What made online education effective and attractive?
Coronavirus pandemic radically changed the world in many ways.one of the main aspects which was Changed by this virus was the people’s association and their ways of interactions. Lockdown and social distancing made it harder for people to socialize the same as there was no limitation for crowds. All these made online and virtual choices more popular. From virtual platforms to virtual gatherings received more attention. So in less than a year, the arrangement of people’s gatherings changed drastically. The fact is that the virtual forms of people’s associations can never be a complete alternative for the real experience of being together but it has some gains and opportunities as well. There are a series of reasons that can explain the increasing consideration of online and virtual training.
One main feature of virtual training’s popularity is about its effectiveness as some findings suggest that virtual training is more effective in many ways. Perhaps the main reason for this effectiveness lay in the virtual communication’s nature. Virtual learning generally creates an innovative status and makes it easier to contribute to the classes and to share the ideas and beliefs over the class subject.
Online communications and training are considerably flexible in the terms of location, time and arrangement. Online training eliminates some main limitations that traditional training has. Generally there is no need to be present at certain times and scheduling is also very flexible. Time is being saved due to elimination of a certain place to go and get back. The value of that time saved can even be measured.
On the other hand, online training makes it easier to be involved in the educational process. This approach to learning reduces the educational expenses as well so it can offer better opportunities to access the training. From this point of view, virtual learning is a considerable tool for the equal distribution of education in the society. It increases the accessibility of the poor to educational opportunities and materials.
Moreover, online learning makes people familiar with rising technologies and networks so it can create a more empowered workforce. These new methods of learning are very capable to train the next generation of workforce. As technology grows faster, innovative and flexible ways of training especially in the market place gets more attention. Therefore online training is becoming a powerful tool to be skilled enough to enter the new marketplace in which online businesses rules.
Finally, since in virtual learning, no material is being consumed directly, it could be considered as one of the approaches to conserving nature. When there is no need for physical presence, transportation load decreases. This helps the reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions.
To conclude, online learning and the new educational environment has dominance and influence in many ways. It reduces the costs, enhances the accessibility, improves the educational equity and fairness, it generates a new more empowered generation to enter to the market place and it is eco friendly. Yet there are some limitations in this format of the training. For example, some concepts cannot be appropriately transformed through virtual training and practice and physical contact are required.
However, the fact is that online education methods may not completely be the same as actual educational systems. But by expanding growth of technology, simulation between real and virtual classes will be totally possible.