The 21st has brought the incremental digitization of every aspect of our lives. Technology is quickly usurping our reality, and the education industry, while a little late to the party, is also giving in to the current.
Research shows that the proportion of US students opting for digital learning instead of traditional classrooms has been exponentially rising throughout the past decade, with a particularly sharp surge in 2020 (for obvious reasons). 2020-2022 may have been outliers in this regard due to the outbreak of covid, but make no mistake, E-learning has been gaining traction well before. It will continue to supplant traditional education in the future. So, since the complete digitization of classrooms seems inevitable in the near future, it is time we explore the particular pros and cons of the unfolding realm of online learning. Here’s our take on it.
Students can now access a vast amount of information and complete their assignments with the help of best essay writing services. These services offer students an opportunity to hone their writing skills and receive feedback from professional writers, thereby enhancing their overall education.
Practical Convenience or a House Arrest?
Let’s get the obvious out-of-the-way first. The dreadful morning routine of getting up early, dressing up, and traveling to school is often more irritating and exhaustive than the school itself. E-learning allows students and their parents to save a lot of time, money, and nerves, as all you need to do to get started is to dress the top half of your body and open a laptop.
On the flip side, studying from home can quickly get boring. Everyone needs a change of environment throughout the day to feel fresh, so being stuck between four walls 24/7 for both learning and relaxation can make you feel like a prisoner of your own house.
The ways the internet makes students’ life easier don’t end there. In my school days of the ancient 2000s, I would’ve considered selling my soul for someone to type me an essay in my most desperate of times. You, a modern student, can have this luxury for little more than your lunch money, using the ever-more prevalent, sophisticated, and multi-specialized writing services online.
Social Interaction…or the Lack Thereof
It’s important to remember that schools are not just about studies but also about social interaction necessary for youngsters’ healthy mental development. The social implications of online learning are twofold. While shy students benefit by finding it easier to engage and participate (or just fly under the radar — as they more often do), more outgoing ones may feel alienated and starved of human contact. In fact, studies show that the scales are tilted towards the latter, as most students still prefer in-person learning to digital education.
Wonders of Technology
Digital learning is not just about looking at your teachers and classmates in 2D instead of 3D. Advances in technology are bringing efficiency-improving and engagement-enhancing developments to the table or, more precisely, a student desk. These include shared cloud services for instant file exchange, gamification programs, video learning, visualization tools, and many more.
Speaking of 3D, VR and AR are also waiting to make a debut in education, bringing a whole other dimension (pun intended) to online education and a world of new exciting possibilities. These are game-changing technological innovations In education that boost student engagement and make teachers’ lives easier. Although, some older, more conservative teachers may find it hard to keep up with all this modern tech invading their classrooms.
Bottom Line
A choice between digital learning and physical attendance doesn’t have to be a mutually exclusive one for the education industry as a whole. As we have shown, there are benefits and downsides for both, and they are each suited to different types of students to varying degrees, so it’s important that both remain an option in the long run.
Author’s bio
Joanne Elliot is a freelance content writer and a student with her sights set on investigative journalism. She is an exemplary student with spotless academic performance promising a bright future and a successful professional career ahead of her. Joanne took up freelance writing as a side hustle to generate some walking around money, but mainly to start honing her writing skills early on in preparation for her prospective career in journalism.
