On-line education is one of the hottest trends nowadays. In the future, students may have the opportunity to study at home via computers, rather than attend traditional schools like most students do now.
The most common online form of education today is English tutorials. As of now, students and tutors use chatting, headsets and web cameras to take the place of interacting with a real-life teacher and a classroom of other students. But is this a good way to learn?
Most people prefer the traditional way of learning in a classroom setting, because, that way, students can learn from and socialize with other students. Also, the instructor can teach students valuable life lessons that they can't learn through technology. It's like whether it's better to do research at a library or on the internet. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but with libraries and traditional education there's a more hands-on experience.
Students learn both socially and academically in a classroom. They like to be with other young people. As they interact, it makes it easier for them to share knowledge with each other and learn from each other as well as from the teacher. As social creatures, we live, grow, learn and succeed better with other people, rather than isolated at our computers.
Classroom teachers don't just teach through lecturing. Students can learn and develop many life skills such as punctuality and good study habits. Teachers serve as a guide in the life process, as well as teaching. If there is a bond between the instructor and the students, which isn't something you can get from the online experience, the students look up to the teacher and might even model themselves after him or her. Like other adult role models, teachers share what they've learned from their lives, not just what they've learned from books.
No matter how advanced technology becomes, there will always be a place for traditional schools and traditional teaching methods. The best practice is for educators to use technology as a complement to traditional teaching, not as a substitute for it.
