Online Learning versus Classroom Learning - Essay Example

For the reason that there is no face-to-face interaction with the teacher, online learning gives more control to the learner and less to the educator. We are moving from a mode where the institution is in charge and provides context, to the mode where the learner is in charge and offers the context. Despite the fact that most learning occurs outside the classroom, most of one’s time spent as a student has probably been in a "traditional" classroom. Traditional classroom learning is more often than not focused on the teacher.

Information tends to flow from instructor to students, and therefore can be more passive for students. This is often represented by the phrase "sage on the stage" since the teacher must in some way pass his or her knowledge on to the student. It goes without saying that many lecturers in the traditional classroom employ a very learner-focused composition as the online classroom explained above. While this is a potential, it is also rare. Since most teachers were trained in instructor-focused classrooms it is very difficult for them to break from this pattern.

The online classroom proficiency and student proclivities in that environment are much more fitting for a learner-focused environment. Online learning is focused more on the student. Additional information (in the form of questions or comments) often flows from the student to the instructor (or CBT system). As a result of learners constructing their own learning, they are considered to be more effective. As more institutes begin to offer online educational programmes, analysts predict that more and more students will enroll in them.

In fact, according to International Data Corporation, a market research firm, the number of students enrolled in distance-learning educational programmes will increase to an estimated 2.23 million in 2002, from 710,000 in 1998.