Nowadays the word ‘Online’ has been more prevalent and engrossed all ages from adolescence to adulthood. When we are talking about the mode of education it has been broadly defined --- the offline and online class.
In
general, the main difference between offline and online learning is the
location. Whilst offline learning one
has to travel to a location like a hall or a classroom. On the other hand, online learning can be
conducted practically anywhere in the world.
It
has been witnessed during the pandemic schools, colleges, offices and other
institutions are akin to online classes. Based on the technology-driven video
meetings, classes are to be conducted and one has to cope with the latest
technology. No doubt, the concept of
learning has been changed with this online system. Earlier people tend to use the offline system
and now with technology-driven somehow, they are forced to learn.
The
common video meeting Apps are used as follows:
- Teams Microsoft
- Zoom
- Skype
- Google Meet
- Big Blue Meeting
- Go to Meeting
- BlueJeans Meeting
Now
that almost all schools and colleges are using online modes for teaching, there
are many points of view raised which one is the better. There can always be a big-time debate what is
the difference between online and offline learning?
As
a viewer or a learner, one should comprehend the basic crux of it. With the technology innovation has grown we
have to learn new abilities. Since the
school is closed due to a pandemic and to complete the course, the
doubts/questions are being cleared online.
Perceptibly,
the question does arise what are the advantages and disadvantages of offline
classes and online classes? Here are
some key points related to it.
The table below shows some advantages and disadvantages
of online classes:
|
Students
could be more comfortable as compared to the offline mode of classes when it
comes to clearing doubts. |
|
Students
could get a chance to know about the current technology scenario of teaching. |
|
It
saves time and resources. |
|
Flexibility
– one can learn at his/her speed. |
|
Personalization
of course contents |
|
Faculties
can make more money by teaching more students at once |
|
Class
recordings are a treasure |
|
Disadvantages
of online classes |
|
Students might not get comfortable with
teachers and feel shy in asking the doubts. |
|
Teachers are unable to check if
the students are actually studying. |
|
Less interaction between students and
teachers. |
|
Faculties are struggled to understand
the student’s learning behaviour |
|
Difficult to follow the passion of
teacher |
|
Very low course completion rate |
|
Lack of competitive attitude makes the
learning process slower |
The table below shows some advantages and
disadvantages of offline classes:
|
Advantages
of offline classes |
|
A teacher could pay more attention to
students. |
|
Students would focus more on their studies. |
|
More interaction between students and
teachers. |
|
Concentration level is high |
|
Course completion rate is almost 75 per
cent as compared to 7 per cent online |
|
Performance of a student can easily
judge and can work on problem areas |
|
Learning experience with peers
rejuvenates one’s thoughts and memory |
|
Disadvantages
of offline classes |
|
Wastage of time and resources. |
|
Students might not find a competitive
peer group and hence not feel not motivated enough. |
|
Students would not learn about advanced
technology. |
|
The quality of content can change with
every lecture. |
|
Personalized learning is not possible |
|
Time flexibility |
Earlier participants are used with offline classes though online classes are not so frequent as it is now.
The
pertinent question does arise how it can be beneficial particularly for
children who are in nascent the stage?
Do they understand online teaching especially math class? How to deal with the child’s age and learning
ability?
Opinion
of Experts
According
to experts’ children aged 4 to 16 [KG to grade 10] are to be believed the
foundational years. Their foundation
needs to be strong otherwise at a later stage they cannot cope up since the
competition day-by-day will be stiff. New
topics are introduced, and they have questions and doubts, which needs to be
resolved immediately. At this stage, a
teacher can constantly monitor and clarify their doubts.
Even
we are talking about online classes, there should be a dedicated time for
catering so that teacher can figure out the doubts of the students.
Especially
4 to 12 years old children require a lot more one-to-one attention and
support. It is often found that they
won’t voluntarily sit and engaging them in learning for a few minutes seemed to
be difficult. So, there must be a one-to-one connection with
the teacher and student to encourage and motivate the children.
It is acceptable both for offline and online classes that the main focus is to work best for the children. The pertinent role of the teacher is to drive effort.
Around
13 years of age, children can learn independently. They now understand the seriousness of the
study and can stick to a schedule that has been defined for them. So, they easily can log in and connect with
the best teachers online.
