Online Education

Education over the years has developed into online education. Students are now more involved with the idea of using a variety of online education sites. Younger kids have been coming more familiar with IT as they are taught to use computers at a young age so they become aware with the websites they can access. There are various types of websites to use for many ages according to their ability.

Online Education for Students

BBC Bitesize

One online website used for education is BBC Bitesize; it is widely available with all subjects offered to help you revise. They offer a range of videos and sometimes games to help students learn the main key points of information. It can be used with younger and older students from Key Stage 1 to GCSE. It is also easily accessible for students as it is now available on tablets and mobile phones. However it is limited as there are not many tests to do and the tests do not tend to link to the exam board, meaning it is not an accurate test and the information taken in can be irrelevant.

Sam Learning

Sam Learning is a further online education website which is most useful for those taking their GCSE’s. It is more interactive and can help in almost every subject and topic students cover at school, from languages to the basic maths, science and english. It is an effective way to learn as it has many activities to complete and they provide practice questions from exam boards. It is also useful for teachers as they can see your progress and how well you are doing.

                                                                                    My Maths

My Maths is similar to Sam Learning in a way that your teachers are able to see your progress and monitor your learning, however My Maths is just purely for improving your maths skills. Students find this useful as My Maths provides a step by step method on how to solve many problems and it makes it easier for students to be able to go through it with examples and they can keep at their own pace of learning. Many schools use My Maths, and teachers are able to set their students multiple tasks to complete for homework or just for extra work.

YouTube

Many students use YouTube as a source of online education. YouTube was first created for entertainment purposes but it has now developed into a wider range of videos, including educational videos. Students can now watch a variety of videos to help them revise, usually being teachers explaining the key points of the subject. A popular YouTube channel I have known to be very useful is ‘My GCSE Science’ which is a teacher going through everything you need to know within the AQA science course; he creates a visual image making it easier for students to understand.

Student Room

Another online website used is Student Room, which first started off as an old fashioned chat room. Now it is somewhere students can go and feel together with other people in the country who are sitting the same exams as them and they can get help on any subjects and topics they do not understand from others who also struggles the same as them. Students can get advice for future exams, improve exam techniques and also help others. On the other hand some websites provide you with help and you can speak to a teacher online to give you support if you are struggling. An example of this is a website called Tutor Hub.

Online Education for Teachers

Teaching Resources

Teachers can access a range of resources online to help them with preparing their students for exams. They are able to access exam papers, marking schemes and specifications for exam boards online. This is valuable source to have as it allows teachers to go through various past papers with students, so that they can improve their exam technique and also improve their knowledge of the subject. It is also a good indicator for the teacher to know which students understand and the areas where the majority are losing marks to be able to go over that section again.

TES Connect

TES Connect is the world’s largest online network of teachers. Teachers can connect to other teachers worldwide as they can share their resources and lesson places, giving them a range of methods to show their students, to see which one best suits them. TES Connect also advertises recruitment for any new jobs that are available to them and it allows them to find the best job which they are suited to.

                                                                                Socrative

Socrative is an online website that allows teachers to connect to their students by giving them questions to answer online. It is easy for teachers to set up a questionnaire as they just type in their question and the option in which they would like their students to answer them; then they simply have to give the students the room code so that everyone can connect. The students can answer the questions and then vote and choose the best option which a peer in the class may have suggested.

The Scopes of Online Education:

The scopes of online education include teachers and students being able to access the specification for exam boards on the internet, also along with mark schemes and past papers which can help improve exam technique. It is a straightforward way for teachers to see students progress and understanding of the subject. Finally it is accessible at any time on the internet so students can use various ways for revision.

The Limitations of Online Education:

The limitations of online education are that students rely on online websites such as BBC Bitesize which actually do not help with exam style questions and therefore can cause struggle for the student. Also not all information can be found online and teachers and students do not depend on textbooks as much anymore and this can affect the way in which student’s process their information as it is usually found much more summarised on the internet.

My Own Experience:
My own experience with online education is using My Maths as I have previously had teachers set work on there that I needed to complete and I also have used it when I did not understand some work and I wanted to go over a topic in my own time. Similarly I have used Sam Learning also when teachers have set me work, but also for revision as it could be challenging to help me improve.