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In 2020, another video was uploaded Broward College showing the advantages of online schooling. While many of these things might be true, working as an independent student can be challenging to keep self discipline and reach deadlines, especially for younger children.

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In 2020, E-learning Industry posted a video was created comparing the differences between digital and in person learning. While it may be nice to be able to complete work at your own pace in the comforts of home, in person learning can also be engaging when taught in the right way. As for staying on top of work, it may be harder for other students to focus on assignments while at home.

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5 Key Differences Between Online And Face-To-Face Learning

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Despite the debate about online vs in person education, another topic grouped in this discussion is socialization. In 2021, Best Collages published an article describing the social differences between digital and in person learning. As children grow up they develop how to properly communicate on socialize with others. These skills and interactions also have a great effect on the personality style of the person in question as they develop. When students attend school they have the advantage to talk and joke with friends in between classes or on break periods. While this advantage might not be all that accessible to students in an online program, technology is always evolving and creating new options.

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Online courses are known for the convenience and flexibility of allowing students to complete their coursework on their own schedule. With that freedom, though, comes a tradeoff. Online college students don't have to attend a physical class, but they don't have the opportunity for face-to-face interactions with their instructors and fellow students, either.

What Happens When Students Lack Social Interaction

Many students find that learning isn't just an intellectual activity, but a social one - and that explains why a number of students report missing in-person interaction with their instructors, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. They may also miss face-to-face interactions with fellow students. For some students, this lack of social interaction - and the accompanying need to be self-motivated to get their work done - can lead to feelings of isolation. For many students, not having enough interaction with professors and peers is among the biggest challenges of studying online and passing their courses.

You might expect that the lack of socialization would affect online students exclusively. After all, students of traditional college degree programs still meet with their instructors and fellow students face-to-face each week. However, even with this opportunity for interaction, students aren't necessarily better off socially just because they set foot on a physical college campus. Today's college freshmen spend less time socializing and more time studying (alone), and that has led to an "all-time low" in students' emotional health, according to U.S. News & World Reports. Apparently, online college students aren't missing out on the "college experience," at least not any more than traditional students are.

Shifting the Social Aspect in Online Courses

The social aspect of learning doesn't disappear entirely in online college courses. It only changes. For example, online colleges are making courses interactive in a variety of ways, from implementing virtual laboratory projects for science classes to creating animated videos of course material.

Instead of have class discussions out loud in a physical classroom on campus, students engage in virtual discussions within their course's online learning platform. They may even find these discussions more fulfilling than traditional course discussions. In virtual discussions, each student must contribute something substantial to the conversation - something that may not always happen in traditional classrooms, where participation grades may have more to do with whether the student spoke up than with what he or she contributed.

While instructors may communicate with online students primarily through email and messages on the virtual learning environment, they can also engage students in a more social way. Some create videos explaining course material so that students can still see and hear the lecture. They may even communicate with students in less formal ways, such as through social media.

Students may need to adjust to the different format of an online course. However, with hard work and dedication, they can not only succeed in learning but also find the social interaction they're looking for - just not in the way they're used to.

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What Happens to the Social Aspect of Learning in an Online Course? - Best Colleges Online

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Online courses are known for the convenience and flexibility of allowing students to complete their coursework on their own schedule. With that freedom, though, comes a tradeoff. Online college students don't have to attend a physical class, but they don't have the opportunity for face-to-face interactions with their instructors and fellow students, either.

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Educational technology professor, Christine Greenhow, has received and answered about the online and in person classroom. In 2020, MSUTODAY, has published these questions to help answer others questions on the topic of online learning. Even for success in online school, it doesn't just happen overnight. It takes time for teachers to plan out the lessons and record videos. They need to make sure students will have success on their own. In school students have access to help and advise from their teacher but when they are behind a screen students are on their own if they ever run into a problem.

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Christine Greenhow, associate professor of educational technology in the College of Education, 2018 Recipient of MSU's Teacher-Scholar Award, answers questions about online and classroom learning.

Q: What are the advantages of online learning, compared to in-person classroom learning?

