EDUCATOR’S CORNER
or fully utilized. Therefore, one has to decode and deconstruct the term “online” education to better understand how best we can practice it.
Subject Types
The first important factor that a stu- dent should consider is the nature of the course he or she is planning to study. Practical courses in sciences and engineering are best conducted in live (in-person) classes because they require instruments and materials, and also hands-on training, experiments, and supervision by the instructor are essen- tial. One cannot become, for instance, a mountain climber, pilot, organic chem- ist, environmental geologist, civil engi- neer, or a surgeon simply by reading textbooks and listening to lectures. Most
Figure 2.
popular online courses are related to information and com- puter technologies, business, management, education, and humanities.
To Commute or Not to Commute
Perhaps the best advantage of online education is that students and instructors do not need to commute to a physical classroom. This indeed saves time (as well as money) for commuting. You can read or watch lecture materials from the comfort of your room. Nevertheless, this is not an absolute advantage. Some students believe that commuting and walking has its own health benefits while sitting in front of a computer monitor for long periods of time is not a healthy practice. Moreover, while the physical classroom focuses our attention on the lec- ture and discussions, gazing at the computer screen requires greater mental strength to maintain your attention and not be distracted by other (probably more entertaining) internet offerings. In other words, online classes obviously save us time but this advantage should not be oversold or generalized.
Age Groups and Information Technology
During the 2020 pandemic and lockdowns, many parents com- plained that their young children in schools had an extremely hard time to attend online classes for hours each day; the students easily got bored, emotionally stressed, and did not consider online lectures as real or natural (but somewhat like games).1 Online schooling can also be a burden on parents who have to devote their time to this task; and in turn, teachers may find parents’ participation somewhat intruding or may not feel comfortable facing both students and parents in a teaching session. Screen boredom may also be true for some other people or they may not take online classes very seriously for lack of personal interactions.
Online education is most suitable for people with full-time jobs (Figure 2) who cannot attend in-person classes in week days and have little time to commit to the workload of a full semester. People with mobility or sensory impairment will also utilize online education more than others.
Older people may not have great desire or technology knowledge to handle online classes efficiently; they may value face-to-face social interactions much more than isolated com- puter classwork.
Online learning requires high-speed internet and up-to-date computers (equipped with printer, webcam and other software) which may not be available in every country or in every part of a country for infrastructural or financial reasons. This technological inequality may adversely affect students from disadvantageous areas.
Credits and Credibility
Online education saves money. Online courses are usually less expensive than in-person classes because the latter require a proper physical space (campus and buildings). Nevertheless, saving money should not come at the expense of credibility. It is important to evaluate the history and reputation of the educational institution before registering for a course. In this regard, it is important to categorize online education into (1) courses offered by mainstream universities, colleges and schools, which are properly accredited, and (2) those offered by various grades of educational and training companies offering courses for professional development. If your purpose is simply to learn a subject for your hobby or for improving professional skills, there are a vast number of online courses available at very low prices. This is indeed an advantage of the global digital age we are living in: We can learn a subject in a convenient way and at a low budget. However, if your purpose is to get educational credit units (CEUs, for professional licensing or for transferring to a formal university education) or graduate with a valid and valuable degree, then accreditation, brand, and reputation of the educational institution should be seri- ously considered. Indeed, employers will give more importance to certification from established colleges and universities; they will also value hands-on training more than abstract, text-based online courses.
1. Erin Richards, This is hell: Parents and kids hate online learning, but they could face more of it. USA Today, June 29, 2020. https://
www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/06/29/back-to-school-reopen-online-classes/3251324001/; Schools want to end online classes for struggling kids, but Covid-19 cases may send everyone home. USA Today, November 14, 2020:
https://www.usatoday.com/ story/news/education/2020/11/14/covid-cases-school-closing-online-class/6260149002/
www.aipg.org Jan.Feb.Mar 2021 • TPG 41
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