Why E-Learning: How & Why It Works
There has been an influx in educational institutions and organizations that choose to provide online education and training. This influx can be credited to two factors: the rapid advancement of technology and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many schools and organizations have shifted from in-person learning to online platforms because more people have access to technology. Access to these devices is believed to make learning faster, enhanced, and more accessible than traditional learning methods.
Nearly all organizations and schools were forced to re-evaluate their teaching methods in early 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic caused governments around the world to close non-essential businesses and institutions in fear of outbreaks. As schools, universities, and workplaces were shuttered, they were forced to adapt to web-based learning to complete training and courses.
As online learning has surged in popularity, many are questioning its methods and benefits. In this article, we will explain how online classes work and what are their advantages compared to traditional training methods. You’ll learn why you should use e-learning, whether you are teaching your employees a new skill or sharing knowledge with your students.
How Does Online Learning Work?
First, we need to answer the question “What is e-learning?”. E-learning is education or training that is completed in an online format on a Learning Management System like Skillshare, Lynda, Google Classroom, and more. A pre-determined learning path has been created by online tutors, outlining the content and assessments that need to be completed and in what order to meet learning goals. This allows a learner, whether college students or an employee, to complete the course at their own pace.\.
E-learning can be completed on a mobile device or a computer – almost anything that has a stable Internet connection and can operate the necessary software. This allows employee training or college courses to be done anywhere, any time. Online students simply need to log on and complete the class.
Why E-Learning Works
Online training and education have many benefits for student and organization success including cost-effectiveness, reduced learning time, and additional resources. Learn more about the benefits of e-learning below to discover why e-learning is beneficial for your organization.
01. Online Education Promises Flexibility
Flexibility is the largest benefit of online learning. Online courses can be taken at an individual’s own pace and whenever they have free time. This allows both students to create a learning process that fits their unique schedules and preferences. Whether students have a specific time they are most productive or need to work around the schedule of their full-time job, distance learning allows them the flexibility they need to be successful.
The flexibility of online learning has also allowed many people to seek an education that would have been otherwise impossible. For example, many international students were not allowed to re-enter the countries they go to school in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, students could complete their courses over the Internet according to their time zones rather than their teachers’.
02. Online Courses are Cost-Effective
A course held in a traditional classroom setting can be quite expensive; there are many costs including instructor payment, travel fees, physical workbooks, classroom or space rental fees, and much more. E-course development is much more inexpensive than the fees associated with running in-person classes.
Modern learners can use their own tech to take the course and materials only need to be created once to be distributed on a Learning Management System. There is also no need to worry about classroom rental fees or travel funds because all learning is done over the Internet. These factors help reduce the cost of online courses – a huge benefit for a business or organization holding employee training or development.
03. Engagement For All Learners
One of the largest myths about e-learning is that online course materials do not appeal to the various learning styles. In reality, well-developed online content can appeal to auditory, visual, and tactile learners with ease. E-Learning is so effective because it stimulates the memory centers of the brain with a combination of images, sound, and text.
Students and employees need to watch the screen and read the content, listen to videos or presentations, and operate the mouse and computer to navigate the training. Such sensory engagement encourages learners to pay attention and retain more of the information they are learning. Think about it, how many students let their minds wander while completing in-person courses or training? The constant engagement that online training and education requires encourages students to pay attention.
04. Online Courses Reduce Teaching Time
Although learners receive the same knowledge and skills as they would in face-to-face sessions, e-learning takes up to 40-60% less time than traditional classes or learning. This means that an organization can teach its employees without having to dedicate as much time to training, saving time and skill teaching the necessary skills to employees. Employees also benefit from online learning; they have the ability to learn at their own pace and skip parks that they already know. This saves employee time and allows employees to get back to work faster.
05. Eco-Friendly and Sustainable
E-learning is known to have a lower carbon footprint than traditional classes. Study materials, tests, and handouts do not need to be printed out on paper, but can instead be distributed to students in the form of PDFs or online quizzes. Not only does this help reduce a course’s environmental impacts, but it also benefits student success.
A student completing training or a class will have the resources constantly available to them, ready to access when needed. This is the biggest advantage of virtual classrooms because students can tend to lose physical course material or have to wait to receive it from their instructors. Instead, learners can access all learning material throughout the entirety of their training.
Choose Online Learning
New skills and knowledge can easily be taught using e-learning. It is a cost-effective and flexible way of providing training or education to a learner located anywhere in the world.
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