Challenging characteristic of online learning

Introduction

What is online learning?

When you learn you are in the process of acquiring skill or knowledge. Whether it is via the traditional way or via "Online learning"

 “Online learning” simply describes the way of accessing it, where learning content is delivered via the internet and other new media technologies to facilitate interactions among learners and tutors. 

This facility is now used by educational institutions in many countries allowing  people of all ages and backgrounds to have easy access to knowledge and to teachers, completing coursework and to remove the time restriction to access course lectures. Whereby students are no longer required to travel to class.

Nowadays, technology made online learning possible for individuals who wants to continue their studies. Learners participates using audio and video conferencing, e-mails, chats and computer conferencing. With all of the learning materials are constantly being developed to enhance individuals learning outcomes, they are too delivered via internet through e-books and other multimedia learning objects.

The beauty of online learning that makes it different from traditional learning for adult learners are :

• Flexibility : Adults learner, most of them are already attached with a lot of other commitments, therefore it is important that they can work the learning on their own time and place and at their own pace. Therefore online learning are convenient.

Compared to traditional learning, where the learning takes place within the classroom and or in school. 

• Learning process : The learning process takes place in groups or individually. Whereby there is more of the 'student - teacher' interactions, and sometimes, the students talks as much as or more than the teachers. The teachers in this process guides the students to the information 

Whereas traditionally, learning process is conducted with participation of the whole class with the teachers speaking more than the students. The 'student - teachers' interaction are with one teacher against the whole class, whereby the teachers have to concentrate on the whole class rather than one on one, with the teacher as the only authority. 

• Emphases in the learning process : On online learning learns on "how" and less "what". the learning includes research study, combining searching for and collecting information. the process makes a better connection to the world and the subject is rich and includes all kinds of material in all different kinds of formats.

In the traditional ways of learning, most students learns on "what" and not "how". The students are not involved in inquiring and solving problems, but more in the tasks that are given to them by the teachers, whereby they are only busy completing the required subject matter quotas.

All of the above are on pros of online learning. Here, it has been explained what are the meaning of online learning and the definition. included are also what differentiate online learning with our traditional ways of learning. In this essay, we will see what are the challenging characteristic that online learners face, and on suggestions that we can imply on improving the online learning experience for all online learners. As I am also an online learner, some of the challenges arise from what i felt, is the challenges that I face as an online learner.

Body of Report

Everything in the world have it's pros and cons, and despite of all the pros of online learning, there are some cons in the matter. Here I would like to point out some of the challenge of online learning.

1) Time management

-  As online learners, time management is a common problem. And as adult learners, we are committed. committed to work, family and so many other things. We are not in campus, and it is hard to stay motivated. we can't afford to fall behind, making us fail courses and in turn wastes our time and money. therefore it is important to have time managed for your studies.

Solutions

First. Analyze the use of time. And from there, set out priorities. As an online student, we are not restricted to a rigid schedule given by our campus. Make a personal schedule, by setting aside a few specific hours for study every day and dividing it on, for work and family. That is one way to also avoid procrastination. Good time management allows us enough time to complete schoolwork and other responsibilities. 

Examples of time management schedule

2) Losing concentration 

- Concentration. it can also mean or define as 'the ability to direct our thinking to whatever direction that we intended.' We all have the ability to concentrate, but often and at other times our thoughts are scattered and we would wonder off. How often when we are in school or class, even during a face to face tutorial, our mind would wonder off occasionally?Even when we are facing the tutor during class, our mind wonders off, how would it be if we have to study individually? Here are a few reason or cause to make us loose concentration. 

• Environmental distraction - With the surroundings keep intruding or distracting, with noises coming from the TV or radio and having your children running around. 

• Boredom, lack of interest or being vague - Sometimes some subjects are less interesting to us, or perhaps the way the tutors convey the lessons makes us loose interest and be easily bored. And if we are not sure of what to do or why we are suppose to do it. 

• Social media - When we get bored, we tend to stop and wonder off. Facebook, twitters, YouTube these are the usual media that we tend to wonder off too.

Solutions

• Make sure the study area is just comfortable enough for us to study. Or we can just go to the library too study, where it is convenient and materials are within hands reach. 

• Try to create genuine interest. Tell yourself on why you have to do this. Whenever you notice your thoughts starts to wander off, tell yourself to STOP and try to bring back your attention back. This sounds simple but it works. If you are not sure on what to do, ask around, try to define the tasks given on its terms and purposes. Here the tutor also plays the main role, tell the students on the benefits on what and how it can effect beneficially on the students future, career wise and skills that the students can eventually take from it. 

• AVOID checking social media status every few minutes. I am not saying that we shouldn't have fun, but try to do it once every hour. Surely there isn't that we are going to miss during the interval. Willpower.

3) Fear of technical problem / Computer illiteracy  

- When we learn online, we use a range of technologies which mainly involves the internet. It enables us to communicate one to one. We communicate through emails, chat rooms, forums, audio conferencing, video conferencing and others. And as we know, in order for an online education to succeed, it is crucially acquired that students can access the world wide web to connect to the online learning environment. As far as we know, internet nowadays are still not universal. The fear of technical problem, where in some time, the computer suddenly breaks down or unable to connect to the server. Not all of us are IT savvy. So, how does online learning comply when some of us are not aware of the functions on our computers and the software's? Or, simply, on how to use the internet. 


