How did you feel when you logged in to your student’s portal and found voluminous reading materials sent overnight? Did you miss the days when your lecturer could come to the lecture room, teach for an hour and assign few readings? Let’s compare the two teaching methods.
Why the shift to online learning?
By the look of things, it seems online tutoring will be the new normal. Medical researchers continue to discourage social interaction due to new COVID 19 strains. Learning institutions have to come up with a way for students to continue learning.
Virtual learning helps international students to continue with their studies. Many countries have restricted the movement of foreigners into their countries to curb the spread of the virus. thanks to online learning, students will not postpone their studies until the corona virus ends.
The level of interaction
How students interact with each other and their lecturers during learning sessions is essential. It determines how fast or easy a student will comprehend a concept or how they relate with other students.
Online tutoring has few opportunities for interaction. Students meet in a virtual classroom where there is no chance to talk to your neighbor. The lecturer is unapproachable as they don’t always see you raising your hand. The facial expression you make when you don’t understand a point goes unnoticed.
Traditional teaching methods have all eyes on you. Your lecturer walks around the lecture room as he teaches. It is easier for him to notice when he is too fast in his teaching, leaving some students behind. Besides, students develop a bond with their classmates, which they use to help each other in homework writing.
Content per session
Another difference emerges on what a lecturer covers when using tradition or online tutoring. The goal of every lecturer is to cover as much as possible in each session. Whatever they cover will determine how well a student will be prepared to sit for their final exam.
Online tutoring allows a lecturer to cover much content. Most of the time in the traditional method is consumed by students asking questions. In online teaching, however, the lecturer has control over a class.
A lecturer determines who speaks by utilizing the mute button and restricting the comment section. They end up teaching all that they intended and maybe spare some time for students to ask questions.
Time management
There is a vast difference in how students utilize their time when attending an online class. In traditional teaching, many students run late to class as they have to beat traffic.
Thanks to online classes, you can now wake up a few minutes before class time. You will not worry about waking up early and catching the only bus passing near your school. Now you can use that time to end homework or read ahead as you wait for your lecturer to log in.
Submitting exams and assignments
The way students submit their work for grading has changed in terms of format and time. Students no longer have to queue at the photocopier café to print their exams and assignments. In traditional teaching, you could get late for class. It was hectic to wait for the only printer near your class to print exams for a hundred students with twenty pages each at an exorbitant price
Students no longer have to be anxious during exams. Traditional teaching methods policed students as they sat for their SAT exams which made students panic. Online exams are friendlier. The only thing watching over you is your laptop camera. You can choose to ignore it and continue working on your paper.
The only danger with online exams’ submission is integrity. A lecturer cannot ascertain that you did search for answers online. Lecturers claim that they allocate short time such that students do not have time to consult. Intelligent students will always find a way to copy exams if they want to.
Class attendance
Class attendance has changed with online learning. In traditional teaching, a class representative would come with a signing sheet to mark your presence. Your chances of sitting for the final exams depended on how often you attended lectures.
A lecturer can’t note the present and absent students. Being online does not mean a student is listening. Some will leave the class running and continue with their chores in the house. They will then come near the end of a lecture and confirm their attendance. Even end of semester performance will not help a lecturer to note those who never attended any lecture.
The article has discussed online tutoring in light of traditional teaching. You no longer have to subscribe to exam anxiety. You can now continue with your life and hire an academic writer to write your paper at the end of the semester.
