Using ELearning in the Classroom

By: Justin Ferriman • October 15, 2014
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elearning-courses-for-saleMany teachers and instructors are finding that incorporating an online accompaniment to their in-person instruction is extremely beneficial for their students. Using elearning in the classroom is not only considered an add-on, it has become an integral part of the educational setting.

For many fields, such as IT for example, having intensive hands on and properly structured education helps prepare students for the job better than traditional textbook training.

Why it works better: Its presentation.

elearning uses a lot more visual and interactive components than a regular textbook.

The human brain, as wondrous as it is, is more adept at assimilating and retaining information when presented in both images and as interactive texts. Simply reading words off a page or listening to a lecture are vastly outdated methods of learning given that is one-dimensional.

Its timing and scheduling are more in sync.

The world of business may run on fairly much the same schedule, but people’s minds do not.

Elearning has the potential to be flexible and allow students to study and learn at times when it is more ideal for them. Instead of having to sit through an often inconvenient classroom session, being able to complete the online version of the course allows people the ability to work at their preferred times when their attention will not be so divided that they end up losing a good part of the lesson.

How teachers can merge past and present methods.

For those who still use classroom instruction, making use of technology to enhance it is simply a win-win situation. By utilizing computing devices at each student’s station, teachers can enhance the verbal instruction by also providing the information covered in a visual presentation.

For example, some colleges use tablets during classes such as science labs to provide students with an elearning tool to help them walk through the steps of the lesson. This also allows those able to grasp the instruction the ability to work ahead while the teacher focuses on those who struggle.

For a long time this was one of the major issues with traditional classroom instruction, those who were ahead of the curve were unable to advance because the teacher had to slow the entire class to cater to the struggling group. Utilizing a combination of computer-oriented learning and work, students can follow along in instruction, work ahead, or get more focused attention without impeding the rest of the class.

Beyond basic education and college.

Aside from being applicable to core and advanced educational settings, incorporating elearning into the business environment has shown to be advantageous as well.

Companies who use a combination of hands on activities, lecture, and elearning find that they have not only higher retention rates, but also greater productivity and return on investment. Even using elearning by itself can reap many rewards for corporations.

One way in particular that companies are finding the use of elearning in their classrooms successful is to use the same concept of accommodating different learning paces.

By starting off with a lesson in the board room and allowing it to be continued and enhanced on the employee’s time, employees are found to be more apt to not only follow through with completion, but to also seek even more information. So using an in person orientation, or partial in person sessions, can encourage and compliment a paired elearning course.

Whether it is used as an assistant or a focus, using elearning in the classroom is changing the shape of education. With the ever increasing use and development in technology, it is only logical that we will see elearning leveraged on a larger scale across a variety of industries.

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter