Is online learning as effective as classroom learning?

Can online learning be as effective as classroom learning?

  • More effective

    Votes: 18 14.5%

  • As effective

    Votes: 42 33.9%

  • Less effective

    Votes: 64 51.6%
  • Total voters
    124
bwana

bwana

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With many private primary and high schools electing to teach online during lockdown, how effective do you think online learning is compared with classroom based learning?

Do you think it can be as effective, or even more effective? Could you see yourself opting for online learning for your child on a permanent basis?
 
I think it may well be more effective. Kids today seem to adapt easily to the concept. My kids started online schooling through Teneo last year in March. They all did much better year end than they did in actual school. The routine is still pretty much the same, classes start at 07:40, ends 14:00. They still get home work, write tests and then exams too.
 
Are we talking online classrooms or things like Khan Acedemy etc?
 
saor said:
Are we talking online classrooms or things like Khan Acedemy etc?
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I see a huge difference between Online Schooling and Home Schooling. I suppose Online Schooling refers to something like Teneo where the kids start a normal school day at home and have a number of live online classes they attend. I think this is what they are referring to.
 
bwana said:
Schools that have elected to teach online during lockdown
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When it comes to normal schools, I do not think many of them were geared for online schooling. My kids high school tried the online schooling for the first 1-2 weeks in March. It was a mess, not only for kids but teachers too. They hardly had any classes. They received whatsapp messages to read this, read that, do this, do that. When we decided to move to a real online school, things were 100% streamlined from day 1.

So, if your question relates to public schools, then I have to change my answer and say no, it was a mess.
 
rvZA said:
So, if your question relates to public schools, then I have to change my answer and say no, it was a mess.
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It doesn't.
bwana said:
With many private primary and high schools electing to teach online during lockdown, how effective do you think online learning is compared with classroom based learning?
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bwana said:
It doesn't.
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No problem at all.

It was just my experience last year that my kids did much better in online schooling than what they did in actual school.
 
In a classroom the teacher*, hopefully, can identify those pupils* that may not be getting the concept. There is also much to say about social interactions, both formal (to do with the subject being taught) and informal (not necessarily to do with the subject, but how people interact).

How many parents, let alone children, have the ability to study in this way? It will one day become a norm, but we still have to teach the method like teaching writing.

* I refuse to use the terms Educator and Learner.
 
rvZA said:
No problem at all.

It was just my experience last year that my kids did much better in online schooling than what they did in actual school.
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That's cool, and I'm glad to hear it, but for the sake of the QoD it's become obvious that private schools are leagues ahead of public ones when it comes to online learning. For example my kids' school has mandatory ipads which means they're already most of the way there when it comes to online learning, they just need the internet and (arguably more) discipline.

Dairyfarmer said:
* I refuse to use the terms Educator and Learner.
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Amen brother.
 
bwana said:
With many private primary and high schools electing to teach online during lockdown, how effective do you think online learning is compared with classroom based learning?

Do you think it can be as effective, or even more effective? Could you see yourself opting for online learning for your child on a permanent basis?
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I'm not a parent, but I think that online learning can be very effective at a high school level. I actually think that the hybrid model which some of my cousins finished matric under last year was a nice bridge between high school and university. It gave an oppurtunity to do more learning on one's own schedule.

At primary school, especially very early grades, I think that physical interaction is important.
 
bwana said:
That's cool, and I'm glad to hear it, but for the sake of the QoD it's become obvious that private schools are leagues ahead of public ones when it comes to online learning. For example my kids' school has mandatory ipads which means they're already most of the way there when it comes to online learning, they just need the internet and (arguably more) discipline.
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Precisely!

I think the biggest challenge, for public school children and parents, will be, firstly a proper device to work on, and secondly a proper Internet connection with a lot of available data. Unfortunately, this does not come cheap. I have seen during the course of the year, they do require very specific specs on a PC or laptop, and in addition to that specific software programs too, depending on your subjects.

These are real challenges that need to be looked at first before we will ever have 100% online schooling in the public school sector. But, as for whether it is working, in my opinion, yes. It does. In my case I think it worked better than actual school.
 
cr@zydude said:
I'm not a parent, but I think that online learning can be very effective at a high school level. I actually think that the hybrid model which some of my cousins finished matric under last year was a nice bridge between high school and university. It gave an oppurtunity to do more learning on one's own schedule.

At primary school, especially very early grades, I think that physical interaction is important.
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Agreed.

My youngest daughter was in grade 6. While she did well in online schooling last year, she did tell us a number of times that she missed her friends and teachers and would much rather wanted to go back to actual schools. The eldest kids in High School preferred online schooling instead.

From my own experience, when it comes to primary school kids, I think that physical interaction between children, friends and teachers are extremely important.
 
bwana said:
That's cool, and I'm glad to hear it, but for the sake of the QoD it's become obvious that private schools are leagues ahead of public ones when it comes to online learning. For example my kids' school has mandatory ipads which means they're already most of the way there when it comes to online learning, they just need the internet and (arguably more) discipline.


Amen brother.
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I'd say that most private schools are leagues ahead of most public schools. In a PE context, don't forget that Grey and Collegiate are public schools and I put them ahead of many Curro's and the like.
 
It would be interesting to see the results if one could look only at parents who moved their children from actual class rooms to online schooling. Not thoughts or ideas of people who never did this or comments or suggestions from teahcers or Psychiatrist, etc.
 
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