ONLINE LEARNING IS THE FUTURE OF MODERN EDUCATION

Student: Alisson Heliana Cabrera Mocetón.

Online learning came to the lives of millions of Colombians at the beginning of last year.
Many of them were not prepared to face this new reality. I have found it interesting to hear
so many negative opinions about online education. This problem made me think that our
country was still stuck in traditional education and had not made much progress in
providing quality online education. Traditional education sometimes prevents autonomous
learning and a critical sense of investigation, necessary tools for online learning. For this
reason, I have decided to write an essay on online learning. Beyond my opinion, I want to
provide arguments about the thesis that online learning is the future of modern education.
Modern education presents various challenges that online education can solve, allowing
new methods of learning and teaching to be created. These challenges are (1). Students
have different individual needs that traditional education cannot solve (2). Students need
the flexibility to learn and pursue personal interests that define them (3). Students learn
differently and at different rates, which online education considers (4). Students are more
technologically advanced than teachers. Identifying these and other challenges can help us
understand why many students struggle to learn, and how teachers can access more
inclusive and interactive teaching models offered by online education.
Online learning is a concept that refers to the teaching you get when you take an online
course or when you read academic books digitally. Online learning also refers to the type of
school instruction you can take synchronously or asynchronously; technologies can be used
to mediate the process, for example, e-mail, forums, discussion postings, chat rooms, and
communication platforms. Online education has been an opportunity for me to learn more
than what traditional education has to offer, to gain knowledge from people living in other
parts of the world, and to develop autonomy. But digital tools must be used carefully, it is
something that many teachers and parents should be aware of.
For example, the information found on the Internet is not always true and must be verified.
We are excited many times by the large amount of information and knowledge that we can
obtain thanks to online platforms, but care must be taken because sometimes this
information is false or used to manipulate those who access it. Besides, the news has
reported that some people could access platforms where young children had their classes
online and posted adult-friendly content. It is for these reasons that I argue that modern
education should prepare students to safely access digital platforms, this training becomes
important in an era in which the Internet becomes part of our lives.
It is important to say that online education teaches you to be more independent. Because
autonomous learning is essential if you want to develop critical thinking in a world where
the educational system has been used to impose ways of thinking on citizens, through the
independence you achieve in online learning you have the possibility of forming your
points of view by learning from authors and teachers who think differently from each other.
Anne Flenner, a school counselor, argues: “Online students typically review the content and
identify the necessary information independently. But online learning is something that
requires a degree of self-discipline.”
How can we become more disciplined to take advantage of online education? I think
parents must make sure that they teach their children to be autonomous people who have an
enormous responsibility for their learning. In addition to this, we must be aware of our
difficulties and the mistakes we make when studying; in this way we create solutions. We
can go at our own pace when we learn online, this allows us flexibility; we can also set
specific goals about what we want to learn, what our skills are to achieve those goals, and
how we can make better usage of our time. It all depends on the effort we have made to
learn. Virtual tools are there for us to make good usage of them.
In the book “The Theory and Practice of Online Learning”, Terry Anderson tells us about
an aspect to consider: “Online learning must create challenging activities that enable online
learners to link new information to old; acquire meaningful knowledge, and use their
metacognitive abilities; hence, it is the instructional strategy, not the technology, that
influences the quality of learning.” This quote makes me think that technology alone is not
what makes the important changes, creativity, and wit to do the courses, books, and classes
are key to real progress. It also makes me think that if online education does not transform
the established norms, it is not being used properly.
Another argument in favor of online learning is that if it is applied efficiently, rural areas
would have greater access to all kinds of information that would allow them to construct
their criteria as well as know information that has been denied them for centuries. With
this, I do not mean to say that the role of the teacher should be replaced, but that the student
who has access to online learning can learn at any time in his or her life. To think about the
role of the teacher, Mary Burns argues: “All sorts of apps could be used as teacher training
tools: game-based apps in which users participate in World War II, apps that allow users to
read free books on a mobile and apps that help users learn a second language.”
The role of the teacher will always be valuable and can never be replaced. Digital tools
allow teachers to have access to documentaries, e-books, demonstrations, animations,
podcasts, Ted-Talks, digital learning games, clips, blogs, wikis, learning objects, virtual
worlds, and much more. This makes the curriculum more entertaining for students. It also
expands the possibilities that the teacher has to offer more endearing and creative classes.
