To compare online education and face-to-face education, we take you back to your childhood. School memories with classroom benches and classmates, teachers and blackboard.For students who get up early in the morning to get to school with sleepy eyes, distance education at home and only with the Internet and computers or smartphones may be a sweet dream 🙂
Nowadays, this dream has come true and a large number of students receive the necessary knowledge without going to school or university and arguing with classmates, teachers and superintendents.
In this article, while getting acquainted with the concepts of “online education” and “face-to-face education”, we are going to find out the differences between online and face-to-face education.
What is face-to-face education?
Face-to-face education takes place in the classroom. There is a teacher or instructor in the classroom who is responsible for transferring knowledge and information to the students.
The teacher expects students to attend the classes and learn what he or she has taught them by doing homework and projects. Today, with the advent of technology in the teaching process, many teachers still prefer face-to-face teaching to online teaching.
What is Online education?
Online education is a type of distance education. Students and teachers communicate online instead of going to school or university. In this type of education, communication is done by digital devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, and it is a method that can be easily implemented wherever the Internet is available.
The main difference between online and face-to-face education
The main and most important difference between online and face-to-face education is that in online education does not require going to school or university to attend classes and you can take classes virtually at home, at work or wherever you are, but in face-to-face education you should go to school or university and attend classes at a specific time.
As the name implies, “online education” is a learning method that can connect to the Internet and electronic devices to receive training data and increase student’s skills in specific areas.
Therefore, students use some equipment such as: computers and smartphones are used instead of notebooks, books, pens, pencils, bags, etc. Educational contents are also presented in the form of videos, images, info-graphics and text files.
Teacher communicates with the students virtually through video conferencing, and the educational contents, videos and images are transmitted through application that have chosen by the school or university, and there is no direct and face-to-face communication.
Different types of school data presentation
As it mentioned, in comparing online education to face-to-face education, another difference is the way that educational data is presented.
Books and stationery have replaced with e-books audio and video files and educational texts, also school and university have replaced with computers and smartphones.
This is a technology-based teaching method that uses less paper, so it is a “green education” because it does not harm the environment, and there is less deforestation.
E-learning is is more flexible
Flexibility in time and place is one of the main features of virtual education, which allows people with different circumstances to coordinate their classes with other routine life plans, this is a great opportunity for working people, they can do their jobs, also take their classes.
The “anytime and anywhere” feature of online education has made it possible for people to participate in their classes by using a smartphone or a computer at any time of the day and wherever they are, But in face-to-face education, you have to attend classes at a specific time and place.
Cost of virtual education vs. face-to-face education
If we want to compare online education to face-to-face education in terms of “cost”, we should say that although the expenses of online education seem higher in the first sight, but by computing the total expenses, you will find out that this kind of education is much more economical.
In online education, students do not have to pay for traveling cost, school insurance, books and stationery, so they only pay for tuition and enjoy the benefits for a long time.
However, In online education students have less interaction and communication to each other , and there is Internet disruption that wastes class time, so their learning rate is lower than face-to-face education.
Finally, online education is more flexible and less expensive than face-to-face education. Virtual classes are relatively new and may become better and more effective in the future, and as a result, the advantages and disadvantages of virtual education may change. Teachers can contribute to these changes by using creativity in virtual teaching.