Advantages and disadvantages of online teaching

The benefits of online teaching:

Flexibility

You can be anywhere at any time while being in the classroom with yours: books, materials, classmates, talking to professors. It seems as though that phrase of our anxious parents is coming true: "If I could be in two places at the same time, it would be good." Well, now that is possible. Do we violate the laws of physics? Maybe, but what all the laws of nature man has not tried to bring down so far, so why not this one?

Because of its flexibility, online learning has also made time a relative dimension. Internet classrooms are generally always open. There are no weekends or holidays for them, and most of them are also available at night. With flexibility, there is often a more relaxed approach. But no, I am not talking here about learning relaxation, but about relaxation when it comes to our physical appearance. Unless the conversation takes place via video, it doesn't matter if we're sitting in a suit in a suit or lying in our pajamas on a bed, are we wearing makeup, or are we sitting in the heat in shorts?

If I were to write for an advertisement now, like the ones on television, it would probably be a sequel: "Just having a computer, being connected to the internet and your dreams of custom education will come true!" But since I'm not writing in that capacity, already want to give a critical review, I will ask myself: "Is it just?" True, most young people, even middle-aged people, have a computer and the internet. What about people living in rural areas? Well, the situation is changing a little, and broadband is a rarity in these parts. Doesn't it then become spatial flexibility and something that is not quite applicable? In Serbia, the answer to this dilemma is still yes. But this unavailability is more of a lack of technical nature than of learning through the internet itself.

Multimedia

Everyone knows the often-quoted sentence: "A picture speaks more than a thousand words." That is true, but I would add that a single word can encourage many pictures and associations. That is why the possibility of learning something at the same time: reading, listening, and watching is an undeniable advantage of learning online. Just click the mouse a few times or press a button and many contents related to one topic is before us. We almost don't have to go to libraries anymore, saving money and time. Still, is this a waste of exploration, the rustle of paper under your hands? Maybe, but it's for the romantics, and this is the modern age.

Interactivity

In addition to the interactivity of students with their colleagues, professors, which was also possible in classical teaching, the internet brought a novelty, which is the interactivity of students with the learning content. Now it is very easy to post comments, follow what our colleagues, professors think about our comments, and it all seems freer than in a classic classroom. Also, if part of the online learning platform is built on the principle of programmed learning, the student no longer has to wait for the professor but receives feedback on the accuracy of the answers after a few seconds, which greatly influences the increase in motivation to work. There is no discussion with the professor here, but this type of feedback has its limitations when it comes to tasks that seek creativity and may have some non-standard solutions.

Adaptation to needs

This most commonly means adaptation to learning: age, physical and mental condition, accessibility of education to persons with disabilities. It seems that content is easier than anywhere, just on the Internet, through animations, videos, subtitles, and can be adapted to different ages and layers of the population. Given that you can access the content of online classrooms for an unlimited number of times, that for the most part, there is no requirement for you to continuously keep your attention, have a quick coffee break, or break into the classroom - an unfinished snack, adjust your work plan commitments and current mood.

However, is something missing? Oh yes, there is not that creative mind effort to come up with a witty excuse for a delay or that adrenaline rush. When it comes to accessibility for people with disabilities, there is no thinking about architectural barriers for people with physical disabilities; hearing impaired people are increasingly accessible due to more textual documents and video content, and when it comes to visually impaired people, accessibility it varies from platform to platform, though with a little more goodwill solutions can always be found.

Disadvantages of online education:

The need for great motivation

For online learning to be completed and completed, it is necessary that the person learning is very motivated. I know, you will think that it is a necessary condition for completing anything, and even learning in general, and you will be right. However, it can sometimes happen that when you study in the virtual world and have virtual communication, everything somehow seems less real, so it can be easier to give up. University data conducting distance learning points to this fact, because it's somewhere out there, and you have no one to invite to go to class together. There is no professor, a mentor who will personally give you a boost. It's all housed in that little device you sign in and out of and that's it.

Isolation of the individual

You're in your room, in the yard, and they're out there. Each is an individual for himself, who joins the network when it suits him or her, or if necessary at the prescribed time during which you follow the lecture. In front of you is a keyboard or screen through which you write messages, questions, give opinions and comments, but no professor puts your hand on your support, colleagues or peers who will wave, laugh, help you when you somewhere snap, throwing the mailer in the middle of group work. There is no real society that, after the lecture, will invite you to have coffee at the cafe on the way home or as in that children's song: "There is no one with no one I have no one" for which you would still come when you are not listening. Or him, whose witty commentary with a gentle look and smile will brighten the day. It's not the same to read chat and smile and hear it all and see it live.

So you are on your own, even though you belong to a large group of students of a course or course in your studies and maybe, at that very moment, you are communicating with colleagues, peers via video link or forum. On the other hand, there are no showers or snows that slow down traffic, so be late for classes or stay home longer than planned. No freezing or walking in the heat.