Online learning. Pros and Cons of E-learning
E-learning and webinars
Today, people are overwhelmed with new information. At work, study and in the circle of friends, more and more knowledge is required from us. However, the daily endless flow of information leads to the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to concentrate on one thing. And as a result, we do not increase the level of our intelligence at all. What should a teacher or tutor do in this case to attract the attention of students and help focus on a training or lecture? We are looking for the answer in online education.
Nobody argues that e-learning is a very effective way of learning. The Internet allows us, for example, to learn Spanish or organize courses for employees without even leaving home. Webinar and e-learning are partners that complement each other perfectly.
In this article, we’ll show you how to use webinars in online learning.
Webinar Benefits
E-learning is a fairly broad concept, as it implies learning using not only a computer, but also the Internet. To some extent, searching for information on Google or watching tutorials on YouTube can also be attributed to e-learning. However, these methods will not be effective for in-depth study of any topic or discipline.
For training, it is better to use webinar services. Using webinars for online education, we can greatly simplify our lives. There is no need to rent a room for classes, and students need to take time off at work or rush from school to catch your lecture. Everyone can join the classes, sitting in home clothes on the couch or standing in a traffic jam.
The problem of finding a place for a car is also eliminated. How often we are late somewhere just because we did not find a free parking space! With webinars, the student only needs to have access to the Internet, and the host will have an account in the webinar service. It remains only to inform the students about the planned webinar and that’s all.
Holding a traditional seminar or lecture face to face very often causes fear and embarrassment, especially if it comes to public speaking. Everyone is looking at you, a vacuum in your head, and in addition someone forgot to turn off the phone, and the ringtone interrupts your answer. In the case of webinars, there will be no such problem. No one interrupts, yawns, or embarrasses - at least you don't see this.
Of course, you can conduct classes on Skype or publish videos on YouTube, but the main disadvantage of such solutions is limited didactic opportunities and a low level of communication with the audience.
Course organizers and tutors will confirm that it can often be difficult to interest students with a regular lecture. A picture or video can sometimes tell more than a carefully prepared speech. This is where the webinar site can help - there are many functions that will make any lesson more exciting and help you focus on learning.
Rental of premises for 70 square meters. 1m starts from about 20$. in hour. A webinar room for 60 people in the webinar service will cost 100$. per month. And here you do not have to be a mathematician to see the financial benefits of conducting classes using webinars.
How to study at webinars?
Some employers, wanting to save time and money on the way to the place of training, decide to organize online courses. The main problem here is that the use of online education in this situation is based only on reasons of economy. No one is interested in new technologies that would really enhance the training level of their employees.
But thanks to the interactive webinar tools, it’s easier to get good results from classes. Using them, your seminar or training will remain in the memory of participants for longer and increase their qualifications and skills.
What interactive elements are we talking about?
Video and webinars for teaching foreign languages
Short films are great for teaching foreign languages. Firstly, they will serve as an inspirational introduction to your occupation and cause positive emotions. Secondly, participants in the webinar can practice listening comprehension, catch intonation and pronunciation of speaker speakers, and also connect visual memory.
How to use video in e-learning?
- Show class members a short dialogue in which they must catch specific words or phrases.
- Turn on the mute dialog. The task of the students is to tell what they think the heroes are talking about.
- Send each student a transcript of the recording in which not everything will correspond to what was told in the video. The student will need to correct the transcription errors according to what he hears.
Chat
Some do not dare to conduct classes online just because they mistakenly believe that they will not be able to maintain contact with students. However, classes with the help of webinars look different - here you have the opportunity to receive feedback instantly.
How to use chat in training?
Encourage students to exchange opinions and ask questions in the chat. This form of communication allows shy participants to express themselves at a time when in a regular class they would not dare to ask a question. You can learn more about communicating with participants at the webinar here.
Screen display
If the topic of your lesson is directly related to working at the computer, use the screen display function. Just the story about how to cut out the background in Photoshop or how to add captions in Adobe Premiere Pro will not bring anything. You need to clearly show it all.
How to use the screen display function in training?
Suppose you learn how to create sites in webinars. Show your screen and demonstrate what you are doing. And then give the participants a few minutes to try and repeat after you. If a lot of people participate in the webinar, then, of course, you will not be able to check the work of everyone at once. Instead, suggest this option: the first 5 people who complete the task will receive a detailed comment from you on their work. Help fix the mistakes and emphasise what was done well. Thanks to this, you activate the participants and show typical mistakes.
Surveys and Tests
Another way to check how the material is learned is to conduct a survey. On webinar sites you will find tools for creating surveys and tests. It is enough to write a question and offer several answers to add interactivity to your lesson.
Poll
Some do not dare to conduct classes online just because they mistakenly believe that they will not be able to maintain contact with students. However, classes with the help of webinars look different - here you have the opportunity to receive feedback instantly.
Whiteboard
What if you need a board? Calm-calm, this was also taken care of. Use your mouse and online drawing kit. Create tables, graphs, drawings on a white background or emphasize important information on prepared slides and photographs.
Presentation
Visualization and associations are great ways to remember information. Complete your lecture with interesting slides to better explain the lesson.A webinar is an effective tool in e-learning and is well worth using. The benefits will be appreciated not only by the participants, but, first of all, by the presenters. Thanks to the webinar, you will improve your teaching methods, and students will pleasantly and usefully spend time in your class.
Originally published May 2, 2019