Navigating new and old learning landscape; Virtual or one on one?

This week propmt is an amazing and interesting one, and the title is breathtaking, 'campus in the cloud'. And if we have to ask different learners their perspectives on 'campus cloud',one will discover that virtual learning has come to stay. In fact, one of the aftermath of covid 19 is virtual learning. There are various virtual learning platforms such as; zoom, Moodle,Google classroom, blackboard, edX,etc. Through Virtual Learning, boundaries disappears and knowledge knows no limit. We are fortunate to have access to array of knowledge, educational opportunities and resources which can be accessed to at any time, any day in this digital age.

Talking from my own experience, virtual learning has given me access to learn from my own pace, because of it's accessibility and flexibility. I learnt at my own pace, from the comfort of my home. Three months ago, I registered for an online course, and the gist is I never even come across my facilitator, not to talk of my fellow learners. The Facilitator used zoom platform to take us, and the course worth it. We were given group assignment, and we excellently did well, all virtually. This has opened my eyes to the fact that has a degree holder, I can proceed to do my master virtually, at least, my country Nigeria has make provision for that through through the introduction of National Open University (NOUN). And this academic innovation has already baked different graduates across all sectors in the country.

Virtual Learning has a lot of benefits, and I will be discussing some of them based on my personal experience with virtual learning.

Self Paced Learning; Learners with busy schedule, working class and those in remote areas will have access to class activities, learning and education resources at a comfortable pace. For instance, as a nursing mother and working class woman,my schedule is always very tight, I can still learn at my own pace through Virtual means. How can I achieve this? I can go to YouTube, download a video course and learn.

Availability of Education and Learning Resources; Learners who stay in sub Urban and Rural areas have limited facilities or availability of learning resources to learn. But, through Virtual aid, informations are accessible to them, I am a good example of this, I am living in sub urban area, hence, I do not have access to university education, unless I have to travel to city, leave the comfort of home, family and my work. But taking online course has opened my eyes to many educational resources and opportunities, simply put, if I have to depend on one classroom activities, there might never be opportunity for me.

Cost Effectiveness is another benefits of virtual class. Since it is an online lecture/class, there will be cost reductions in transportation, commuting, physical infrastructure, accomodation for both learners and facilitators (since it will be from their respective homes).In One on One class activities, the cost implications on both the learners and facilitators is always overwhelmed.

I will conclude this article by saying that virtual classes offered multiple benefits which one on one classroom activities can not beat, this it does by providing flexibility, accessibility, availability and cost effectiveness. Virtual Classes has revolutionised the way we approach education, with the availability of digital tools, materials and resources,learners can achieve academic goals, skills and proficiency effectively.

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