Benefits of Traditional Education over Online Education
Online courses are turning out to be an accessible mode of acquiring information, especially now when every home can access a computer. More students are being taken out of classrooms as they continue to have the ability to obtain a laptop while relaxing at home. The get online, and they can earn academic credits but learning and doing the assignment in the comfort of their homes. Technological advancement has made the lives of so many people more comfortable as well as more efficient. It, therefore, seems the more suitable choice of adopting technology in our education system and allow students to utilize online learning (Lei et al., 1). However, even when choosing online learning seems fit for students and educators in this modern technological era, various reasons are demonstrating that the traditional style of classroom teaching is better than the online method of learning. Therefore, this essay argues that traditional education is better as compared to online training.
In online education, the student does not have direct interaction with the educator and the school management or the faculty. In other words, when he has some questions, it may not be easy for him to ask his inline instructor since communication, in this case, is very impersonal. Even though there alternatives to asking questions using chat rooms, online forums, and emails, the best way to interact is live interaction, which is the characteristic of traditional education. Traditional education provides a ground for live interaction, which is an efficient way of learning. For instance, there is two-way communication and immediate feedback, which can not only be built trust between the teacher and the learner but also better grasping of concepts. Traditional classroom learning allows learners and educators to know each other better effectively. As a consequence, the educator can better understand the learner, his strength, and weakness better (Behzadi and Azam, 55). The teacher can also act as a mentor and guide the learners as far as the career possibilities are concerned. These outcomes are not possible with online learning.
Traditional education is also more suitable for young learners, for example, young adolescents, children, and teenagers who are yet to join the labor force. In this case, they have the opportunity of interacting with students of their age when they attend classes regularly (Jabali and Adel, 1). As a result, they tend to be more disciplined, follow regular schedules established by the school, improve their mental alertness, and also improve their physical fitness.
In traditional learning, the students have the opportunity of sharing their views. They can also clarify the questions they have with their educators. This reality makes it easy for them to get their queries to be responded to by the teacher in the right way. It is important to note that classroom notes and books are beneficial for studying and passing exams most of the time. Understanding the patters of questions and answers, with the suggestions that the experienced educators provide, the learners find it more useful as compared to when they are suing generalized ideas and notes found in online education that, in most cases, is available on the internet.
Traditional education is also less flexible as compared to online education. A significant element that one must emphasize when facing the dilemma of choosing between online and traditional education is the amount of time available for schooling as far as everyday activities are concerned. It is important to note that online education may be useful to a learner as it may also be flexible. This is a kind of learning that is suitable for those students who are already committed to family or work. According to Lei et al. (1), online learning tends to mold according to the learner’s schedule. The student can log in to his online course whenever he thinks it is suitable for him—this contrary to the specific schedule of attending lectures characterized by traditional education. However, the fixed schedule of traditional education is considered to be a suitable option for learners who do not have adequate freedom as far as scheduling is concerned. Even though students undertaking educational education also have some flexibility in their scheduling. For instance, some schools offer classes that abide by the student’s schedules, like over the weekends or meeting on specific times of the week.
Traditional education provides motivation as well as discipline to students. Traditional education has an advantage over online education when it comes to motivation and discipline. For instance, when a student attends a class regularly on set schedules by the school of the instructor, he has a regular face-to-face with the teacher, thus getting help on tasks. Learners in traditional education, for example, on-campus education have a lot of opportunities for being reminded about the incoming tasks and assignments (Stone et al., 392). As a result, this benefits learners who tend to postpone things a lot and do assignments, especially those that are time-consuming. This is contrary to online education where increased flexibility will require that the student does some trade-offs. The student will need to be highly motivated, which is never the case in most cases. All online classes demand that learners keep up with required not only reading but also the assignments. However, some learners tend to struggle as far as staying motivated is concerned, especially when they are learning from the comfort of their homes, which is the case with online education.
Traditional education provides social interaction for students. Despite the advances witnessed in technology, traditional education offers more advantages to students, especially those who thrive in face-to-face communication. Li et al. (1) observe that interacting and seeing instructors and other students regularly can be a motivating factor for so many students. It pays off for a student who understands that his educator has invested in his education, and he is a likable person. In-class traditional education setting gives the student an opportunity for exciting tangents and spur-of-the-moment questioning, which may help him understand the concept in the discussion.
On the other hand, social interaction with other students and educators is not typical with online education. Even though there are some elements of social interaction in online education, it takes a different form as compared to that in traditional education. For instance, in online education, interactions happen through online discussion chats, emails, and video chats, which may not be as efficient as face-to-face interaction in traditional education.
