Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we learn and the way we think about learning have drastically changed.
Before the pandemic, education at all levels was mostly relegated to the classroom, and the consensus was that in-person learning was superior to other forms of learning, including online learning.
But the necessary rise of online learning during the pandemic has proved that the consensus was wrong. There are benefits to in-person learning, yes, but there are also benefits to online learning.
The Benefits of Self-Paced Learning
With the rise in online learning has come the rise in what’s called self-paced learning, which gives more responsibility to students. For instance, they’re now more responsible than before about their schedule and timeline.
Self-paced learning has to a large degree replaced cohort learning and has benefitted students in quite a few ways.
Students who find classrooms distracting, are bullied, or are socially anxious may enjoy self-paced learning more than in-person learning and, not coincidentally, progress with more confidence and perform better.
Students who feel rushed or pressured in traditional classroom environments may feel more relaxed in a self-paced learning environment where they’re allowed to take their time. Rather than having to understand one concept in three days, another in four, they can allocate more time to the concepts they struggle with and less time to the concepts that come to them naturally.
Self-Learning Can Promote Active Learning
More, self-learning promotes active learning. In a traditional brick-and-mortar high school, students in, for instance, ENG4U Grade 12 English, study King Lear by passively copying in their journals what their teacher writes on the board.
In a self-paced, online learning environment, the learning atmosphere and style would be quite different and, unlike traditional schooling, would promote active learning.
Angelica, the Active Learner, becomes a Lawyer
Let’s say a grade 12 student, Angelica, takes an ENG4U Grade 12 English course online, rather than in-person.
As a result, she learns how to study Shakespeare actively, rather than passively. In turn, she develops the ability to actively about all subjects.This ability benefits her not only in high school but also when she enters college and is given far more responsibility for her own learning.
The ability to learn actively rather than passively will also benefit Angelica when she enters the workforce.
Let’s say that, after graduating from college with a BA in literature, she attends law school and afterwards becomes a criminal defence lawyer at a firm.
By the time she joins the firm, Angelica has spent years and years actively learning at her own pace and, as a result, is fully equipped to efficiently manageher busy workload; research, read, prepare, and write legal documents (such as memos); organize her schedule so she spends the right amount of time with each client; and so forth.
In other words, Angelica’s ability to activelylearn at her own pace, which she began to cultivate in high school, has made her not only a stellar student at all levels but also a stellar criminal defence lawyer.
The benefits of self-paced, online learning can last a lifetime.
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