In “Multimedia in E-learning”, Kimberly Mast says: “The profusion of multimedia tools
and learning objects in the educational environment has facilitated and innovated distance
learning, online courses, and other online educational activity.”
I don’t want this essay to take a single direction; unfortunately, many students find that they
cannot pay attention to a screen for a long time. For this reason, they argue that they need a
physical learning space to focus and order their priorities. The most effective solution
would be to take both aspects of traditional education and aspects of online education,
providing tools that benefit all types of students. About this problem, Sander Tamm argues:
“In traditional education, face-to-face communication with teachers, peer-to-peer activities,
and strict schedules all work in unison to keep the students from falling off track during
their studies.” That’s why I say self-discipline becomes necessary.
I have run into one issue, which is that virtual learning environments, platforms, tools, and
apps are subject to technical issues that can make teaching difficult, such as security,
network, and bandwidth failures. To solve this problem, schools, high schools, and colleges
must maintain constant technical support, which increases the school budget. Online
learning includes some costs that many people and schools cannot afford. Valentin Vassilev
says this: “Many people start looking for online programs, assuming that virtual learning
will be highly affordable. They are often surprised when they learn that these courses are
not free. Online programs entail costs that their traditional counterparts do not.”
Another problem that arises is that our country was not prepared to provide quality and
accessible online education for all citizens. Many Colombian students had to drop out of
classes because they didn’t have the tools to continue with the classes. In addition to this,
many teachers were not sufficiently prepared to teach through virtual spaces. Online
education requires that all citizens can have access to the Internet, and in addition to that,
we need to receive information on how to use digital tools, as well as tips and warnings to
navigate in cyberspace safely. Also, the pandemic caused many of the parents of the
youngest students to quit their jobs to be aware of their children's classes.
In the pandemic, many of us have used the internet to study even to a greater extent than
before. Not everyone in our country has had the same opportunity to access technology:
The Internet does not exist for everyone, and digital acceleration did not come without
challenges. The lack of connectivity affected more those who are geographically isolated.
Other challenges that arose were the poor quality of the connection in our country and the
little technical knowledge that many students had to use the Internet and digital tools. The
national government must commit to bringing the internet to families living with limited
resources to beat the paradigm that online education is for a few elites.
The pandemic has created a defining moment for online learning. Jennifer Mathes says:
“Many teachers are using the internet in some way to deliver content, but they do not have
the knowledge and skills to effectively make use of all that online has to offer, such as
robust discussions with participation from all students, potential to create an inclusive and
accessible environment through using universal design principles, and the ability to
integrate a variety of diverse technology tools to better support the learner.” This makes me
think that many times, we don’t make adequate use of digital tools because the interactive
platforms can be used to integrate students with special needs, among other benefits.
Students with special needs face many challenges when learning. There are many creative
and practical online resources that parents and teachers can use to help children. I did a
little research on the Internet and found excellent platforms that allow students with special
needs to develop their potential. For example, Read 2 Me, Visual Brailler, Speech with
Milo, Dragon Dictation, The Writing Machine, and Word Magic. These are just some of the
virtual tools and apps that help students with special needs access education. Although it
may be a difficult process, teachers must understand that this is a challenge that education
must overcome, without the help of digital support, it would be much more difficult.
These arguments and points of view lead me to conclude that modern education presents
different challenges that are difficult to face without the help of digital tools. But some
parents, teachers, and students feel that technology is not always used appropriately and
leads to a lack of real social interaction in the classroom. We must bear in mind that it’s
everyone's commitment to wisely integrate technological tools into the curriculum, because
technology is an integral part of the modern age, and we cannot put it aside. Implementing
technology creates pathways for differentiated instruction to meet the needs of students as
individual learners, allowing more inclusive education.
There are many reasons why online programs, courses, and seminars have become a
popular form of distance learning in education today. My own experience tells me that the
online environment offers unprecedented opportunities and interactive activities for people
who would otherwise have limited access to education, for example, in rural areas as I said
earlier, as well as a new paradigm for teachers in which dynamic courses of the highest
quality can be developed. I also think that online education allows democratization of
knowledge, allowing us to have access to knowledge of the world and build our criteria
without restrictions of any kind. It’s a new era for the development of thought.