Does E-Learning Benefit Education?

Kids today have grown up around computers and technology – they’re used to interacting with images and content rather than passively observing. Research by Ofcom shows that many 12-15 year olds spend as much time online as they do watching TV and with the development of smartphones and tablets, we’ve created new ways to research and acquire knowledge which are now used more commonly than books.

With this new technology comes new ways of learning and e-learning is something which has taken off not only in workplaces and higher education institutions, but also in classrooms across the globe, providing a number of tangible benefits for both students and education professionals alike.

But does e-learning really benefit education and what are some of the key differences between traditional, passive methods of learning and e-learning?

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The Main Differences

There are 3 ways in which e-learning differs from traditional learning methods; these are: interactivity, personalization and engagement. Let’s look at each of these in a bit more detail.

Interactivity

Passivity has always been the enemy of retention and learning. Experiencing something helps us to remember it for longer than passively consuming it via video or classroom instruction – this is why many training courses use role-play and group discussion to complement traditional learning methods. E-learning takes away this passivity by engaging students actively in the learning process.

Personalization

With class sizes growing and every student exhibiting different needs, it can be difficult for teachers to accommodate the different ways in which everyone learns and to work at a pace which suits everyone.

Some students grasp subjects quickly, whilst others will need extra support and teachers have constraints on their time and resources which don’t always allow them to actively support all learners at their own pace – students who are slower to learn risk being left behind.

Used properly, online learning and classroom management software can support teachers by adjusting to a student’s pace. Allowing students to work at their own speed with the support of e-learning software can help them to remain engaged and motivated.

Interactivity

Using role-plays or multiplayer activities can simulate experiences in the real world, which allows students to learn and practise scenarios in a safe learning environment. This can help to improve their confidence levels as well as helping them to make decisions.

Creating an interactive learning environment helps students to engage fully in the learning experience, and whether they’re using a computer, tablet or smartphone, they’re immersed in the program, which means their level of retention will be higher.

Other Benefits

Of course, classroom management software has many other benefits and some software can allow teachers to remotely monitor what their students are doing – allowing them to see student’s computer screens and make sure nobody is distracted or falling behind. This type of software is not only beneficial for students; it also makes teacher’s lives easier too.

Creating lesson plans and using interactive lessons to engage students is a breeze with e-learning software, which can usually be used across a variety of platforms, from laptop and desktop PC’s to tablets and smartphones.

This means that it’s easy for teacher’s to save resources and lesson plans for use wherever they are, whether that’s at home, in the classroom or out on a school trip.

Teachers also benefit from the ability to monitor students remotely and information or documents can be sent to networked PC’s at the touch of a button – so much easier and environmentally friendly than photocopying and distributing worksheets!

Because e-learning engages students and provides an interactive environment rather than passive learning, it does benefit the way in which we learn and retain information.

With the development of new hardware and software designed to encourage e-learning, it is sure to become more commonly used in classrooms across the globe, and this new way of learning will see students go on to achieve better educational results – e-learning is most definitely effective!

One of the best aspects of e-learning is that it is entirely personalized to the individual student, so you can let them work at their own pace, but it’s also of huge benefit to busy teachers who are under constraints to deliver lessons to specific schedules and ensure targets are met and exceeded.

As technology advances continue to infiltrate school classrooms, higher education establishments and workplaces, it looks likely that in the future, more lessons than ever before will be taught with some degree of interactivity rather than using traditional, passive learning methods.

Jacqueline Wilson is a university lecturer from Durham who has recently participated in the trial of classroom management software at work.

She loves the freedom the software provides her with as she can use it across multiple operating systems on her work laptop, home PC and tablet, creating a portable solution to lesson planning. She believes the benefits e-learning provides for her and her students far outweigh any negative aspects of using the software.

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