These days, more and more schools and teachers offer online courses and interactive lessons as an option for pupils and students. But what does this mean for teachers? In this article, we explore some of the pros and cons of online teaching from a teacher's perspective.
Benefits of online school
The biggest pro of online schooling is that it allows teachers to reach more students quickly. With online lessons, there are no geographical boundaries - a teacher can have students from all over the country or even the world in his or her class. That said, online schooling also gives you the opportunity to really get to know your students, as you'll often have more one-to-one interaction with them than you would in a traditional classroom.
Another big advantage of online schooling is that it can be much more flexible for teachers. With traditional schools, teachers are often tied to a strict schedule and can only teach at certain times of the day. With online schooling, however, teachers can design their lessons so that they can be accessed by students at any time of the day or night. This can be a huge benefit for teachers who have other commitments outside work.
In relation to support materials, online schooling has a powerful benefit. An online lesson can be refined by multiple teachers quickly and then distributed to students for feedback. Then, based on that feedback, it can be greatly improved. All done in an extremely short amount of time.
Disadvantages of online school
Of course, online school is not all rainbows and butterflies. One of the biggest challenges of teaching an online course is keeping students engaged. It can be hard to keep students motivated when they're not physically present in a classroom. Additionally, some students may feel that they are not receiving the same quality of education as in a traditional setting.
Another potential downside of online schooling is that it can be very isolating for teachers. Without the interaction with other teachers that you have in a traditional school setting, it's easy to feel like you're working in a vacuum. In addition, the technical aspects of online schooling can be frustrating - password issues, website problems, etc. - which can eat up valuable time that could be spent teaching.
Online teaching can be a great way to reach more students and learners and to design educational materials around your own curriculum - but it also comes with its own unique challenges. What do you think?
