An article in 120 words on the topic : ONLINE TEACHING: MERITS and DEMRITS
Answers
5 advantages of online learning
1. Reduced costs
The most obvious advantage of online learning comes down to economics. A half-day of classical training is equivalent to a one-hour e-learning course [1]. E-learning increases productivity. In 2019, U.S. training expenses amounted to $83 billion! Of that, $29.6 billion [2] was spent on travel, training facilities, in-house training development, and equipment. Online learning cuts many of these costs, including those associated with hiring an instructor, booking a facility, printing materials, and travel.
2. Increased convenience and flexibility
The average full-time employee only has 1% of their time to devote to learning
Employees often struggle to fit ongoing education into their busy and rigid schedules. In a survey of 204 employees [3], 93 employees indicated that time constraints contributed to why they were unable or unwilling to complete a course in one attempt. Another 56 contributed it to work interruptions. The average full-time employee only has 1% of their time to devote to learning. That amounts to just 24 minutes a week! Online learning allows your employees to learn on a personal schedule that suits them best. It also takes much less time than face-to-face learning.
3. Improved employee knowledge
Online learning allows people to learn in their own style and at their own speed, which helps them absorb more information. If someone needs more time with a particular topic, they can go through it as slowly and as many times as they need. As you can imagine, this aspect of online learning benefits knowledge retention. WR Hambrecht + Co found that online learning increased the retention rates of the learning material by 25-60%!
E-learners truly bring what they learn into practice
4. Increased revenue
The American Society for Training and Development (2011) surveyed 2,500 companies and found that companies that had comprehensive training programs had 218% higher revenue per employee, and 24% higher profit margins [4]. More research confirms that e-learners truly bring what they learn into practice. 87% of 204 surveyed employees indicated that they had put their newly acquired skills and knowledge to practice at work! This translates to tangible benefits, whether it be increased sales, improved processes, or satisfied customers.
5. Ease of content update
In today’s world, information and knowledge change fast! With printed materials, the only way to keep up with these changes is to reprint the material, and if you did that it would be quite costly (not to mention the poor trees ). Updating online courses not only allows you to keep up with these changes without breaking the bank, but makes the process easy as pie. The best part is that any change you make to your online content becomes immediately available to your whole learning audience!
5 disadvantages of online learning1. Requires self-discipline and time management skills
41% of a sample of 204 employees indicated that self-motivation was a barrier to participating in online learning. Why? While we can all agree that self-discipline and time management are always at play when it comes to learning, online learning involves less guidance from an instructor than traditional learning. Typically, online learning also removes scheduled meeting times and deadlines. As a result, your employees must put themselves in the driver’s seat when it comes to their ongoing education.
Face-to-face interactions are a must to bring the material to life
2. Diminished social interaction
When you imagine a traditional classroom, lively group discussion, and students raising their hands to ask the instructor questions likely comes to mind. Admittedly, these moments do not arise as naturally in online learning. For some individuals, these face-to-face interactions are a must to bring the material to life. Nevertheless, it is possible to bring more social interaction to online learning through competition, scheduled Q&A sessions with an instructor, and discussion channels.
3. Not suitable for every topic
4. Lack of practice-based
5. Reliance on technology