Advancement in digital technology has affected almost every part of our lives and those around us in one way or the other may it socially, economically or education wise. Understanding our place in the digital era can help us not lose touch with our loved ones more especially our children.
One of the areas that digital technology has turned a new leaf is in education. Nowadays you can search for almost any topic online and get all the information that you can handle. The internet is changing the method of learning from the old way that our parents learnt – classrooms with teacher, board and chalk to the new era of e-learning.
The internet is probably one of the greatest inventions that man has ever invented, and thus far it is working wonderfully as long as it is not abused. Parents, as well as students, have access to a lot of educational materials online which can make their learning easy and efficient.
Your son asks you a question that you do not have a ready answer; it’s available at Google. But if I might ask, is Google the best method of learning? Can we 100% say that at this age and time we do not need to send our children to school anymore? Well to respond to these questions, allow us to highlight below some of the advantages why the traditional tutoring method is still the best rather Googling online for information.
Mutual Exchange Of Ideas
Whenever students come together as a class, it provides them with a learning environment in which the students and the tutor have an open opportunity to exchange their views. In a typical classroom setup, it is the teacher who facilitates the learning and gives the guidelines, but the students have an opportunity of discussing amongst themselves.
The tutor guides the students and everyone has an equal opportunity of airing his view about the subject under discussion and at the end of the day, learners end up being inspired about a subject as compared to searching for information on Google.
The traditional tutoring methods give the student room to interact with the tutor and seek for clarification whenever he has not understood something that cannot be achieved via online learning.
All Round Development Of Skills
A classroom setup provides the student with an opportunity not only to gain an education but also to have a holistic development. When a teacher teaches the students, he can identify the areas where the student need to improve, and under his guidance, he can help the learner to overcome his weakness, this is something online learning can never have over your child.
One of the biggest work of the tutor is to help the students on their learning skills and prepare them after their graduation. An experienced teacher can help a student learn how to manage time, concentrate, communication and critical as well as creative thinking.
Too Much Fluff Online
While there is a lot of information online but also there is much more irrelevant information which might not be true. With all this information a student might not be able to know which information is right and which one is not. As a matter of fact, not every information that is available online can be ascertained to be true.
Classroom learning, on the other hand, the teacher is able through his experience to know which information is credible and which one is not.
Engagement
Let us be realistic, when you are searching a particular topic on Google, it is tough for a student to distinguish between the right information and what is not. Hence it is challenging for a student who is studying online to know whether he has cultivated a bad learning habit since there is no engagement with Google.
On the other hand, a teacher who is with his students daily will be able to identify when a student has bad learning habits and advise him to help him study the right way. That is not all; a tutor can quickly know the areas where his students have problems and change the method of the presentation to help the learners understand better, unlike online learning where if the student cannot learn a particular topic, he is likely to remain with his problem.
Furthermore, tutoring has interactive sessions whereby the tutor can directly engage his learners through brainstorming sessions to help them understand the topic much better.
Motivation
Probably the greatest advantage of classroom teaching over e-learning is the chance the teacher has to motivate his students when they seem to have difficulty mastering a topic.
It is very normal for students especially during their adolescent years to be faced with either personal problems, educational challenges or self-image issues. A student scores lower marks in a subject than he expected; the teacher can motivate the student to know that failing an exam is not the end of education but to put in more effort for the next test.
It is only at a personal level that a teacher has a chance of speaking words of encouragement to a discouraged student to encourage him solder on something Google cannot achieve. Sometimes, a pat on the back is another form of communication.
Socialisation
Human beings were created as social beings. A traditional classroom provides a perfect environment for students to socialise between themselves and their tutor.
There are a number of social activities that students can engage themselves in a while in schools such as debate clubs, discussion groups, team building activities and games. Through these events, the students get an all-round development which makes him a better member of the society. E-learning, on the other hand, denies the student a chance for real social interactions with other students hence there is no holistic development.
Through socialisation, a student can polish his communication skills, gain confidence and know how to live with people. E-learning, on the other hand, does not provide a student with room for socialisation hence he lacks the development of the social aspects.
However, when e-learning or finding out answers from Google combined carefully with adequate guidance by a tutor or a parent can yield enormous rewards for the child. The key is to moderate technology dependency and focus on all rounder skill sets to have a happier, confident child.
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