Virtual Learning Offers a Level of Flexibility to Students (Essay Sample)

Virtual Learning Offers a Level of Flexibility to Students

With the growth and advancement of technology, the world is now in a state of the industrial revolution where major sectors are transforming to align with the technological changes, and in attempts to remain relevant. The evolution of the internet has ensured that the globe is seamlessly interconnected, as more industrial sectors are increasingly adopting mobility and flexibility to allow for this shifting trend (Stafford Global 1). The education sector has particularly been affected by emerging issues and trends such as the current global health pandemic and technological modifications. As COVID-19 disrupts the world and especially the education landscape, learners are faced with the need for new methods of learning that do not necessarily involve the classroom setup. This essay seeks to compare and contrast between the physical classroom and virtual learning environments with the aim of identifying any differences between them that may render one more advantageous over the other.
The modern generation has tremendously evolved from the previous lifestyles. Technology has become one of the significant improvements of the 21st century with the inclusion of faster internet speeds, modern communication technology allowing for video conferencing, and more affordability of the technology (Stafford Global 1). Schooling has traditionally been taking place in physical classroom setups, but the recent global occurrences are necessitating more unconventional methods of learning that were not popular in the recent past. One of such methods is virtual online learning, which allows students to connect to a virtual classroom through web cameras over the internet and get to interact with teachers in live sessions but being physically distant from each other.
Virtual learning offers a level of flexibility to students to access education regardless of their physical location and differences in time zones. However, this form of education lacks the aspect of human interaction between teachers and learners which is essential for particular groups of learners such as the mentally challenged and younger learners (Will 1). While virtual learning helps address the issue of maintaining social and physical distancing, it fails to offer the benefits of face-to-face human interactions.
In particular ways, online lessons are similar to traditional classroom lessons. For instance, virtual learning environments allow for peer interactions and discussions like the normal classrooms as individuals can see each other in real-time. Teachers get to relay their lessons, ask questions, and answer any queries from the students just like the physical learning environments. Still, a teacher can effectively manage online classrooms like the physical ones through the use of conferencing software as he can keep tabs on the activities of each learner during the lessons (Will 1). Virtual learning methods are effective for higher-level learners such as College and University learners while traditional classrooms are more suitable for the younger learners and the intellectually challenged students.