Technology in Business Education, offer a critique and to critically assess its strengths and weaknesses. Online Learning: Benefits and drawbacks Online Learning: Benefits and drawbacks Introduction With the passage of last few decades, a noticeable increase can be observed in the technological sector, and with the help of technological gadgets everything is now done with quite ease, especially in the sector of business and educational. Accordingly, taking the aspect of education into considerations, owing to advancements in the technology, and the introduction of some high-tech portable device such as smartphones and tablets, the introduction of online learning or e-learning has proved to be great initiative, especially for those, who are working full time jobs, and interested in pursuing more studies at the same time of working. There is no doubt that every concept has both sides of aspects, and accordingly, the online learning also has both pros and cons in the educational field. Thus, a brief explanation about those both sides of e-learning along with the comparison of different learning methods has been provided following. Defining online learning Over the years, a considerable rise has been witnessed in the importance of education among all the sectors, and it is continuously observing an increased trend too in the ongoing times. Owing to this fact, new methods of providing the education have been introduced owing to the presence of technology and continuous development in the technological devices. The clear illustration of the new methods of providing education would be the online learning, and according to the article of UVIC (n.d.), the method of online learning could be described, ” Online learning is when you take courses online instead of in a physical classroom. If your schedule makes it hard to attend classes, if you prefer studying at your own pace or if you live far from campus, online learning might be for you”. Thus, it could be said that online learning or e-learning is that method, where a person or individual does not have to visit the campus or college to attend the classroom lecture, instead, he or she can do it by staying at home without visiting the actual classrooms i.e., his personal room becomes his classroom or study room. Even, a person can work full time while studying online, and earn his or her diploma or certificate thorough the period of full-time working period. Trend of online learning As mentioned earlier, the importance of having education has.0 observed an increasing trend, accordingly same does apply for the e-learning method in the couple pf years. Web based learning has shown critical development in the course of the last decade, as the web and instruction consolidate to give individuals the chance to acquire new abilities. Since the COVID- 19 pandemic, web-based learning has become more driven in individuals' lives. The pandemic has constrained schools, colleges, and organizations to far off working and this blasts the utilization of internet learning (Forbes, n.d.). Therefore, owing to the presence of some factors including the happening of COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rapid rise in the implementation of e-learning or distant learning for providing the required education to the individuals or learners. E-learning versus traditional learning With the introduction of online learning, there are now two methods of learning, which are e-learning and traditional learning. While defining the both the concepts and making the comparison in between both of them, in the article of Barindra (2020), online learning can be described, in online classes, the student is not straightforwardly connecting with the workforce. So, if there should be an occurrence of having any inquiries, they might think that it is hard to ask their online educator, as correspondence is regularly extremely generic. Nonetheless, these courses frequently offer choices to live inquiry goal like online discussions, messages, and chatrooms. Utilizing these choices can be useful for people to get their questions replied. And, when it comes to traditional learning method, “Traditional classes are more suitable for young children, teenagers, and young adolescents who are yet to join the workforce. Regular attendance in classes helps them interact with other individuals of their own age, be better disciplined, follow a regular schedule, and improve their physical fitness and mental alertness” (Barindra, 2020). Traditional learning helps understudies and instructors know one another in a superior way. This permits instructors to know the understudies and assess their qualities and shortcomings better, go about as tutors, and guide understudies in their profession prospects So, it could be said in between both the learning methods, there is difference of attending the classes as in case of traditional learning, a student to attend the class in person and has to be present in the class during the delivery of lectures. Whereas, when it comes to online method of learning, a learner or student has to read the lectures at their own and go through the reading materials before doing the submission of assessments and assignments, which means students can design their own schedule. Benefits of online learning As mentioned earlier, in the ongoing times, the trend of attending classes online has reached to great extent as majority of the students prefer to pursue their studies online rather than attending on the campus in real time classrooms. It is interesting to notice that with the happening of global pandemic of COVID-19, it was obvious that there would be huge rise in the online learners because this pandemic had forced the schools, colleges and universities to close down temporarily, so e-learning was the only way left of pursuing studies. Apart from the happening of COVID-19 pandemic, there is still massive count of online learners who are pursuing their studies online eve before the start of COVID19 , which means there would be several benefits or a set of various advantages that are forcing the students to go for e-learning instead of on-campus learning. According to the article of Miller (2019, September 15) about the benefits of online, the following set of benefits can be found an