Advantages of Distance Learning Essay Example

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most people are having to stay home, which is affecting the way students can attend school. So, to be able to teach students safely, schools are switching to distance learning, where students attend school from home. With all the schools closing because of Covid-19, this is “affecting about 90% of the world’s students” (El Firdoussi, Selwa, et al 1). Even with the difficulties of using distance learning, it also comes with some advantages.      

Using distance learning schools can resume class without the possible issue of students contracting or passing Covid-19 to others around them. Although the need to switch from learning in a classroom to learning at home was sudden, students and teachers are getting used to having class from home. Even though some “teachers who are not ready for the functioning of distance learning and face difficulties seem less willing to use distance learning” (Sari and Nayır 8) are having to learn to become comfortable with using it. Plus, as teachers improve their ability to teach online students. Students will be able to get a better learning experience even if they are having to attend school from home. Because according to Lambert and Cuper, “The teacher who has the ability to use technological tools, has the opportunity to teach critical skills in an environment familiar to students.” (qt. in Sari and Nayır 8). But schools should still be able to give enough support to students who have trouble learning due to having to learn at home. To do this, “student support services should be constantly reviewed to continue to contribute services that were offered on the physical campus” (Roache, Darcia, et al 4).

While students are attending school at home, they have to be more responsible when it comes to the work they are assigned. Students also must put more effort into learning the material since they are not in the usual class setting where the teacher can supervise their work. For students to be able to carry out their task with ease it “requires good self-discipline and clear organization of work” (Kurbakova 4). This helps the students using distance learning by “improving their independent learning abilities and self-regulating thinking” (Rehman and Fatima 2). Also, the use of distance learning helps students who want to learn at a different pace than others would. For those types of students, “the online platform is very effective in implementing an individual, flexible educational trajectory” (Kurbakova 6). Being able to go at their own pace allows students to turn in their assignments when it is completed and “It is easier to track their fulfillment of homework” (Kurbakova 7).            

Students are not the only ones in the educational system that had to change the way they do things when it comes to school. Teachers also had to change the way they teach their students since they are not in the classroom. For some teachers to comfortably transition to teaching online, they “tend to use devices and applications for remote instruction that already they used for daily life” (Rahmadi 10). By using, technology, they are already familiar with it allows teachers to easily communicate with their students and give clear instructions for assignments. Furthermore, teachers who are better at using technology to teach their class “are more likely to adopt new technology to their teaching practices” (Rahmadi 10). Teachers are changing the types of assignments given to their students, such as, assignments that have to do with “constructing and discussing learning material with peers or parents as well as creating and sharing a product to the community appeals as more fruitful tasks during the distance learning” (Rahmadi 10).            

Distance learning also comes with its own set of disadvantages. An example would be a student who is not able to focus while in their own home due to distractions around the house. Studies show that “9 percent of 15-year-old don’t even have a quiet place to study in their homes” (qt. in Sari and Nayır 6). This makes it harder for the student to learn the material compared to another student who can study without distraction. Another problem with distance learning is that students are not able to ask for help as easily from teachers since they are at home and not in the classroom. Before, when students were in the classroom, they would be able to ask their teacher for help directly. However, since they are not in school, the only way to contact a teacher for help is through email or if the teacher is hosting a live class.