Solutions


For student's that are not 'well verse' in using the computer and internet, the school itself can make a subject that is compulsory for the students to take and pass. School's like OUM makes it compulsory to take subject of "Learning skills for Open Distance Learner" which teaches students how to manage online learning. The topic includes on getting to know your personal computer, how to use the internet, information retrieval and even Basic Powerpoint usage. With the basic knowledge of the above, they can take the initiative to browse, install and update anti viruses and taking the basic computer monthly maintenance in order to avoid computer break downs. By taking these steps, it will ensure online education a success, and it won't drag the whole system down. 

4) Lack of immediate reply or feedback

- Online learning are not like traditional learning, as I had explained earlier in my introductions. Some students felt the lack of interaction between tutor and students are a little awkward. And when students have questions and inquiries, they have to go online in forums and post the inquiries and wait for feedback, which in some cases are not immediate. The questions and inquiries cannot be asked directly and be given prompt reply as traditional learning provides.

Solutions

Be prepared for the worst. Get your tutors cell phone number and her direct email. Never skip your tutorial. Get ready with questions when you attend your tutorial. The tutors won't mind you asking questions, they are there to help. 

5) Stress

- Modern life is full of hassles. moreover, when we are working and studying at the same time. Stress is so commonplace that we are getting use to it and perhaps has become a way of life. What is stress? Stress is just the way our body response to upsetting and threatening situation our body balance. Stress is not always bad. There are two types of stress. Positive stress and negative stress. Positive stress are the ones that helps us perform under pressure, get us motivated. It is the one that drive us to solve our problems. Whereas, the negative stress are bad. it is caused when your body over reacts and constantly running in emergency mode. There are lots of symptoms indicating that we are stressed out, physically or mentally. physically, a few of the symptoms are, nausea, dizziness or constipation. Mentally,  a few of the symptoms are memory problems, inability to concentrate, poor judgement, irritable and short tempered. What causes stress are known as stressors, a situation or pressure that is put in high demand and forces us to deal with it. 

Solutions

Because we know how widespread a stress can cause, it is important that we know our own limit. Control the way we respond. Practice relaxation techniques, such as yoga or meditations, to activate the body's relaxative response, breath in regularly and try to be in a state of restfulness. If the methods are practiced regularly, it can help you be calm and collected under pressure. Listening to soothing music is also good. It is also important to have regular rest. our mind and body cannot absorb loads of information's at one time. We need short breaks every now and then. allow the brain to process the information and our body to relax, to avoid stiff neck and shoulders.  

Conclusion

Today, online learning can offer us to expand our learning oppurtunities which also provides us top quality education through many ways on a technology based instructional environments. With the expanding needs of adult learners that want to continue on with their studies, online learning is the perfect and suitable solutions in balancing with work, families and other requirements. But in order for online learning to be successful, the need of knowing the information technology is crucial for both the faculty and students. Hand in hand, students and tutors must be able to communicate often so that there are no students being left out from the online subject environment. The internet as well as online learning will continue to grow. online learning as it expands, so will the challenges. So, educators and students must adapt in distance communicating and learning. identify the students need, and try to assist on the matter. With good, persistent initiative from both students and tutors, online learning will continue to be an acceptable learning formats that are legitimate. And all questions and discussions on the pros and cons of online learning will be dissolved in time.


References

1. University of Cambridge Counselling Service - Concentrations

2. David Rashty - Articles on Traditional learning vs. Online learning

3. Roy Tamashiro, Ed.D; Professor of Education; Webster University - Pros and Cons of Online Learning. Conflicting perceptions amng Teacher, education, Students

4. Articles from University of Illinois - Weaknesses of Online Learning

5. Understanding Stress, Symptoms, Signs, Causes and Effect - Helpguide.org

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

Defining Intelligence

Intelligence.

It is hailed from the Latin verb "intellegere", which means "to understand". Despite the long century of debate, people, have been trying to define intelligence. What is intelligence? Intelligence, some people might say, is the ability to learn from and about, ability to understand and the ability to interact with ones environment. Others might say, the ability to solve complex problems. Thus, there emerged a lot of contrasting theories. But, there are four kind of theories that has the biggest followers. They are, General intelligence (Charles Spearman, Primary mental abilities (1938 - American Psychologist, L.Thurstone), Multiple Intelligence (Howard Gardner - Harvard Psychologist) and Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (R.Sternberg)

Take one example, like of Howard Gardner's, how does he define intelligence?

From Howard Gardner's perspective, intelligence is the ability to solve problems , or to create products, that are within one or more cultural settings. intelligence to his perspective is a behavior that does not arise from a single unitary of the mind. To him, fundamentally, an intelligence refers to a biopsychological potential of our species to process certain kinds of information in certain kinds of way. As such, it clearly involves processes that are carried out by dedicated neural networks. No doubt each of the intelligences has its characteristic neural processes, with most of them quite similar across human beings. Some of the processes might prove to be more customized to an individual. therefore according to Howard Gardner, there are different kinds of intelligence - generated from separate metaphorical pools of mental energy, that enables an individual to solve problems.

