My experience in face-to-face classes versus online classes
As an ESOL learner in American soil, I have encountered many challenges and obstacles in my academic work. Some of the problems I face are plausible because I came to America unable to speak and write the English language fluently and eloquently. While in America, I proceeded to secure a chance to continue my academic life, but my progressive steps seemed to be difficult as I was not able to interact with colleagues due to the language barrier. At first, I enrolled in a face-to-face class, but English being my second language, I could not cope with other students. It was very challenging for me to engage in discussion programs and articulate my ideologies effectively. In due time, I diverted from face-to-face classes and registered for online courses to create more time for my part-time job. I found it necessary to engage in online classes since they escalated my flexibility, thus managing and balancing academic work and employment. Despite online classes being flexible, my academic work as an ESOL student deteriorated significantly because some of the features in online learning platforms were detrimental to my side. According to my experience as an ESOL learner, despite the flexibility of the online delivery, there is less of a barrier to learning in the face-to-face classes because of attention to individual needs, student interaction, and course materials.
The main benefit of online classes is flexibility because the students get time to perform other advantageous tasks outside academic work. The flexibility of online classes is profound since the learners can study, review, and accesses course materials at any time without struggle (Mingzhu & McDougall, 3). Moreover, online classes’ flexibility seems to be pivotal because it reduces the costs of rents and other expenditures that students incur while in sections at the campus. However, face-to-face classes minimize the student’s flexibility as they have to engage in day-to-day participation in ordinary classwork to acquire the instructions from the lecturers. The face-to-face classes do not allow students to participate in part-time jobs because the system does not accommodate additional activities among learners. The inflexibility of face-to-face classes is evident where the students cannot access study material at any time. For example, the students have to avail themselves of the institution’s premises to access academic resources.
In learning institutions where face-to-face learning is used, the needs of the students are well attended. As the students establish a strong relationship with their trainers, it becomes easier for students to express their needs and concerns during learning. Consequently, when the learners have concerns regarding a particular misunderstood concept, face to face is the best method as it provides engagement, clarity, and high quality of leaning by leaners by paying attention to their needs (Mingzhu & McDougall, 5). Consequently, this ensures that the students who fail to understand are not left behind but can get the trainers’ necessary support. Online learning cannot provide a better platform for effectively attending the needs of the learners because the students do not have a physical meeting with their trainers.
Face-to-face learning enables student interactions by establishing better platforms for learning, such as detailed discussions and debates. This learning method allows the learners to share what they understood in class, in a particular subject from a different perspective of view. Such discussions strengthen the interpersonal relationship with one another; hence, each student feels fully engaged in the learning process. In most cases, some students fail to understand in class, but through discussions and debates, they can interact with others and even realize their dreams and potential. Contrary, online learning is usually limited to the environment; thus, it cannot produce the quality of interaction available in face-to-face learning.
Learning through face to face provides an opportunity for students to acquire course materials from their instructors. The students can get guidelines and clarification of what is required throughout the time of learning. The course materials significantly increase the academic achievement of the students through supporting their learning. For instance, a worksheet may allow the students to practice whatever they learned in class (Mingzhu & McDougall, 10). There will always be differences between the students who get course materials and those who use online learning. The instructors’ course materials are usually relevant and more summarized, which most of the students find easy to understand. Despite that, online learning provides learning materials; actually, those offered by the instructor seem to be more helpful and predict most of the concepts that will be tested in the exam.
In a nutshell, as ASOL learners, face-to-face classes have fewer obstacles as compared to online classes. The attention to students’ needs, interaction, and access to course material in online classes seem to have a side-lined problem despite being flexible. Face-to-face learning ensures that professors pay more attention to the needs of the students. As a result, these students are more privileged than the ones who use online learning. Again, face-to-face learning is significant in enabling the interactions of the students through the use of discussions and debates. In fact, when proper face-to-face learning strategies are employed, they get the opportunities to acquire course materials from their trainers. Therefore, face-to-face learning will remain the primary source of gaining knowledge despite many advancements in technology.
Work cited
Qiu, Mingzhu, and Douglas McDougall. “Foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses: Advantages and disadvantages of online versus face-to-face subgroup discourse.” Computers & Education 67 (2013): 1-11