Essay Example on Online vs Traditional Classes: What's the Difference?

Both online classes and traditional classes are ways of gaining knowledge. Traditional classes are those that require a face to face contact with a teacher. On the contrary, online classes do not need a face to face encounter with the instructor. Thought the two have their differences, they have distinctive characteristics that bring out their similarity. This essay will discuss the contrasts and comparisons of the two learning methods.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Both learning methods require a teacher as a facilitator (Morgan, 2016). This implies that for learning to take place in the two classes, a teacher is a key player. The teacher acts as a guide to the students and facilitates the learning process. However, a teacher facilitating an online class does not have a face to face encounter will the student, whereas, in a traditional class, the teacher’s physical presence in the class is a must. Another similarity between the two learning methods is that both assignments and tests are a major part of the learning process. After the teacher facilitates learning, he or she assigns work to evaluate and assess the learner’s academic progress. Assignments in the two learning methods vary from essays, projects, formative tests as well as summative tests. The assignments and tests help the teacher to point out weaknesses among the students as well as their abilities.

Likewise, both learning methods require feedback (Morgan, 2016). Feedback is significant because it helps the teacher to understand and grade his or her students. Without feedback, there would be no learning process. Both systems work on a base where the teacher guides and the student is expected to follow the teacher’s guidelines. The success of the learning process is then brought out by the student’s effort in following the teacher’s guidelines.

Moreover, both teaching methods require a significant amount of work for learning to be successful. The teachers, as well as the students, need to put an effort to get success. Passive learning in both is not enough since student involvement is vital in the learning process.

Similarly, challenges and rewards are part of the learning process in both (Morgan, 2016). Rewards are usually a result of success in the learning process. The teacher can reward students by motivating them orally or by giving gifts. On the other hand, the teacher gets a feeling of pride as a reward for the student’s success. However, for a student and a teacher to get the rewards, they must counter challenges. Some student challenges in the learning process include tests, assignments and projects. Teacher’s challenges include making students understand concepts and equalizing the learning progress of students with different abilities. Also, time management in both learning systems is important. Learning periods are controlled by time. Consequently, the mismanagement of time would result in negative results in the learning process.

Even though traditional classes and online classes have a fair share of similarities, they also have differences.one difference between the two is the social interaction (will, 2020).in a traditional class, the students have an opportunity to interact physically and also learn from their peers. The interactions help them build their social behaviors and morals. However, the social interaction among students in an online platform is different because they do not interact physically. The only available means is through the internet, therefore, limiting the students from peer teaching and social peer interactions. Another difference is the teacher impact on the student. In a traditional class, a teacher’s impact on the student is more compared to that of an online teacher. This is because, in a traditional class, the teacher deals directly with the students and can relate more with each student character and behaviors. However, the online teacher only interacts with the students during classes and may not impact the student in any other way.

Conversely, feedback in the online classes is slower in comparison to a traditional class (will, 2020). A teacher in a traditional class can get feedback to a question immediately. Also, the traditional class grants the teacher an opportunity to identify areas of weakness among the learners in the learning process. Moreover, the student can seek clarification from the teacher immediately. In the online setup for the teacher to get feedback, he or she has to wait for responses from all students, which may take a longer time. Also, equality among students is more explicit in an online class compared to a traditional class. Students do not need to raise hands to answer a question which happens in a traditional class. This means the online teacher will not choose a student to respond because of raising the hand which happens in the traditional setup.

Moreover, a student who has a vocal advantage in a traditional class takes the spotlight in the learning process (will, 2020). This is not the same in the online platform since all pupils are at the same level in terms of vocal responses. Lastly, students in an online class are less likely to be affected by social peer pressure since they do not meet physically. However, social peer pressure is common in a traditional class.

Conclusion

To sum up, the online and traditional classes have both similarities and differences despite being learning platforms. A student, therefore, should weigh the similarities and differences and choose the option that suits him or her best.

References

Morgan. (2016). Traditional and Online Learning: Similarities and Differences. Retrieved 13 July 2020, from https://sites.google.com/site/traditionalvsonlinebfallaw/will. (2020). Key differences between classroom and online learning - General. Retrieved 13 July 2020, from https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/general/key-differences-classroom-online-learning/