With the growing popularity of e-learning, online learning platforms like Byjus, Toppr, Meritnation, Vedantu, Unacademy, etc have been a popular choice amongst students. With internet connectivity reaching almost every part of the country, there is a massive spurt in online courses and online learning platforms. E-learning is soon set to become a global trend. Moreover, the current situation of the unforeseen global pandemic calls for the very need for online learning.
Online learning platforms strategize their marketing and advertising in a manner that automatically students get attracted to the platform and the relatively new form of learning. Estimated reports say that the number of individuals enrolling for online courses in 2016 was 1.6 million which grew enormously to about 9.6 million by the end of 2021. The figures are booming no doubt but what tickles the mind is whether these platforms are really helping in the in-depth learning and knowledge gaining of the students? Are these platforms really worth the money they ask us to pay?
The Pros and Cons of Online Learning Platforms
Let’s have an unbiased analysis of the role of these online educational platforms. We will talk about both the merits and demerits of these edtech companies. Let’s start from the demerits.
The Cons
More Stress On Theory Than That Of Practice
I personally have had the experience of both traditional method learning and E-learning. One clear difference I experienced was that E-learning focuses extremely on the set methodology of teaching. They follow a pattern of teaching and stick to it which is monotonous. They tend to focus on the theory and don’t stress on practice. For instance, they will teach you how to solve a certain model of numerical and ask you to do the rest of them yourself. They do not even bother whether you actually did the rest of the numerical and move on to the next concept. They don’t actually have time for you to let you soak in the concepts. All they care is about completing their syllabus according to the time set in their goals.
Authenticity Of The Tutor
We would definitely want our teachers to be well qualified. In E-learning a major question arises on the authenticity of the tutor. We really don’t know if they are well qualified or not. Also, the degrees they claim to own are how far authentic? As a result, E-learning does not provide that spirit of transparency.
Self Motivation
Learning on a multimedia device with full concentration requires a lot of self-motivation. The majority of the students lack self-motivation and get easily distracted by things like social media, gaming, and other forms of entertainment. Technologies like split-screen on your phone allow you to do two things at a time. Students use this extensively. While the tutor is teaching they have some other things going on in the other half of the screen thus basically defeating the actual goal of education.
No Personal Interaction With The Tutor
These platforms provide no one-to-one interaction with students. Tutors do not focus on individuals instead they generalize their teaching for every student enrolled for the course. Not all students are born with the same brain capacity and understanding capabilities. Each student requires understanding. Each student requires attention and teachers need to cater to each student’s doubts. You can’t ask the tutor to explain to you something again. All you can do is just replay the video again. The teacher will put no effort to explain it again in a different manner.
Deviation From The Syllabus
This is something I claim from personal experience that the online educational platforms sometimes tend to deviate a lot from the prescribed syllabus which doesn’t help in any which way. This just causes the student to be overloaded with things to memorize and ultimately ends up wasting the precious preparation time.
Cheating
Exams held by the online learning platforms are not given by every student faithfully. It’s extremely easy to cheat during the tests held by them. You may be sitting at home with open books, cheating and getting a rank one in the merit list of the test whereas someone truly working hard and deserving the first position would be far behind. These tests hence do not help in the assessment of the competition correctly.
Physical Straining
Sitting with a laptop or mobile phone for hours can strain your eyes and affect your back, neck, or shoulder. Medical experts have claimed that incorrect posture may lead to physical health problems. Sometimes continuous exposure to mobile and computer screens may cause migraine, eyesight issues, headaches, and mental health issues. Online learning platforms have videos that run into hours for a single concept which drags the chapter a lot. Watching these videos for hours is not only monotonous but harmful to your health.
Social Isolation
E-learning cuts you off from the world and you are left with your computer and books in a room. There is no interaction between students. Students’ interaction is extremely important for healthy learning. Someone else’s doubts may benefit you. There is also overall development of a student when they study with other individuals.
Students Tend To Lose Interest Gradually
Initially with over advertisements and high-level marketing strategy students tend to find these online learning platforms extremely intriguing but soon after enrollment, they lose interest. These platforms have a set methodology of teaching where hours after hours videos are streaming. It is monotonous and boring at some point and students tend to lose interest and end up closing their laptop or phone and indulging in some other activity.
The Merits Of The Online Learning Platforms
Flexibility
Students who are preparing for competitive examinations find these websites extremely useful. They don’t need to depend on any individual for preparation. With uninterrupted internet connectivity, they can access these online websites for clearing their doubts. They can study anywhere and anytime which is definitely not possible in the traditional method of education.
Time Management
The concept of E-learning reduces time wastage for the student. You don’t need to travel for hours to get a tutor to explain you a concept for a few hours and then again travel back to your residence. All you need to do is open the websites and access to videos or tests. Time is of utmost importance to a competitive exam student. You need to ace maximum knowledge in the minimum time period. Hence time management is extremely important and these E-learning platforms help in that maximally.
Access To Expertise
The best part about online learning is you can learn from a tutor who is present miles away from your place of residence and is inaccessible for a traditional method of teaching. Thus you can learn from experts all around the world sitting in your home.
Review Lectures Anytime You Want
You can review any lectures easily by just playing the video again. This is hassle-free and you don’t need to depend on anybody for teaching you the concept again.
Tutor Availability
E-learning platforms have tutors available at all times. This is extremely beneficial for students studying for competitive examinations and helps us practice and clear doubts whenever we want.
Cost
The best thing about these online learning platforms is that they have both paid and unpaid courses and study material available on their apps. The content written in these study materials is also fairly good and authentic. This helps the unprivileged students access good quality education. Even the paid online courses are not on the steeper side and hence pocket friendly.
Less intimidating
A lot of students are not comfortable interacting and speaking in public. For these students interacting on the online platform is comfortable and they share their ideas and opinions with much more freedom and comfort.
Learning is a process. It should be done with sincerity and hard work. We should be extremely careful about the resources we choose for our learning. Online learning platforms have been a boon to the students but there are disadvantages as well. We should really consider the factors mentioned above before we completely depend on these platforms. Students can also opt for learning from both traditional tutors and online tutors at these platforms or either of them but whichever out of the two one chooses, they should be careful about the quality of teaching, the content provided to them, and if the student feels intrigued to study.
