EDU-BASE TUTORIAL

Why Online Classes?

Five reasons for Online Classes:

a) Students learn more than they do in traditional classes:

IBM have found that participants learn five times more material in online learning classes using multimedia content than in traditional face to face classes.

Because online classes give students full control over their own learning, students are able to work at their own speed. Generally, students work faster than they would do otherwise and take in more information. They are able to move faster through areas of the course they feel comfortable with, but slower through those that they need a little more time on.

b) Retention rates are higher with online learning:

Many offline classes struggle to retain students throughout the length of the course. The Research Institute of America have found that this is not the case with e-Learning. Rather, online classes have increased student retention rates from anything from 25% to 60%.

It’s been suggested that more engaging multimedia content, more control over how they take in the material and less likelihood of classes clashing with other commitments all contribute to this rise.

c) Online learning requires less of a time investment:

Many students are put off enrolling in a face to face course due to the time investment it will require. This generally involves the time to get back and forth to classes, plus the time spent waiting for tutors and other students. A Brandon Hall report on e-Learning within corporations found that this style of learning typically requires 40-60% less employee time than learning in a traditional classroom setting.

It’s also key to note that e-Learning options generally allow students to split the time they are investing in the course in whichever way works for them. They don’t need to be able to dedicate large chunks of time to the course: it’ll work just as well if they can set aside half an hour from their lunch break each day.

d) More frequent assessments can reduce distractions:

One of the greatest thing about online classes is that assessment can become more of an ongoing process. This is good news for students as interspersing multimedia content and learning materials with regular short tests can improve student engagement. In fact, research from Harvard showed that using these short, regular tests halved student distraction, tripled note-taking and students’ overall retention of the content improved.

It’s also worth noting that the more often students are assessed, the better their tutors are able to keep track of their progress. Increased student tracking means that tutors are able to step in earlier when assistance is needed.

e) e-Learning is the greener option:

Online learning is certainly the more effective option for students, but it’s also better for the environment. The Open University in Britain has found that online classes equate to an average of 90% less energy and 85% fewer CO2 emissions per student than traditional in person classes.

This certainly makes online learning and multimedia content a more effective method of education overall. Promoting and engaging in this kind of learning can help both individuals and corporations to do their bit for the environment and stick to their own personal environmental goals.