Online Courses And Classes

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

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Introduction:

The emergence and the evolution of social media have changed the manner in which higher learning institutions offer education services during the 21st century. Most education institutions in United States of America are using the social media to advertising and communication purposes. However, faculties within these institutions are also using the social media for learning and teaching processes. Lecturers and tutors offer their instructions through the internet, and this is made possible through the emergence and evolution of Information Technology tools such as Skype and Web 2.0 technologies. Through these technologies, it is possible for higher learning institutions to offer long distance education (Anstine and Skidmore, 2005). The evolution of Skype, You-Tube, EduTube.org and TeacherTube.com has made it possible to offer online courses. For instance, teachers can create a You Tube video, and posts it to the internet for his or her students to view.

They can always use the material for learning purposes, and revising their works in case there are some points that they did not understand in class. Other methods of learning includes creation of classroom blogs where teachers and students have an access to it, and can post anything they want, and the creation of teacher-student twitter accounts where students and teachers can tweet, in a few words on their reflections of classroom room sessions (Gonzalez, 2009). This paper examines the impact of the social media in the learning process. This paper denotes that the social media has contributed to the evolution of online learning and long distance classes.

Online Courses and Classes:

Online learning gives students the ability to develop a social learning environment that involves the participation of lecturers and students alike. On this basis therefore, online learning is a social activity but the quality of interaction varies with the courses on offer, and the nature of technology that the parties to the learning process use. One aspect that affects the quality of online learning is the design and the development of the course under consideration (Drennan, Kennedy and Pirsaski, 2005). The design of a course contributes to a great extent on the manner of online interaction during the process of learning. Interaction in this case occurs at three levels, between the learner and the instructor, and between the learner and the contents of the course under consideration.

On this basis, the success of an online course rests on the skills that an instructor has in relation to creating and managing an online interaction between his or her students and himself. Achieving success in this manner will result to the success of the learning process. However, most tutors are inexperienced in the matter of using technology for purposes of learning. This is because they have little formal training; on how to successfully interact with their students through the internet or the social media. On this basis, there is need of such formal training to teachers and professors of higher learning institutions. Online learning has numerous advantages. One advantage is that the courses help in developing the critical thinking skills in a learner (Gonzalez, 2009).

This is because the system of learning takes the form of a student centered teaching process. The student develops his own way of learn, that is conducive for him. On this basis, online education helps in ensuring that the materials that the student uses are relevant to him or her, and clearly understood. Because of this, an effective and efficient learning process takes place. Because a student synthesizes the materials under his possession, he develops critical thinking skills that will help him during the course of his/ her own career. Another advantage of the online courses is that it offers flexibility to students and teachers alike.

Students have the capability of planning their learning schedules. This is based on the availability of the internet and computers. Online learning also helps in the co-creation of meaning and knowledge because it promotes the diversity of the learning process. This occurs in two methods. The first way is that in an online interactive and learning process, a student is present when he is actually online, and engages the teacher and his fellow students in an interactive process.

This encourages him to make a contribution from the various points raised by his fellow students, and the teacher. By doing this, his fellow students and tutor will manage to learn from him/her, and he/ her will in turn learn from the contribution of his peers during the learning process. This encourages diversity of opinions (Ke and Hoadley, 2009). Another method is that online learning involves the enrollment of people from different backgrounds and countries. These people will share their experiences involving certain issues from their backgrounds. This is an element of diversity because different people have different experiences concerning an issue under discussion.

For example, a person from a communist country has a different experience in regard to governance as compared to a person from a capitalist country. This exposes students to knowledge and information that books do not provide. On this basis, the classes are efficient in the manner in which they disseminate knowledge and information. Finally the use of online technology and tools, imparts Information Technology skills to students. These skills are essential in the modern day world, where information technology drives almost every aspect of business, and social interaction.

On this basis, students are able to use their skills Information Technology skills in acquiring employment in these business institutions, and for social interaction purposes. Despite these advantages, it is always important to evaluate the effectiveness of the online learning process. The method I would propose is to assess the skills gained by the participants through an online examination process and their participation rate in the online debates carried out by the tutor (Ke and Hoadley, 2009). By doing this, the institution offering the online course will manage to assess the various skills gathered by their students.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the evolution of social media has changed the manner in which the learning process takes place in the society. This paper specifically denotes that the social media has made it easier for higher institutions to conduct long distance and online learning. As discussed in this paper, the greatest impact of the social media in learning is on the manner in which it influences collaborative learning through the internet. The social media uses online tools such as Skype, Web 2.0 and You Tube to facilitate these online interactions. Without these interactions, learning cannot take place. This paper manages to give a background on the notion of online learning. From the explanation contained in this paper, online learning is a process of transferring knowledge through the internet, via the computers. Because of the manner in which these systems disseminate knowledge, it is only possible for a tutor/ professor to have a few numbers of students.

The number usually ranges between four people to six people. This small number of students ensures that there is an effective collaborative learning process. It is from this process, that learners manage to acquire skills that are easy to transfer to their work based environment. These online learning communities help learners to be able to synthesize, analyze and evaluate information that they get from their tutors and fellow students. This paper manages to effectively identify this role, and the advantage that comes with the impartation of this skill. On this basis, this paper manages to prove the notion that social media greatly influences the manner in which online learning takes place.