Pros and Cons Of Online Learning

 The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered new ways of learning. All around the world, educational institutions are looking toward online learning platforms to continue with the process of educating students.Online learning is now applicable not just to learn academics but it also extends to learning extracurricular activities for students as well. In recent months, the demand for online learning has risen significantly, and it will continue doing so in the future. As with most teaching methods, online learning also has its own set of positives and negatives. Decoding and understanding these positives and negatives will help institutes in creating strategies for more efficiently delivering the lessons, ensuring an uninterrupted learning journey for students.

Here are some pros of online learning:

1) Efficiency: Online learning offers teachers an efficient way to deliver lessons to students where the teacher can use many tools such as videos, PDFs, and podcasts. By extending the lesson plan beyond traditional textbooks to include online resources, teachers are able to become more efficient educators.

2) Accessibility of time and place: Another advantage of online education is that it allows students to attend classes from any location of their choice. Additionally, online lectures can be recorded, archived, and shared for future reference. This allows students to access the learning material at a time of their comfort.

3) Affordability: Online education is far more affordable as compared to physical learning. This is because online learning eliminates the cost points of student transportation, student meals, and most importantly, real estate. Additionally, all the course or study materials are available online, thus creating a paperless learning environment which is more affordable, while also being beneficial to the environment.

4) Suits a variety of learning styles: Every student has a different learning journey and a different learning style. Some students are visual learners, while some students prefer to learn through audio. Similarly, some students thrive in the classroom, and other students are solo learners who get distracted by large groups. The online learning system, with its range of options and resources, can be personalized in many ways. It is the best way to create a perfect learning environment suited to the needs of each student.

After mentioning some of the positives, here are some cons of online learning:

1) Inability to focus on screens for long periods: For many students, one of the biggest challenges of online learning is the struggle with focusing on the screen for long periods of time. With online learning, there is also a greater chance for students to be easily distracted by social media or other sites.

2) Technology issues: Another key challenge of online classes is internet connectivity.Without a consistent internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity in learning for the child. This is detrimental to the education process.

3) Sense of isolation: Students can learn a lot from being in the company of their peers. However, in an online class, there are minimal physical interactions between students and teachers. This often results in a sense of isolation for the students.

4) Manage screen time: Many parents are concerned about the health hazards of having their children spend so many hours staring at a screen. This increase in screen time is one of the biggest concerns and disadvantages of online learning.

what can you do now that we were not able to do last year?

 Our mission only makes sense if it is in fact possible to make progress against the large problems the world faces. Despite the pandemic that happens, I am really proud of finishing my master's degree in Molecular Inorganic Chemistry at the Lebanese University. However, because of COVID and my research studies in Beirut city, I was unable to teach private lessons,  and gather with the family the long winter nights. Even though, I can't perform my sport routine as usual and I have to attend classes online but the positive point is that our university gave us the permission to attend in the laboratory for making the stage. Last year has a lot of negatives and positives but the most important is to take this year as a lesson for a forward push in the next years.

Major Challenges Facing Online Education

 The spread of COVID-19 struck us without warning and left educational institutions scrambling to respond to its emergencies. As a result, Institutions made a swift shift to the online mode of learning amid the lockdown restrictions where they were looking forward to this change but not this early. In comparison to traditional learning, online learning has a lot to offer. It is accessible at lesser costs, great flexibility for both students and teachers and more. However, online learning has certain challenges that require attention. 

Here are some major challenges facing online education:

1) Boredom: several e-learning courses consist of never-ending texts or have multiple-choice questions that fail to engage students. With courses like these, students often get bored, and this lack of engagement and motivation is one of the main reasons for e-learning courses failure. Students often stop accessing the platform and do not complete their course; even if they do, they do not follow it whole-heartedly.

2) Technical issues: not all students and even teachers has the strong access to internet connection that online courses require.There are also compatibility issues that add a layer of difficulty. All this may lead to their frustration, reduces engagement and interest, the learning experience gets disrupted, and they probably abandon the course.

3) Gadgets shortage: not every student & teacher has a personal gadget to use. Many of them share their laptops, mobile devices and computers with their parents or siblings to keep up with their work.

4) No practical knowledge: in online learning, there are some limitations; not every subject can be mastered. For instance, subjects like science (Biology, chemistry and physics) has shown that the best way to learn something is by practicing it. The more you practice, the better you learn. It is the experiential learning through which we can internalize and recall the content and skills we learn. However, several online courses neglect this part and focus solely on theoretical content and external lessons. Students do not get to practice, and the learning process does not give the desired outcome.

5) Lack of motivation: in online learning, self-motivation is an essential requirement; but not all manage to stay motivated throughout the course. After enrolement, many learners fail to catch up the virtual classroom requirements, maybe due to low bandwidth, little or no access to technological devices or other technical issues.

Internet Safety for Students to Avoid Problems

 The Internet can be a wonderful place to learn, shop, play games, and talk to your friends. Unfortunately, there are also predators, identity thieves, and others online who may try to harm you. In order to be safe online, it's important for you and your kids to be aware of the dangers. So, if you're a parent or guardian, you can help to keep your kids safe by talking to them about their Internet use, teaching them about online dangers, and learning everything you can about the Internet so you can make informed decisions.

