Shaping Education: Exploring the Pros and Cons of Online Classes - Essay Sample

Introduction

The traditional modes of learning used classwork as the primary mode of education to the students. The students must attend classes to have one-on-one interaction with the teacher and use physical documents as education materials. The use of technology and the internet enables the learners to access online classes on their computers to undertake their studies, including subject topics, home woks, or exams, without physical appearances in the classes (Vander 11). Teachers and lecturers maintain communications with the students to enhance quality academics and access student progress by offering online tests and research. The article focuses on the introduction of online classes and its impacts on the education systems currently. The change to online classes is associated with several pros and cons. The article will focus on the impacts of online classes to students and lecturers.

The use of the internet and computers in education has helped lots of people globally to access academics. The cost of education has reduced remarkably over recent times as the study materials are cheaply available and parents do not have to pay accommodation and transport costs.

Time management

The online classes help save time, whereby classes are offered at specific times of the day, allowing them to have adequate time to carry out other tasks. The adoption of online courses is a significant way of reducing congestion in learning institutions, which is essential, especially when the world is experiencing the Corona virus pandemic. The population reduction also helps to manage the classes, and thus teachers can access all the students at convenience. Online studies also boost the institution's economy as they can enroll more students online, thus increasing income. The finances from the students help develop the institutes into better learning places.

Access to world class education

The online classes enable students to undergo studies in foreign countries and thus graduate with foreign degrees, which helps them in the job market. The graduates equip themselves with better skills to make them competitive in the job markets. Through online classes, learners can undertake short-term causes, building pillars for their curriculum vitae, and enhancing their professional skills. The classes are easily accessible as one needs only to have access to the internet and be conversant with computers.

The online studies platform serves as an equalizer between students from low economy countries and stable economy countries. In developed countries, education is precious, owing to the many job opportunities available. The online classes enable students from low economy countries to access world-class education, thus high chances of securing well-paid jobs to better their lifestyle and motherland economy. Through such opportunities, learners can access sponsorships to learn abroad, helping them access better and quality education, thus high competition in the job market.

Special needs people access to education

People living with disabilities highly benefit from online classes. The platform allows them to undertake their academics with ease. Based on the current researches, it is evident that very few teachers are advancing their studies to accommodate special education programs. The reduced number of specialists in the field makes it hard for disabled people to access their studies (Martin et al., 1). Most of the learning institutions do not have a structural modification to allow a friendly environment for special needs people. The physical modification of the structures requires high capital investments making it hard to carry out the projects. Due to this nature of challenges, online education serves as the best alternative for special needs education. The physically challenged people can study online to help create a better future for the individuals and their families.

Student performance

According to Siegel (60), students who undertake their classes online usually perform much better than one-on-one students. The author states that online courses enable students to access much data on the subject under study compared to classwork. The use of the internet allows the student to access databases and books rich in peer-reviewed information to boost their knowledge of study topics. Students on online platforms can access their lecturers anytime for clarifications as they are available throughout than physical classes, which have limited time to interact with the lecturers. The online classes equip students with skills to do researchers independently, making them more aggressive than the class studies where students have to be taught everything by the teachers.

Negative impacts of online classes

The online classes, despite the wide acceptance in the current world, face several challenges. Learners in online studies experience a feeling of isolation and neglect. The learners undertake all the course work alone and may feel unappreciated compared to one-on-one lessons where the lecture helps them launch their classwork. The online classes do not offer students platforms to interact and exchange ideas on the study topics. The group discussions enable students to perform classwork at ease, thus understanding the subject better. Social interactions help students understand each other and offer educational advice to overcome the challenges faced at school. The students create friends with whom they can share personal experiences and exchange ideas to achieve academic success and focus on their future. Interaction with teachers helps students ask questions for better clarifications to better understand the topics and discuss the subject, which allows for academic excellence.

Challenges to lecturers

The online studies also pose challenges to the lecturers and academic staff. The lecturers require high professional qualifications to be able to offer online classes. Lecturers must keep up with the technological advancement skills in the world of technology to avoid biasness. The lecturers should know how to update study materials online and maintain frequent communication with the students. The platform makes the lecturers spend most of their time online, which is tiresome and time-consuming. The school uses a lot of money to create online venues, which makes it expensive. Lecturing in the classroom is much more comfortable as the lecturer can deliver quality work to many students. Classwork also helps the lecturer access the understanding of the topic to the students through direct questions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, online classes play a critical role in the advancement of current educational systems. The improvement helps most students access knowledge and educational data at ease compared to the traditional modes of study, where the students have access to limited study materials. The platform is much cheaper, helping most people access education to secure jobs and better their lifestyles. The online classes highly favor people with special needs and physically challenged to access studies from home. Online courses also help reduce congestion in the schools providing an ideal environment to carry out their studies. Online learners can access foreign universities at a cheaper fee to help them find relevant job markets and acquire valuable academic certificates. The challenges experienced by online students, such as isolation and negligence, can be looked at to ensure students enjoy the online classes and lecturers do not strain to deliver their content.

Works Cited

Martin, E., Eun Hye Kwon, and Sean Healy. "Preparing future physical educators for inclusion:Changing the physical education teacher training program." Revista da Associando Brasileira de Atividade Motora Adaptada 17.1 (2016). 1-10 http://www2.marilia.unesp.br/revistas/index.php/sobama/article/view/6084 accessed on11th December 2020

Siegle, Del. "The changing nature of universities: Going online." Gifted Child Today 34.3 (2011): 56-61. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/107621751103400313 accessed on 11th December 2020

Vander Ark, Tom. Getting smart: How digital learning is changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 8 - 45