How does it differ from the traditional point of view?

If you might ask a typical public school teacher, "What makes a a child or someone smart?" the common answer is "raw intelligence", described as the ability of a person to solve problems, utilize logic and to think critically. A person's intelligence, traditionally speaking, is contained in his or her general intellect - in other words, how each and every one of us comprehend, examine, and respond to outside stimuli, whether it be to solve a math problem correctly or to anticipate an opponent's next move in a game of tennis. Our intelligence, therefore, is our singular, collective ability to act and react in an ever-changing world, as cited above. Very much different from what of Howard Gardner's point of view, whereby from what is told earlier is that he believes is not only within one's intellect. That is the reason why Mr Howard Gardner comes up with his theory of multiple intelligence. because unlike the traditional way of thinking on intelligence, whereby it is put that, intelligency is an inherited single entity. and we human beings can be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way. 

Raw intelligence is perceived to be the ability to solve problems, utilize logic and to think critically. Traditionalists think intelligence is contained in the general intellect, and can be easily assessed and measured. This mindset led to the development of the Stanford-Binet IQ test and the development of the SAT tests for college bound students.

The idea was to identify what made a person "smart" and then to devise a curriculum that led to the acquisition of that knowledge. Testing was the means to determine if the child developed"mastery" in an area. But, testing can pigeonhole a student, perhaps incorrectly and unfairly.

But is it sufficient enough to identify real intelligence and academic by IQ and good test scores? It is not, why? Because intelligency differs from one individual with another. That person might not have the logical-mathematical intelligency, he might have, lets say, interpersonal intelligence. 

What if a child merely has a good short term memory and can effectively produce the "correct" answers on a test? Does that mean they can later apply that knowledge in a useful way? Maybe not.

What if a child is highly intelligent, but has test anxiety? Do poor grades indicate a lack of mastery in a core area of learning? Not necessarily.

Comparing this to Howard Gardner's theory on multiple intelligence, assessment of an individual's multiple intelligences can foster learning and problem-solving styles. Short answer tests are not used because they do not measure disciplinary mastery or deep understanding. They only measure rote memorization skills and one's ability to do well on short answer tests. Some states have developed tests that value process over the final answer, such as PAM (Performance Assessment in Math) and PAL (Performance Assessment in Language)

Another few comparisons on traditional ideas to Howard Gardner's theory. Where, traditional ideas on intelligence are that people are born with a fixed amount of intelligence. Whereby, on the Howard Gardner's perspective is that, human beings have all of the intelligences, but each person has a unique combination, or profile.

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence are broke down to different components. They are :

Logical - mathematical intelligence. People with these intelligence has the ability to solve mathematical problems. in short they have the ability to solve problems systematically. they are skillful in manipulating numbers and in counting or on how to identify and use abstract patterns.  

Linguictic Intelligence. They have the ability to learn languages and using them to accomplish their goals.

Musical intelligence. These people have the skills in composing, tones, sounds and having the appreciation of musical patterns, and responding to any elements pertaining to feeling. As according to Howard Gardner, musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel with linguistic intelligence.

Spatial intelligence. Have the potentiality in recognizing and using wide space areas.

Kinesthetic Intelligence. Using their own body in stating their feeling or solving problems and possessing crafty hands. And using their mental abilities to coordinate bodily movement.

Interpesonal intelligence. These people have the ability to understand other people's intention, motivations and their desires. They are good around people and work effectively with others.

Intrapersonal intelligence. Involves the ability to introspect and self reflect. They have the ability to understand their own intention and goals in life. They have the ability to appreciate their feelings and their own motivation. they are highly developed in self knowledge.

Naturalist intelligence. These people have the ability to see patterns and work in natural environment. They love nature.

Existential Intelligence. These are individuals who like and enjoy pondering, questioning and are curious about life and death and ultimate realities. They have the sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence and other spiritual questions.

With reference to Howard Gardner's idea on intelligence, we take one example of a person, many of us knows him for his philosophical ideas. It is Socrates himself. Socrates belongs to the group Existential Intelligence. Socrates, in his forties, began to think about the world around him, he began to ask and will try answering questions that are difficult to answer. Socrates has the liking that most people around him find annoying. He enjoys exposing conceit, ignorance and hypocrisy that is there amongst his fellow Athenians. He also enjoys conversing ethical issues in logics. His willingness to explore an argument and with conclusions that applies with moral courage, was admired by many philosophers. Socrates hadn't left any writings on his ideas. But, we can read his brilliant thoughts through the writings of Plato - his student. Here I jot down one or two of his brilliant quotes. "Once made equal to man, woman become his superior". "Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live". Ponder that.

Being intelligent is not all this days. It is knowing what kind of intelligency that you have. If we were to imply that in school settings, we will have different sorts of skills that we could 'dug out' from our childrens. Therefore children that does not excel in subject teached in school doesn't mean they are not intelligent, they may be intelligent in other sorts of thing.