However, it can be difficult to keep your kids completely safe online. Even if you set up parental controls on your home computer, your kids will use many other computers that don't have parental controls. To keep your kids safe, you'll need to teach them to make good decisions online—even when you're not around. Below are some general tips you can use when teaching your kids about online safety:

• Learn everything you can about the Internet. Being familiar with the Internet will not only help you understand the risks, but it will also help you talk to your kids.
• Set standards for what your kids can and cannot do online. It's important to make rules for your kids so they know what's expected of them. Don't wait until something bad happens to start creating guidelines.
• Teach your kids to keep personal information private. It's usually a bad idea to post personal information online such as phone numbers, addresses, and credit cards. If criminals gain access to this information, they can use it to harm you or your family.
• Teach your kids to use social networking sites safely. Sites like Facebook allow kids—and adults—to share photos and videos of themselves, as well as have conversations with friends and strangers. If your kids share something with friends, it's still possible for it to get into the wrong hands. Generally, they should only post something online if they're comfortable with everyone in the world seeing it.
• Encourage your kids to come to you if they encounter a problem. If your child gets into trouble online, you'll want him or her to come to you instead of hiding it. Keep in mind that your kids could accidentally encounter a bad site, even if they're doing everything right.
• Talk to your kids about Internet use. Talk to your kids regularly about how they use the Internet. If they're in the habit of talking to you about the Internet, they'll be more willing to come to you if there's a problem.
  
  
  

How to be a digital citizen?

 Digital life is both public and permanent. Everything we do online creates digital footprints that migrate and persist. Something that happens on the spur of the moment - a funny picture, an angry post - can resurface years later. And if we aren't careful, our reputations can be harmed. So, a good digital citizen is the one who knows what is right and wrong, exhibits intelligent technology behavior, and makes good choices when using technology. Much as we want our kids to be good citizens in the real world, we want the same in the digital world. 

Here comes some of the characteristics of a good digital citizen:

• Being confident and capable of using information communication technologies
• Using technology to participate in educational, cultural, and economic activities
• Developing and using critical thinking skills in cyberspace
• Using technology to relate to others in positive, meaningful ways
• Respecting the concepts of privacy and freedom of speech in a digital world
• Contributing to and actively promoting the values of digital citizenship

Ensuring students understand the importance of good digital citizenship and the potential impact of a negative footprint requires the work of parents and educators. Here are some tips that both children and adults can use to maintain their digital footprint: Think long term. What seems fun today could have long-term consequences. 

• Use privacy settings on your social network pages. Don't use public posting.
• Protect your friends' privacy as well as yours.
• Use the Golden Rule online - treat others the way you want to be treated.

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Tools that can be used in online assessment

 Assessment is an integral part of instruction, as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being met. Today's students need to know not only the basic reading and arithmetic skills, but also skills that will allow them to face a world that is continually changing. They must be able to think critically and to analyse. Assessments give students an accurate picture of where they stand. This works as a catalyst and pillar for learners by supporting them to deliver better. So, the assessment is not how much the student know but how well he/she know it.  But due to the pandemic of COVID-19, assessments turns to be online assessment. Online assessment is effective, friendly- environment solution with saving a lot of time and easier to be prepared.

Online assessment tools for teachers are a necessary part of the remote learning picture and here are some examples about the online assessment tools:

1. Google Forms is used to create forms with hyperlinks, images, and videos for surveying and quizzes.
2. Mentimeter is used to assess students by questions, polls, quizes, slides, images, gifts and more.
3. Poll everywhere is a real-time polling app that works with mobile, Twitter, or in your web browser.
4. Kahoot is a popular free class quiz game that lets teachers use multiple choice or sequencing questions. 
5. Quizlet is used to let students learn and improve by studying with flashcards, games and more.
6. Classpoint is used for multiple choice quizes for example.
7. Socrative is a free web-based service that lets you assess students with prepared activities or on-the-fly questions to get immediate insight into understanding.

Integrating Technology into Classroom

 Technology Integration in education refers to the meaningful use of technology to achieve learning goals. So, it is important to acknowledge that students are already interested and engaged in using technology, this creates many amazing opportunities for schools and teachers to benefit from integrating some forms of technology in the classroom and to make teaching and learning more effective.

In my opinion, technology provides different opportunities to make learning more enjoyable in terms of teaching same things in new ways. For instance, delivering teaching through gamification or taking students on virtual field trips. This will improve the student’s engagement and encourage them toward active participation in the learning process which can be hard to achieve through a traditional lecture. 

As a result, the students who are engaged and interested in things they are studying, are expected to have a better knowledge retention.Furthermore, technology provides great opportunities for making learning more effective for everyone with different needs since students have different learning styles and abilities. For example, students can learn at their own speed, review difficult concepts or skip ahead if they need to.

 By using technology in the classroom, both teachers and students can develop skills essential for the 21st century. Students can gain the skills they will need to be successful in the future. Modern learning is about collaborating with others, solving complex problems, critical thinking, developing different forms of communication and leadership skills, and improving motivation and productivity. What is more, technology can help develop many practical skills, including creating presentations, learning to differentiate reliable from unreliable sources on the Internet, maintaining proper online etiquette, and writing emails. These are very important skills that can be developed in the classroom.

 What is more important is the benefit that teachers gain from integrating technology into classes. This helps them to modify their traditional ways in learning where virtual lesson plans, grading software and online assessments can help teachers save a lot time. This valuable time can be used by teachers to help low achievers. Thus, integrating technology facilitates learning and improve the student’s skills. 

EDUC561 Class

 EDUC561 class explores technology integration in education, and prepares future teachers to use technology as a powerful tool to enhance learning. It examines different technologies that can be used in the educational field, including visual media, audio media, internet resources, multimedia applications, and instructional software. As a result, the teacher will be able to choose the right technology to achieve the intended learning outcome and objectives. This course allows us as students to identify different technological apps and how they are employed in the learning process as teachers. It improves our passion to discover new technological apps and their importance in teaching to students and teachers. Moreover, It allows us as students to recognize the different terminology that is related to Educational Media and Technology. Thus, it's really an enjoyable lecture that makes us more passionate toward learning leaving us excited to attend the next lecture despite the technical problems we face starting from bad internet connections to electricity problems.