A: Online learning can be as good or even better than in-person classroom learning. Research has shown that students in online learning performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction, but it has to be done right. The best online learning combines elements where students go at their own pace, on their own time, and are set up to think deeply and critically about subject matter combined with elements where students go online at the same time and interact with other students, their teacher and content.
Q: What are the disadvantages?
A: Teachers need to distill their key goals and leverage technology features to meet them. Used well - online chat, discussion forums, replayable video lessons, online meetings, etc. offer tremendous opportunities to make students more engaged (and accountable) compared to time-strapped classrooms where students hide and few hands shoot up.

The downside is that this stuff takes work; we know from research that pedagogy matters. Educators can't just scan the textbook, record the lesson, put them online and expect the same or better learning.
Q: Are there social, developmental or other pros or cons of virtual education?
A: A challenge we are facing is inadequate access to the technology and social infrastructure needed for virtual education. In the same way our country invested in our physical infrastructure, such as the interstate highway system, this pandemic has highlighted the need for a similar investment in our technology infrastructure and, beyond that, research suggests the social and instructional supports needed for all students to successfully learn with technology. Students without reliable, fast internet, suitable devices for schoolwork or people around them to help are spotlighted in the shift to virtual education.
Q: Since online learning is continuing this school year, how do you think K-12 education is impacted?
A: Since online learning - or a hybrid online/in-person model - continues, this new normal may prove better than the old. Having raced to close gaps to virtual teaching and learning in Spring 2020, K-12 education will likely seek to continue the expanded technology infrastructure, flexibility and virtual learning benefits to improve education long-term. For learners unable to attend school in physical classrooms for various reasons, the pandemic-initiated move to virtual learning could be a welcome and permanent improvement.
Q: Are there benefits or drawbacks of online learning that are specific to university settings?
A: Having taught and studied in-person and online courses since 2012, I see benefits of online and hybrid learning specific to university settings. Working professionals, international students and others can get the high-quality education needed for career advancement despite geographic and other constraints. Offering degree programs in two modes, as we do at Michigan State, means that online students can learn alongside on-campus students, bringing a diversity of experiences to classrooms from which everyone benefits. The future of university education is giving learners choices, which todays' technologies make possible.

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Ask the Expert: Online learning vs. classroom learning

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Christine Greenhow, associate professor of educational technology in the College of Education, 2018 Recipient of MSU's Teacher-Scholar Award, answers questions about online and classroom learning. Q: What are the advantages of online learning, compared to in-person classroom learning? A: Online learning can be as good or even better than in-person classroom learning.

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In 2020, an article was written telling the advantages of online learning, but as well as the disadvantages. While digital learning may make it easier to learn in the comforts of home, many students might not have the luxury of doing so. Weather it be they don't know how to access a site or don't have the internet in general. EF GO also informs that even though in person learning has its drawbacks, it wins out in the end. In the classroom there is a teacher to keep you motivated and on top of your work load. While online learning does work, it is better used exclusively.

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With ever-changing landscapes and new global challenges, educators and learners around the world have had to adapt. In this new era, connecting with friends and family had to happen over WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Zoom, and so education has followed suit.

There's no denying that digital learning is a valuable asset - and online education certainly has its merits. But, when the world returns to normal, will it still come out on top? Or can nothing really beat meeting face-to-face and learning in a classroom? Let's explore the research.

Online learning makes education accessible

The emergence of online learning has 'disrupted' the education system. Schooling has traditionally happened in person, which has had limitations for individuals unable to attend. So, the most obvious benefit of offering learning opportunities online is that you open education up to many more people.

Digital education facilities have enabled many learners to gain qualifications and even retrain for new careers at any stage in their life, by offering online learning courses that can be taken over a long period of time. This opens up formal education for those who can't leave full-time employment or other commitments to attend university, allowing them to study and achieve at home and at convenient times.

Scientists looking at the effectiveness of distance learning found that in some studies, distance education students performed slightly better in exams and grades than traditional classroom students, but that overall the average performance outcomes weren't that different. This research also recognized an important opportunity for foreign language students. Interacting with native speakers is a proven method for achieving language competency, and online platforms can connect students easily with native-speakers in another country.

In classrooms (virtual or physical), technology offers teachers novel ways to explain things. Technology has also amplified the role of gamification, also known as play-based learning, in online education. Gamification is often seen in the use of language-learning apps, which enable the user to learn the lexicon of their chosen studied language through a series of virtual contests which have instant rewards. The obvious benefit of these apps is the potential for individuals to learn at their own comfort and pace.

