eLearning has many benefits and advantages. Below are five:
Cost effective:
Cost is one of the most important factors in learning and education. eLearning can help instructors and academic institutions to adapt with very limited budgets and resources. This is very valid, especially for third world countries. Initial cost can be high, but over time it will become much cheaper for learners, learning institutions, companies, and governments.
Global reach:
eLearning has a global reach, thanks to the recent advances in technology. Smartphones, the Internet, laptops, computers are available everywhere and can be used in elearning. As an example, Khan Academy has millions of students all over the world. The content and website are provided mainly in English but are also available in other languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Turkish, French, Bengali and Hindi.
Individualized learning/Self-paced:
People are different and differ in their learning speed too. eLearning provides a very individualized learning experience. Learners can decide when and where to learn and for how long, with the ability to skip/repeat some or part of the content. Recent software tools provide branching techniques so learners can skip what they already knew, and focus on new things only.
Consistent quality:
Available human resources, tools, types of equipment, and environment can vary a lot from one session to another, resulting in quality variance among sessions. In elearning, quality and consistency are same regardless of the number of the students. Again, the initial cost can be high to gain high quality, but quality will be very consistent.
Synchronous/ asynchronous/ hybrid:
eLearning can be synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid. Flexibility is guaranteed and learners can choose what suits them and their circumstances. Synchronous learning is more socialized but less control is left to learners, while asynchronous is fully controlled by them. Hybrid elearning enables students to benefit from both.
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Hit it right on the head, Abu - in my opinion, these are definitely the 5 most important reasons that people should be paying attention to eLearning. And, generally speaking, eLearning will INCREASE each of those advantages at a rate far faster than traditional education can address those issues (it will continue to reduce costs, increase global reach, enable self-pacing, improve quality, and build hybrid environments in significant ways).
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see those types of implementations in world-changing environments!
Hi Nathan, as you mentioned these are the most important ones, and in this week's post I support it with stats and facts. elearning will dominate!
DeleteI hadn't realized just how many languages this sort of content was available in! The global access really makes elearning an amazing tool, as information can be spread digitally in an instant and (feasibly) can be translated, which then allows people access to much more information that they wouldn't have had otherwise!
ReplyDeleteHi Liana, its wonderful to see all these languages, and the very interesting thing is that they are ready to support new languages. See the quotation below.
Delete"Aprende's content is being developed by the Khan Academy, a nonprofit educational website founded by Salman Khan, and is being managed by a Mexican staff of 150.
In 2013, Slim and Khan announced a cooperation agreement to allow students, teachers, researchers and others in Mexico to get access to education and training courses by translating them into Spanish."
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaestevez/2016/06/16/carlos-slims-foundation-launches-free-online-educational-app/#70f6cd211d8d
I'm always thinking that individualized learning can be more efficient if it is combined with self-management system. Sometime we need a learning system or platform to help us manage our own learning. Actually, I'm not confident about my time management and self-control abilities. It would be better if I can utilize such kind of system.
ReplyDeleteSure, a learning management system is a core tool in elearning. I will talk about them in one of my posts.
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