Traditional education keeps learners stimulated. For instance, the presence of a teacher in class keeps the learners motivated all through interesting and interactive activities. As a consequence, the students develop the ability to retain more information than they have learned during the learning session as compared to online education. According to Sherman et al. (2), the students also develop the ability to relate the things they learn in class to their surroundings. In that case, they tend to understand concepts quickly and compare them to the current and emergent issues in the society since they can promptly seek clarification where they do not understand.
Traditional education also provides an opportunity for teachers to modify the teaching style according to the needs and the issues of the student. For instance, the teacher can assess and examine his student nearby and understand his strength and weaknesses as well as needs and issues. As a result, he can modify his teaching approach to attain maximum results. For instance, he can tailor classroom activities, which may help visual learners. He can also sue interactions in the classroom to help auditory learners (Chuang et al., 62). It is also important to note that the instructor can get a clear indication and idea of whether the learner is following what he has been taught or if the learner needs more explanation. Similarly, the learner can get the teacher to clarify his doubts immediately before he can move on to introducing another concept. This outcome is not possible with online education as it sometimes takes for the student’s doubts to be clarified, and there is no immediate feedback.
Traditional education develops an important personality as well as career development skills as compared to online education. For instance, classroom teaching instills as well as inculcates presentation skills when it comes to learners confidently presenting their ideas in class or in front of their colleagues. It also teaches conflict solving skills and decision-making skills. Other skills developed include team spirit – this happens during group discussion and working together on joint projects (Behzadi and Azam, 56). This skill also teaches the learner how to work together and get along with other people from different socio-economic backgrounds.
It is important to note that this experience is beneficial in helping the learner to shape his listening and communication skills. Also, he has an opportunity of growing psychologically and mentally. This evidence demonstrates that even though some societies are moving towards adopting online education in their education systems because of advancement in technology, classroom teaching still maintains a lot of benefits to the learner and also the teacher, which online teaching cannot provide as indicated in this essay. There is a lack of interpersonal skill development in online education. For instance, online course does not demand face to face interaction with classmates or educators. Yerby and Kevin (1) observe that assignment information is only posted online, and one does not have to attend a class since he completes the assignment at leisure. Even though the aspect of leisure in online education is nice, the student is denied the interpersonal skills, which should be a component of any education system or format.
Traditional learning promotes collaborative learning as compared to online education. The classroom setting is necessary when it comes to not only encouraging but also stimulating collaborative learning. The awareness of the student on different aspects is increased with collaborative learning (Jayasinghe et al., 1). A student understands how other students learn, and this gives them an opportunity of learning effectively and efficiently. As a consequence, the student is transformed into a keen learner is not just the classroom but also outside the classroom environment.
Traditional education also enhances critical thinking skills among students as compared to online education. Rendering to Tucker (12), the student’s critical thinking skills are improved. When the teacher teaches the students in a classroom, the students have an opportunity of engaging with the teacher as well as other students in live debates and discussions, which requires them to apply their critical thinking skills as far as formulating and presenting arguments are opinions are concerned.
Traditional education also improves social skills and organizational skills of students as compared to online education. The classroom setting provides a student with an experience of social interaction with teachers and peers. As a consequence, he is able to build his rapport with them. One of the fundamental aspects of academic education is to help learners develop socially, and this is just possible with traditional education. Also, teaching in the classroom gives the learner an opportunity of developing his organizational skills, starting with the basics, for example, arriving early and on time in school. According to Tabatabaei and Adrian (133), classroom setting also holds learners accountable as far as being prepared for schoolwork is concerned. For instance, they are supposed to have done their homework the night before, being prepared for questions is class, duly turning in their assignments, and being prepared for class discussions. As a consequence, the learners are able to learn how to plan for their time, make priorities, and get their work done.
In conclusion, some things just need to be maintained or remain the same, even when other elements of society are changing or evolving. Education is one of these things that must stay the same. Even though there is an argument that inline education gives learners an opportunity to learning at their pace, it cannot be compared to the benefits that a student can get from traditional education style – the classroom. However, these benefits from traditional education are only valuable if the professors and teachers are efficient, and also if the learners are willing to learn. If these two aspects are not fulfilled, nothing will be learned regardless of the method being used. It does not make sense of one decides to use online education when he can get a lot of benefits like gaining more skills as well as knowledge if he could have used the traditional style of learning, which is also less expensive. Those who cannot attend regular class schedules because of family and work can utilize online learning, but the decision should be clear. Traditional education is the most apparent option. But the question for those who want to use any of the two methods should be whether they are going to school to get a certificate, learn, or develop life skills.
Work Cited
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