But digital it has its limitations too

Delivering online learning requires different approaches and skills to delivering lessons in a physical classroom. Particularly this year, traditional classroom teachers have had to adapt and learn themselves, in order to teach students online. This could well have slowed down the progress of education, particularly as students also had to adjust to learning online.

For online or remote learning to work effectively, the content of the course being delivered has an impact on the student's progress, and the content has to be of a very high standard, tailored to the online learning environment. Much like a successful physical class will have taken a great deal of preparation and an understanding of in-person teaching theory and best practice, the same is required of digital education.

Interactivity is key in a learning environment. A key barrier to learning, identified by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a teachers' ability to connect with students and identify their needs. This can be harder to achieve without time spent in the physical classroom, particularly if online learning is delivered to a large class rather than in small tutored groups or one-on-one environments.

Plus, where students don't have access to technology or are learning at the mercy of a poor internet connection, issues connecting to live video conferencing can leave them at a disadvantage. Digital skills are also not distributed evenly among students, and not all learners will have the required knowledge or understanding to get the most out of virtual education. If teachers don't have the skills or time to support this skill development, students may get left behind.

In-person classes also have some drawbacks

Where students live and their socio-economic background can be a barrier to accessing education. With in-person class sizes capped to the capacity of the school and many schools only taking students who live locally, exclusively offering teaching in person will exclude some groups of individuals from learning. This is particularly true where education is not made freely available.

Though it has been the traditional way of learning for decades, some students' learning style does not suit that of a full classroom. Many find speaking out in front of their peers intimidating and this limits their interaction and opportunity for valuable feedback. These students may find it easier to participate in class discussions when activities are hosted digitally.

But face-to-face learning wins out in the end

In the classroom, a teacher's value extends beyond the class being delivered. To get the best out of their students, a teacher's role is also to motivate, encourage and supervise - the latter being particularly difficult to do through video conferencing software. Technology can even be brought into the classroom as an effective supplement to in-person classes. For example, including animations, video content and game-based learning allows students to experience several of the benefits of online learning tools, and is more effective than online learning used exclusively.

Interactivity, personalization and effective communication are key ingredients for successful learning. You can't beat the classroom as an environment for providing valuable feedback. Research has identified two-way dialogue as one of the most effective ways of communicating, and it is particularly important in education. This is learning with plenty of back-and-forths; education built on questions and answers - easiest achieved when in the same room. In a classroom, it has the potential even to go beyond teacher-pupil dialogue, with student-to-student and group learning interactions.

But particularly when learning a language, students often achieve the best results when learning in person - not just in a classroom, but also when living in the country whose language they're embracing. Learning during a study abroad program or working in another country accelerates the rate of language learning and improves a learner's language proficiency.

Culture is an important and enjoyable part of language learning; language and culture are tightly entwined and understanding the culture helps you to understand the roots of the language as well as its use on a deeper level. It changes the motivation of language learning to connection instead of learning for a purely functional purpose such as for career success. It's even been shown to deepen a student's sense of 'self'. And the best way to connect with the culture of the language and those who speak it, is to learn whilst embedded in amongst native speakers.

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Online learning vs. in-person classes - what's better? ‹ GO Blog | EF United States

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With ever-changing landscapes and new global challenges, educators and learners around the world have had to adapt. In this new era, connecting with friends and family had to happen over WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Zoom, and so education has followed suit. There's no denying that digital learning is a valuable asset - and online education certainly has its merits.

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In 2016, a article tells us how online learning is taking education further into the future. How it is helping with distance learning, teaching younger kids life skills, or making it easier for employers to assign jobs. The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology shows us how much technology has affected education in general, weather you be a student, or a parent trying to go back to school and look after children at the same time. While it may be more effective to have someone physically teaching you instead of learning from off a video, the improvements and technology can help in times when you can physically be in the classroom yourself.

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In 2018, a questionnaire was sent out to a number of students regarding their online learning studies due to COVID-19. Many have found it difficult to keep up with studies or have the focus that they would have in  the classroom. The Conversation recommends that if we perhaps create our home to a more educational environment students might have the curiosity to learn like they do in school. Although online schooling isn't much in the favor of students now, a few years ago the same research was conducted and came back with rather positive results. Students enjoyed being able to watch a video to learn from behind a screen. This could have been because students were prepared for this change. In the last years though, students where tossed into the online program with no warning.