ONLINE LEARNING AMIDST A GLOBAL PANDEMIC:
The Benefits of Learning English Online
El nivell StartPandemic. This is a word that until a year ago wasn’t part of our day-to-day, yet recently it has become one of the most repeated words in our vocabulary.
For the past twelve months our lives have been dramatically affected, changing and hindering almost all aspects ranging from our social relationships to our work and school routines. Working from home has become the new normal for many who used to commute to an office building; children and teenagers have been following their education from home for, etc. Fortunately, since the beginning of the new school year, schools in our country have remained open but many pupils have been forced to stay at home for days at a time.
English lessons have been following a similar pattern, with restrictions of capacity and, for a long time, forcing us to do all the work online. It has been hard for all, both teachers and students, and we are grateful that at this moment in time we are able to offer our lessons in our classrooms, following all the health and safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
All these added difficulties, however, inevitably raise some questions: why are we doing this? Is learning English online really worth the effort with all that has been going on? And the answer is a resounding yes, for the many benefits it has.
First and foremost, a global pandemic will have a number of ramifications, the effects of which will be seen for years to come. It is understandable that something such as learning a language might seem insignificant compared to other, apparently more important areas, but this is a fallacy. If this situation has taught us something, it is that we live in a globalized world, with societies in different parts of the world going through the same traumatic event. This will surely unite the world in more ways than one, not only in trade and business but also in many other aspects. Learning languages, primarily English (which is one of the most spoken languages worldwide, with 1.1 billion speakers) has never been more important. Multi-cultural settings will surely become the norm in the job market in the future, and having good command of languages as well as good communication skills will be crucial to boosting your CV and having access to better positions. In addition to this, news all over the world travel fast, not only through the mainstream media channels but also through social media networks, and if one wants to be up-to-date and informed with world news without falling into a biased approach, the knowledge of languages and particularly English is key.
There have been several studies that have analysed how education has been impacted by the shift from in-class lessons to online lessons. According to a Brandon-Hall Study, online learning requires 40-60% less employee time, mostly because while there are online sessions throughout the week, a lot of the work can be done asynchronously at the student’s own pace. The Research Institute of America found that with online lessons retention rises from 8-10% to 25-60%, and this dramatic increase is due to students having more control over the learning process, including the chance of revision.
Other benefits to online lessons include the development of the so-called “soft skills”, which include time management, empathy, adaptability, flexibility, self-direction (being able to work on your own); people, communication and problem-solving skills, and countless others. These soft skills are crucial in a work environment as they make a job candidate much more successful. Online education requires a lot of self-discipline and autonomous work; it is therefore inevitable that students will end up developing those skills that will later on be extremely useful in their lives.
In conclusion, learning English in the current context is crucial, and online lessons have shown to have a number of benefits, not only for the learning of the language itself, but also of other vital skills. It is our prerogative and, arguably, our duty to explore the full potential of e-learning in the current situation, to provide the students with the best options for their future.
RESOURCES:
https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/301248/15-facts-and-stats-that-reveal-the-power-of-elearning
https://weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/
https://blog.lingoda.com/en/why-learn-a-language-online-during-coronavirus/
