Classroom Teaching vs Online Teaching

We all know the famous saying, ‘learning is a lifelong process’, and indeed it is. It is just that the methods through which one teaches and one learns have undergone a lot of changes. Earlier it used to be only academics, then years passed and we saw further improvement in the curriculum as sports and extra-curricular activities were added. Then with the dawn of the digital era, everything and everyone turned to computers and technology with all the papers and their prints turning into digital ink on the screen. The traditional classes of blackboard and chalk are officially transforming into, in fact, are already converted into online classes for kids or adult students. To know why the blog heading says ‘Classroom Teaching vs Online Teaching’. let us start by defining the terms of Classroom Teaching and Online Teaching. 

• Classroom Teaching: This type of teaching involves an instructor who conducts a class in person in an organised way to cover a lesson.
• Online Teaching: In this type of teaching, all the courses and lectures are delivered online. There is no class with students in it which is being taken by a lecturer.

Since we have now defined both the types of teaching/learning, let us get into the depth to understand how these teachings are helpful in their glorious ways. There are many differences between these two. To understand them, let us start with the traditional method first, i.e., Classroom teaching.

Classroom Teaching: 

As we have already read above, classroom teaching is the method where the teacher/tutor meets the students in person, in an actual class of bricks and walls and delivers the lesson/lecture. Many Gen Y and Gen Z people still prefer a traditional method of teaching. They find these classes more informative and quote their learning experiences as ‘satisfying’. Now there are few Gen Z’s who find online teaching easier and less stressful. 

Schooling is necessary for a child so that he/she learns how to socialise with people around. Interaction is a crucial part and helps in developing excellent communication skills as that is one of the important keys to building a confident personality. Some of the points that make traditional/classroom teaching interesting and advantageous are as follows:

• Classroom teaching is beneficial for both the student and the teacher. It helps young students to be disciplined, efficiently interact with others, maintain regularity and schedule.
• The activities at school or in class keep the students active, involved and improve their physical fitness and alertness.
• Teachers can directly interact with students and get to know them better by understanding their strengths and weaknesses. 
• Knowing their traits will help the teacher to act as a better mentor, bring about that personal touch in their approach to guide students.
• The question and answer session in a classroom is useful as the queries are solved by the teachers right away.
• With notebooks and readers, students can study better. They can also refer to the books that contain the previous year’s questions to understand the pattern of the examination and prepare well.
• Lectures delivered by experienced teachers, and the one-to-one sessions to solve queries are just gold.
• With continuous interactions between the teachers and the students help beat the examination blues.
• Also, the pep-talk that is necessary before the examinations, help students build confidence, prepare for the exam and score well!

This was a part of how traditional/classroom teaching is helpful. There are many other aspects of this method. Now let us move on to its rival method of learning, the millennials mantra to stay updated and stay informed – the Online Learning.

With the dawn of the 2000s era, computers have already started replacing humans. They are accurate, with low chances of errors, running 24*7, and could do more work in less time. With their advent into the various sectors, things changed. The communication mode changed, the interaction changed, also the education changed, and it made life more comfortable. Online teaching or learning or online courses for kids are more flexible. The learner is not restricted to a single class. He/she can study anytime and anywhere. Let us now go through how online learning or eLearning is more interesting:

• Online learning is well known for its flexibility.
• It is the education that takes place over the internet.
• It is widely known as ‘eLearning’.
• There are a plethora of ‘online courses for kids’ available on the internet
• It allows them to study at their own pace and according to their own convenience. 
• It is user friendly and has much more advanced courses online for studying and research purposes.
• It makes learning easy, more effective and time-saving.
• Online classes for kids enables them to study at home and in situations or cases when and where they cannot go to school/college.
• Access to the study materials 24/7.

Technology has helped us in many ways. It has brought the world together on a new level. Distant education has proven to be beneficial over the years, and with the ongoing pandemic lockdown, many students can continue their learning through online classes. At Meru, technology has always been given immense prominence and that helped us to migrate to this new way of teaching and achieve stability in these unprecedented times. Since the beginning, Meru has been known for being a tech-savvy school. The school has always been technologically capable and equipped. We make sure our students are not deprived of essential study time. We are facilitating their education through online classes for kids, and they are progressing through well. The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed impacted everyone and everything but learning has never stopped at Meru International School.