individual while pursuing his or her studies online. ? Advantage of additional flexibility and learning at own pace: According to the current conditions of today’s world, each and every individual has hectic schedule of work, which each individual is going through the problem of huge workloads which making them to study (who are interested) kind of impossible as long as they do not decide to do it online. As relatively few individuals can put a hold on from work to focus on a full-time graduate program, and others frequently travel for work. For the people who actually need to shuffle working and returning to school, the adaptability of an online program gives people the chance to learn while as yet working and developing expertly (Miller, 2019). Accordingly, a person can get his master’s degree while making its own schedule for learning and at same time he or she continue his or her full-time work, and with of help of this both the studies and work will be done at the same time. ? The skill of better time management: Another advantage of online classes is that while pursing online studies, an individual develops the skill of better time management owing to the need of managing the work and assignments at the same time or to the assigned schedule. No doubt, in online classes, an individual can make his own schedule of studying and he is not supposed to be on the study desk all the time, but still he has to study according to assigned schedule while doing other jobs. According to Miller (2019),”because there are no set classroom times within an online degree program, and students have the flexibility to create their own schedules, it’s up to the student to proactively reach out to faculty, complete assignments on time, and plan ahead”. Thus, planning ahead and managing both the task at same time helps in learning the skill of better time management. ? Conducive for increasing Self-motivation: No doubt, apart form other qualities self- motivation is very crucial and plays indispensable role in today’s competitive world, and ta same time this quality takes a lot of effort to be achieved. However, doing online studies while working full-time or doing another works, it looks easy to be done but it is not that easy. While going through all of these of things at the same time, a continuous rise can be witnessed in the self-motivation over the time because in order to get succeed in obtaining online degree self- motivation is must. And, when a person gets committed to online learning, he starts to do things by automatically via motivating himself. By prevailing with regards to procuring an online degree, you demonstrate that you can handle numerous errands, set needs, and adjust to changing work conditions. Instructors anticipate that students should be autonomous, to learn all alone, and to draw in with the material that they are instructing. Thus, an increase in self-motivation can be observed throughout all these things. ? Improvement in virtual communication and collaboration: In today’s modern world, with the advancement in the technology, most of things are virtually (without meeting in-person or personally) including studies or meetings of various sectors. And, the introduction of COVID-19 has led to an increase in these virtual meetings because most of things are now being done without personal interactions. Accordingly, in an online program, a learner likewise take part in conversation sheets with your colleagues, speak with teachers by means of email, and work together through different programming programs. As the program advances, you'll improve at trying out your thoughts and making solid, brief, proficient contentions through text. As a result, while taking part in virtual communication discussions, improvements in virtual communication skills can be observed in learners, which are eventually leading to them to become critical leaders. ? Access to broader (Global) aspect: The major benefit of doing online or distance learning is that in this learning method, an individual not only come to know or study about his country or individual, but he or she has access to things from broader perspectives, it could be said that an online learner to studies from global aspect. In his article about the major benefits of e-learning, Miller further states, “because of the ability to log on from any location, class discussions feature a broader range of perspectives, helping you enhance your own cross-cultural understanding. Students then not only have the opportunity to network with people from around the globe, but can also broaden their perspective and become more culturally aware”. Thus, having access to things from a broader perspective, a student does not earn his degree, but also increase his knowledge about the different cultures and other things. ? Improvements in learning new technical skills: The inauguration of new online classes started because of the regular advancements in technological aspects, and no doubt, in order to pursue e-learning, an individual needs to have access to internet and some of the digital gadgets including computers and tablets. “As part of your coursework, you will likely need to utilize digital learning materials, get familiar with new tools and software, and troubleshoot common issues” (Miller, 2019). Also, in order to have a regular interactions with online study materials and readings, a student have to have access to some of the latest software, which includes Skype, dropbox, Microsoft teams and so on. Accordingly, while pursing the studies with the help of these advanced software, at the same, an improvement in learning about new technical skill can be witnessed or observed. With an online degree experience, your future boss will know open to learning new innovations, constructing a compatibility practically, handling undertakings proactively and freely, and feeling comfortable around a PC and virtual work area. Therefore, it could be said that above mentioned are some of the noticeable benefits of adapting online or e-learning method of pursuing studies. Drawbacks of e-learning It goes without saying that every aspect has both side of the phases, it means that if a concept has a set of some advantages, then without any doubt, the drawbacks will also be there. Accordingly, the