Centre-based
In Centre-based classes, it is found that parents are required to make pick-up and drop arrangements for their children. If the centre is walking distance from home logistically easier but if it is far from home which is mostly in the case, then they have to opt for online classes.
Synergy of Student-Teacher
Regardless of the choice between online versus offline and especially the centre-based math classes, the presence of a teacher is very important for children between 4 and 16 years of age. This age group is quite sensitive to handle and a learning system that does away with a teacher for this age group is simply ineffective. Thus, the student-teacher relationship is a strong indicator of student learning outcomes.
It
has been observed that most 4 to 12-year-olds showed indifferent attitude
towards study. The teacher’s presence
helps children to concentrate and work for a longer duration. The main role of a teacher is to make the
class engaging and encourage children to put in the effort. At this age,
children must do hands-on activities to learn well. It is pertinent that the
presence of a teacher again helps facilitate such learning activities.
Math
with reasoning
While
in an online class when a teacher is present, students have to log in as per
schedule. Thus, an online program must
also require students to learn by reasoning, and work on math problems by
themselves with a teacher close monitoring their progress.
Whilst
we are talking about online and offline, it has been noticed that math is a
bugbear for the students. So, learning math must be done from an early age. Math must be learned by reasoning, doing and
discovering. Here, the teacher role is a
coach and mentor to help the students.
During the process, the children should focus on the process than the
result.
One
can search out Cuemath.com specifically designed for kids to enrich their
mathematics. Furthermore, Cuemath
understands each child and build a personalized learning plan.
It
is out of place to mention here that offline have developed more understanding
methods and teacher and students are gel together which gives comfortability to
understand the topics. Also, the
students are getting the opportunity to learn broadly.
In
online learning, absenteeism is not so important since it
is more flexible than classroom-based learning. Here, students can work through the material
at their own pace and those who need more time to grasp a concept can
take it.
Impact
of Covid-19
Due
to this Covid-19, the school and colleges are shut and now the offline classes have
been transformed into an online class.
Thus, we can find some major issues both in offline and online classes.
Issues
– Offline and Online
Offline
methods of traditional teaching are now applied online, there can be a
limitation due to lack of training. Various
issues are cropped up on how to provide informal social interactions, how to
ensure students’ attention and their active participation. Most schools or other institutions have
struggled with these since they have not trained on this.
Resolve
A
bit challenge and the shift from offline to online delivery should be fast and
quick and requisite training should be provided first hand.
Online
education is a bit challenging especially for the kids who are below 5 years
mainly due to the inability to follow instructions, attention span, and even
handling a device like a computer.
Also, online classes are based on internet bandwidth which is quite an expensive tool. Though people are based on technology-driven apps like zoom and other video-conferencing tools, which are used worldwide. Certain issues are to be found when the multi-students’ classes with regards to the bandwidth of a particular user being poor thus affecting the overall class quality and others using hotspot suffer from packet loss leading to poor video quality.
To smoothen the overall
quality of online classes the internet bandwidth should be quick and
faster. Today most users have to get accustomed
to Video Conferencing tools, it is imperative they can use them with ease.
Resolve
No doubt, it is an emergency
response shift from offline to online and one can see the digital
transformation all around. Adoption of
online has been at a break-neck speed, it is therefore, urgent the teacher and
students should quickly adopt and learn so that overall harmony can be done and
maintained quality education. On the
other hand, internet surfing should be easily accessible and prevent poor
connection.
Conclusion
It is necessary to focus on the child regardless of online and offline classes. The choice between online and offline math classes solely depends on the child’s age and learning independence.
The critical age 4 to 12-year-olds, for offline centre-based classes, are better if the child is not self-disciplined and does not pay attention. In that case, he/she would constantly need someone to keep an eye. While the online classes will save his/her travel time and get the best of class teachers only if he/she finds maths interesting.
It is presumed that at the age of 13, children understand the seriousness of studies and online classes are a better option and can log in themselves and can connect with the best maths teachers worldwide.
The presence of a teacher is necessary for monitoring the learning regardless of the mode of math classes, especially for the ages 4 to 16.
While
we are talking about the mode of offline and online classes through learning
via videos, presentations or even physical classrooms is simply ineffective if
they try to mug up the content. It is
critical children must learn math by reasoning and by being actively involved
otherwise the whole exercises are futile.
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