Within
each human being is an innate desire to learn and explore. The human
psyche is naturally drawn towards new and exciting things. Social media
has made is possible for people to explore these interests online.
Starting with the introduction of sites such as YouTube, people have
become more inclined to learn things online and self-educate rather than
seeking assistance from some other means.
An Epidemic of Help
Social media has sparked an online epidemic of people helping other
people. Blogs, forums, and podcasts have also become prevalent places to
ask questions and further your knowledge on pretty much any subject.
What does this mean for traditional ways of education? I wouldn’t say
that traditional in-class courses are going to disappear any time soon,
but I would certainly agree that there is going to be a significant
shift towards online education. Programmers and developers are working
hard to make online learning more intuitive, and easily accessible to
the masses. In reality, people are becoming more self-sufficient as a
result of internet education. Providing them with even more ways to
learn online is exactly where education is headed.
A Serious Distraction From Academics?
As unfortunate as it may seem, social media has become a serious
distraction from people’s academic studies. University students
especially, have been showing a lack of concentration both in and out of
class due to the easy accessibility of social media. This is not likely
to change any time soon. There is comfort in knowing however, that by
providing easily accessible online learning, this issue can be slightly
addressed. If students are going to be distracted by social media, they
might as well be learning valuable information while they’re at it.
Learnville and E-Learning
E-Learning
platforms are starting to become a definite reality. People have come
to the realization that social media has a much greater potential than
simply allowing people to keep in touch with one another. In fact, this
is only the beginning. The introduction of widely accessible and
credible education in social media is on the verge of market
introduction. To name one of the more promising sites. Essentially, the site provides a
platform to allow users to sign up for free and share knowledge using
live video stream. It’s difficult to say at this point, but the site
should be capable of creating a virtual-classroom environment in
real-time. It gives people an opportunity to share knowledge in a
community-like setting where social media plays a key role. Keep your
eyes pealed for Learnville’s introduction, and other similar platforms.
This seems to be the direction that online education is headed.The Benefits & Concerns
So what are the benefits of online learning? For those of you who are
not enrolled in post-secondary education, a platform such as Learnville
could provide a viable alternative to learning, and as a bonus, in the
comfort of your own home. Online learning also allows people to remain
anonymous, therefore making people feel more comfortable about asking
questions that they would otherwise not ask. Furthermore, online
learning platforms will likely provide users with much greater variety
in the types of courses offered. With in-class learning, you are quite
limited by both the availability of courses, and their physical
proximity to your home. There are very few restrictions associated with
e-learning. One of the major concerns, however, is the lack of
personalized attention to students online. This is a concern that can at
least partially be mitigated by real-time, and virtual classroom
teaching.