same theory applies to the concept of e-learning or distance learning as well, even though there can be several benefits of doing or pursuing online studies for the students or individuals, yet there is s series of drawbacks of this method of learning, which cannot be neglected while taking everything into considerations. According to the Tamm (2020, March 21), in this article about the major disadvantages of pursuing online learning, following set of drawbacks can be found to the online learners. ? Limitation of personal feedback: While studying in classrooms in the presence of a teacher or instructor, an individual or learner comes to know about his mistakes or learn new experiences because of the personal feedback given by the teacher at the same of giving lectures. E-Learning, then again, still will in general battle with understudy input. Understudies finishing standard evaluations become disappointed when they experience an absence of customized criticism (Tamm, 2020). The customary techniques for giving understudy criticism do not generally work in an E-Learning climate, and along these lines, online schooling suppliers are compelled to look towards elective strategies for giving input. Thus, it could be said that in the method of doing online studies, there is lack of instant teacher feedback, which somewhere becoming the cause of lacking in learning new concepts. ? Reason of social isolation: According to the definition o e-learning, this method of leaning is done without visiting the actual classrooms or attending the in-person classroom lectures. It means, while pursuing online studies, there is no interaction between the learners and the instructors, even though they can connect through discussions and e-mails, yet there is lack of fac-to-face meetings. Accordingly, because of the no in-person interaction, the method of online learning is becoming the cause of social isolation because the students are getting addicted to stay alone and do everything by themselves. In other words, the E-Learning techniques as of now rehearsed in training will in general cause taking part understudies to go through consideration, distance and an absence of communication (Tamm, 2020). Therefore, a significant number of the understudies and educators who unavoidably invest quite a bit of their energy online can begin encountering indications of social detachment, because of the absence of human correspondence in their lives. ? Requirement of strong self-motivation and time management skills: In online learning methods, there is a continuous problem of lacking self-motivation to have a regular interaction of doing online readings and assignments. This is because of the absence of factors which are required to be there in order to motivate the students, like in traditional classrooms, there are face-to-face meetings with the instructors, in-class activities which constantly push students to get self-motivation and have better time management skills. Tamm further added, “students taking E-Learning courses will find that they are often required to learn difficult materials in a comfortable home setting without any of the added pressure normally associated with traditional colleges”. As a result, keeping up with regular deadlines during online studies can become difficult for those students who lack strong self-motivation and time management skill. ? Lack of development in communication skills: In order tom have better communication skills and continuous development in that phase, there is a necessity of regular interactions with other individuals. When it comes to e-learning way of pursuing additional studies, E-Learning methods of learning are demonstrated to be exceptionally compelling at working on the scholastic information on the students. In any case, fostering the communicational abilities of the understudies is a region frequently ignored during on the web examples. Because of the absence of face-to-face correspondence between companions, understudies and educators in an internet setting, the understudies may find that they can't work adequately in a group setting. Dismissing the communicational abilities of the understudies will unavoidably prompt many alumni who dominate in hypothetical information, yet who neglect to give their insight to other people. ? Non-prevention of cheating: The importance of traditional classrooms can be found when it comes taking assessments or assignments from the learners as the presence of instructors in the class can prevent the students from doing cheating in their exams in any of the form. On the other hand, one of the biggest disadvantages of E-Learning continues to be cheating through various methods. “Compared to on-campus students, online students can cheat on assessments more easily as they take assessments in their own environment and while using their personal computer” (Tamm, 2020). The students cannot be directly observed during assessments without a video feed, making cheat detection during online assessments more complicated than for traditional testing procedures. ? Focus more on theory than practical: As mentioned earlier, in the method of doing online studies, because of lower availability of instructor, there is more presence of study materials including readings, assignments rather than focusing on the practical skills. Accordingly, the enormous part of E-Learning preparing suppliers decide to concentrate to a great extent (by and large altogether) on teaching theoretical, as opposed to practical abilities. The justification behind this is obvious – hypothetical talks are extensively simpler to execute in an internet learning climate than reasonable talks. All things considered, without in-person correspondence and actual homerooms to use as a studio, executing useful ventures in an online course requires fundamentally more earlier arranging than theoretical training. ? Lack of discipline in the class: Without any doubt, in traditional classrooms owing to the presence of teacher or instructor in the ongoing classes, there are more chances of having well- disciplined classes. Whereas, while taking online classes, without the presence of an instructor in the class, all the discipline are not created properly because there is no one to look after the