HOW AND WHY IS ONLINE LEARNING BETTER & MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL LEARNING

ByFatima Zahra

HOW AND WHY IS ONLINE LEARNING BETTER & MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL LEARNING

Benefits of Online learning/Elearning:

Nowadays in COVID-19 times, it is more than ever, eLearning has become the latest trend across the world. Many institutions and companies are moving online. 72% of companies believe that online learning puts them at the peak of a very competitive position in today’s world. Furthermore, research conducted by IBM showed that individuals who were enrolled in online (eLearning) courses learned 5 times more material as compared to other traditional learning practices.

Online learning was proven to be more versatile as compared to usual traditional methods of teaching in different institutions, this has been proven over the last 6 months due to the impact of Covid-19 on all types of education.

Global stats of online learning

‘’Students around the globe will be experiencing a whole new method of learning experience due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Recently some different studies showed that on average, learners gain 25-60% more knowledge and materials when enrolled in an eLearning method, as compared to traditional education who gain only 8-10% in a classroom. This is because students become more capable to learn at a fast pace and gain more knowledge in an online learning environment. Also, online education saves 40%-60% of students’ time to learn than in a typical classroom environment because learners can study at their own pace and in comfort, this freedom gives them to set their learning tasks and goals, like going back and reading again, bypassing something they know, or boosting through concepts as they find the ways which work for them.’’

Online education Goals

Both online education and typical traditional learning in a classroom have the same objectives, both systems having the same goal to make the learning experience the best and create the best possible learning environment for the students and learners. However, the question comes to mind, if Online education or eLearning will be shaping the new era for the education sector with the use of the latest technologies. There are a lot of new technologies yet to be invented and introduced to make learning more efficient and effective. Let’s have a look below at why online learning is better than face-to-face learning and how eLearning/Online education will contribute to Islamic Education. And how this will impact the future of Online Islamic and Quranic education for Kids and Adults. We have already experienced that many of our centers, schools, colleges, and universities were moved fully online during the first, second, and third waves of the Coronavirus Pandemic back in 2020, and 2021 and many organizations are still running online programs either full-time or part time in 2022 and onwards. Here at Babulilm Islamic Academy which started back in 2012 see the future of education. Babulilm Online Islamic Academy offers online Quran courses, Online Islamic Courses, and Online Pre-Hawza and full-time Hawza courses for the Shia Muslim community living in the west mainly in the UK, Europe, Canada, USA, UAE, and Australia. How these communities and other communities around the world can benefit from online learning and upgrade to online learning as soon as possible to compete in the new era of education.

Reasons to choose online Learning as an option

There are many reasons why students can benefit from online learning but here we will mention five reasons that help students to learn more easily. One of the main reasons is that learners can adjust themself to their existing responsibilities and ongoing commitments, and they can use multimedia content and educational materials at the time which suits them best. The cherry on the top is that learners don’t have to travel anywhere for their education, which saves them money and is good for the environment and less fuel consumed. Also, it’s cost-effective not only for the education as well as the logistic side of it less paper, travel, printing, and the list goes on. Below we have discussed six main reasons learners and institutions should consider online learning.

1. Flexible (Time and Space):
   A 2017 Brandon Hall Group study shows that online learning can decrease human resources between 40-60% because most of the elements of eLearning are managed online or through artificial intelegence. Online teaching enables the students and learners to learn at their time of availability and there is no restriction on which place they are at the time of learning be it at home, in an office at a friend’s home, in a garden, or a park. In this regard, eLearning has great flexibility than typical learning in a classroom which is a great advantage learner can benefit from.
2. Elearning a New trend:
   Online education is a new rising trend around the world. The statistics show eLearning industry value will reach $325B by 2025. Because the demand is increasing. More and more institutions and companies want customised digital content that serves their eLearning targets.
3. Cost-effective & Environment friendly:
   Online education is less costly than traditional institutions. Because there are fewer employees, fewer papers, less space, no travel and less managemental costs involved. and these costs are not only saving the student’s overall costs it’s also environment-friendly for our ecosystem.
4. Performance tracking:
   Online education enables students and management to monitor the progress of students and their journey to completion in a systematic manner. Nowadays the latest learning management systems called LMS can provide detailed reports about each student’s progress and performance journey. Every aspect of the learning can be tracked including student interest levels, their engagement, and tasks successfully completed these details will give us data over the passage of time to plan our future learning.
5. Scalability:
   eLearning is the best method to deliver new courses, training policies, and inductions at a scale. This can be used in different sectors of formal education or for different purposes, regardless of the ultimate goals, online education is an adaptive and prompt method of learning.
6. Retention rate is higher with eLearning: Many traditional institutions struggle to retain their enrolled learners during the length of the course. There is a study by The Research Institute of America that shows in case of online education is different and it retains its students. Actually, Elearning institutions have increased student retention rates between 25% to 60% more than usual. It has many reasons all previous reasons are part of this as well as online teaching methods use more engaging multimedia content, which gives them more control over how students manage the course materials and gives them the freedom to manage other commitments and priorities. Most of the time Online education used visually stimulating content which is concise and more interactive where a student can easily relate to it and adapt and gain new knowledge and skills.

Conclusion:

If eLearning is deployed properly and content and course are well researched and maintained and there are good technologies used, Online institutions can be the perfect solution to fit every aspect of learning fields from schooling, businesses, communities, religious groups, and much more. Nonetheless, traditional learning still has its advantages especially when it comes to Zanu-e-adab (respect and relation with teachers, mentors, and fellow students), however, with the rapid elevation of technology and global environmental changes to our lifestyle such as the Coronavirus pandemic, education may never be the same again. Online teaching has already proved to us during these times that it can be an adaptable and efficient form of learning that is easily accessible to students at any time and in any geographical location regardless of the many difficulties we faced during these times.