Online classes have gained a lot of traction since the day Covid 19 related restrictions were applied in many countries. Governments in every covid hit nation had shut down workplaces and imposed restrictions on every business activity.
Students were unable to go to school and professionals were not allowed to visit the office campus. Video calling and messaging applications played a major role in keeping people connected during the pandemic.
To ensure that the education of children was not affected in any way, schools started conducting online classes with the help of applications such as Google Meet, Zoom, etc during the Covid 19 pandemic. Video conferencing applications such as Zoom became popular among students overnight because of this decision of educational institutions.
The pandemic seems to be over but it has given rise to several new businesses. One such business is online classes. Almost every student opted for this mode of learning during the pandemic. Covid 19 may not be as serious as it used to be a few years back but many students are still pursuing online education.
Are virtual classrooms better than offline learning or vice versa? Which mode of learning is cheaper and better? We have compared offline and online education in the following paragraphs.
Offline vs Online classes
Effectiveness
The effectiveness of any class depends on how seriously students take their studies. There are certain cases wherein virtual classes may not be effective. For example, exams. Students may cheat during exams. A tutor can only see what’s in front of the phone but they can’t have a view of the smartphone’s backside. The student may keep a page of a book open behind the phone and write down everything that is in the book on the exam paper. Also, if students are right in front of the teacher, there’s always a sense of fear in them. There’s no fear among children attending a virtual classroom.
Expenses
The local tutor may charge half or less than 50% of the fees their online counterpart charges. Also, a student must have one of these two things to attend an online class – a smartphone, or a computer. In addition to paying the subscription fees, you will have to arrange one of these two things for your child. Although mobiles are available for purchase for a price starting at 50 dollars, you will have to purchase one with good screen quality. The same thing applies to laptops.
Recording
In offline classes, students may not be allowed to use smartphones. Mobile and desktop applications enable users to record conferences. If students record the video, they can watch it offline unlimited times. Although this is one of the biggest advantages of online education. You will have to find an app that will let you record the screen. Some smartphones have this feature built-in.
Child’s safety
If the child is at home, you won’t have to worry about him. Parents are worried or would like to know the whereabouts of their children whenever they are out of the house. They will call their son/daughter often or will ask them to share the live location.
Offline education is best only when a pandemic doesn’t exist. If Covid strikes again, online learning is the only option as you may not want your child to go to a crowded place such as a school.
Connectivity issues
To attend online classes, you should have a fast internet connection. The Internet isn’t cheap in many countries. Thus, we can say that mobile network is another expense. A technical issue may occur at the application’s end. If this happens, all you can do is write an email to the customer support team of the company and wait for a reply. The firm may or may not share an ETA for fixing the issue.
Mobile applications consume battery juice. If the video conferencing session lasts for more than 4 hours, the phone’s battery may run out of power. Connecting the phone to the charger and using it is not a good idea.
As both the services have some advantages and disadvantages, it is difficult to say which one is better. If you’re forced to stay inside the house, online learning is the only option. In other cases, offline education is better.