student, and most importantly all the online learners do study according to their own convenience which is somewhere making them less disciplined. For a clear illustration, in in- persons classrooms, students are supposed to be punctual in order to get their attendance, whereas, this discipline is seemed to be absence in e-learning methods of learning, which is eventually leading the learner to become to less disciplined in their life that might become an issue in their success. Thus, it could be said that despite of various benefits of pursuing online studies, yet there is a set of drawbacks of this method of learning, which cannot be neglected while considering the importance of education in today’s competitive world. Societal impacts of online learning As the introduction of e-learning or online learning has proved to be a great initiative for those who like work and study at the same time, and accordingly it has some sort of impacts including benefits and drawbacks on them. Having impacts on learners, the method on e-learning also have societal impacts i.e., it means that it has some impacts on the society as well. In the article of Salt Lake Community College (n.d.) about the societal impacts, it has been stated that one of the greatest effect that online schooling has on society, is its social effect. When taking an online course, you can take it from the solace of your own home. No compelling reason to start off ahead of schedule and prepare for school, you can basically finish the seminar individually and in your own setting. What this likewise involves notwithstanding, is that you can in a real sense simply stay at home and never need to enter a homeroom for your course. You never need to encounter your instructor, or considerably different understudies. Your social part of your schooling becomes null, which means the individuals, who are taking online courses and studying from their homes without having face-to-face meetings or interaction with other individuals, somehow lacking the skill of social interaction. The problem of having lower social interaction is becoming the cause of social isolation, which is emerging as one of the massive problem for the society. Ways to make e-learning better There is no deny, today’s world is of technological world as everything is done with the help of digitized gadgets i.e., smartphone, computers and tablets. So, while considering the concept of online learning, it is obvious that as compared to today there will be a greater number of online learners or online students, who will prefer to study online. As stated earlier, there are numerous drawbacks for the students studying online which cannot be fixed so early, but there are number of things that can be implemented in order to make the online the classes even better, which might lower down the number of drawbacks of pursing study online. In his article about the tips of making the classes better, McFadden (2020) stated the following list of tips. ? The attendance in online course should be made compulsory, which should be checked on regular intervals. ? If it is possible, an arrangement should be made of having virtual meetings with professor and the other student. ? There should some sort of in-class activities which can be done virtually, which can include some type of academic games, quizzes and so on. ? More focus should be given on practical knowledge as well. Conclusion The fact cannot be denied that with the passage of each single day, technology is getting advancer and advancer, and every aspect is entering into new horizons, especially the educational sector. Owing to the presence of regular advancements in the technological sector, a massive rise has been witnessed in the new learning method, which is called online or e-learning, and with the help of this method, students can pursue their studies from their home even without going to the actual classrooms. Even though, there are some benefits of the online learning for the learners, which includes the self-made schedule, study while working, learning the skill of virtual communication, boost the self-confidence or motivation, better time management skills, and so on which are seemed to be quite conducive in this modern world. Yet, there is a plenty of drawbacks also of e-learning, which cannot be neglected having the importance of education into considerations, and drawbacks of this method includes the absence of practical knowledge, problem of social isolation, no face-to-face communication with the instructor or other students, lack of discipline, and so on. Also, considering the impacts from the social perspective, the way of pursuing the studies online is not worth for the society either as it lowers the social interaction among the people with in the society. In order to conclude, it could be said that despite of some noticeable advantage of distance learning, the disadvantage of e-learning cannot be overlooked, which accordingly refers to the statement that the method of e-learning or online is harmful for the individuals and society rather than being conducive for them. References UVIC. (n.d.). What is online learning? Retrieved from https://continuingstudies.uvic.ca/online- learning Koksal, I. (2020, May 02). The rise of online learning. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilkerkoksal/2020/05/02/the-rise-of-online- learning/?sh=6cd033fb72f3 Barindra, D. (2018, Feb 04). Traditional learning versus online learning. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/traditional-learning-vs-online-learning Miller, K. (2019, Sept 25). The benefits of online learning: 7 advantages of online degrees. Retrieved from https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/benefits-of-online-learning/ Tamm, S. (2020, March 21). Biggest disadvantages of E-learning. Retrieved from https://e- student.org/disadvantages-of-e-learning/ SLCC. (n.d.). Societal impacts and effects of online learning. Retrieved from http://slccocsw.org/societal-impacts-effects-online-education/ McFadden, J. (2020, November 25). 3 more tips for teaching in virtual learning. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/11/25/three-ideas-more-effective-online- teaching-opinion

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December 31st, 2022