University of Westminster

Word count: (247 words)
Reference List
Dweck, C. (2014). The power of believing that you can improve. YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X0mgOOSpLU

Entry 2: Summary and Response Essay

Topic: Science

Sowton (2014), compares the traditional and online ways of education, in his article "Distance or face-to-face learning – what’s the difference?" He describes some advantages, and at the same, the challenges students may face during online learning and gives some useful advice.

According to the author, online education is not a modern phenomenon, although people took a different view. In the last decades, technological progress became a reason for the development of online learning, which may shift traditional education from the primary choice of students in the future. In addition to this statement first online university was founded in the US and still successfully educates students today. There are three main challenges according to Sowton (2014), which students may face during online education and each of them will be discussed in this essay: motivation to study, the relationship between tutor and student, and interaction among students.

First, the author argues about the importance of high motivation to study online. It is very important for students to be very motivated, well-organized and they must have a good internet connection to successfully study online (Sowton, 2014). I accept the author's ideas, as it is very important to have a good internet since it is essential for online education. Moreover, to study better students should be very motivated and interested to gain knowledge, as some students may not attend the classes during online sessions because their attendance sometimes is invisible. The research done by Hartnett (2016), reveals the fact that motivation plays a crucial role in the persistence of students in a course, their level of engagement and of work they produce. Thus, internet connection and students motivation has a great impact on the success of online education.

Moreover, the main problem in online education is the tutor and student relationship. The author states that the personal relationship is very important to figure out the specific needs of students and to explain the theme properly and in an understandable form. However, it is complicated to develop the relationship for a student in online mode, as there is no opportunity to meet the tutors during the courses. I fully agree with this statement, as I believe that the relationship between the teacher and the student, understanding the psychology of students is important during training since the teacher must know all the strengths and weaknesses of the student and select the correct and most effective teaching method. For instance, Song et al (2015) in their research found out that the results of the same tests among students in the traditional way and online learning differ, although the topic was explained by the same teacher and with the same method. As the authors state, the reason why students from traditional education pass exam successfully are their interaction with tutors during the seminars. They advise using various educational settings and individual approach to each student for a more effective learning experience. Therefore, in the aspect of relationship traditional way of study one step further than online learning.

Additionally, the interaction between students and conversations with groupmates is one of the issues of online learning. The author claims that even if students have a conversation via online messengers it will not substitute the real face-to-face interaction, where students can meet each other. Also, geography and time can be called one of the negative sides of online learning. I support this idea and think that online education interferes with students for their social life and makes it impossible to make real friends and conversation with them, which may negatively affect them in the future. "A sense of community comes with the ability to interact and socialize, and this sets the foundation for trust and ultimately better working relationships (AIB,2016)." It proves, that face to face communication between students strengthen the relationship between them and improves teamwork and other important skills. Moreover, the location of students and time zone may interfere with even the online communication in virtual education. For this reason, online education is less highly valued than traditional one among students.

In conclusion, although online learning has several challenges, such as lack of students motivation, poor internet connection and other personal factors, in the future it can substitute the traditional way. However, for now, face-to-face education is far better and has its pros, as well as online education.