It is no secret that getting to know the best setup for your online learning can accelerate the rate of your studies and improve your performance in your online degree. Knowing more about the different types of online learning formats before you apply for a bachelor’s degree online can be beneficial to optimizing your experience as you pursue online education. Learn more about the various types of online learning formats available for you to try and find the best one for your own learning process!
Why Online Learning?
Before we get into the different types of virtual learning, we can preface this article by going over what online learning is all about and why online learning is a great choice for most students and professionals looking to pursue degrees.
Pursuing a bachelor’s degrees online provides you with flexibility to take on a virtual education while balancing it with other activities such as work and responsibilities at home. It also builds values of independence, time management, and honest work ethic as you study on your own. However, the success of your virtual education pursuit also rests on the type of online education that you choose.
Below are some of the most common online learning format types that remote learners can choose from to accelerate their remote education.
Synchronous Learning
Synchronous classes are some of the most common types of online learning available from various educational institutions. This recreates the typical classroom format through an online platform with the instructor joining the class via video conference. They can use this platform to share lecture slides while teaching class live.
Choose This Type of Online Learning Format If: You want the convenience of remote learning along with the ability to schedule your classes. All while still experiencing the structured and interactive approach of classroom teaching.
Asynchronous Learning
While synchronous learning is a type of online education that involves a fixed time for class, asynchronous learning goes the opposite route with online learning classes that can be taken up during one’s own time. While they also come in the form of pre-recorded lectures or voice recordings that are combined with predetermined outputs that students can submit for the grading of their instructors.
Choose This Type of Online Learning If: You want a more flexible learning format that gives you more control over your schedule, especially if you are juggling your classes with work and other household responsibilities.
Hybrid Learning
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some educational institutions adopted hybrid learning as their primary online education type. A hybrid learning curriculum combines both synchronous and asynchronous formats, creating a structured and interactive learning process where students can ask questions in real time on some days while leaving them to their own devices and engage in independent learning on others.
Choose This Type of Online Learning If: You want the perfect balance of both independent and flexible learning while still having the opportunity to interact with classmates and teachers in real time, albeit virtually.
Fixed Time Online Learning
For some schools that had to adjust during the global pandemic, hybrid learning simply was not the option. Instead, many of them opted to simulate the same classroom setting in a virtual manner. Fixed time offerings follow a preset and strict class schedule wherein students are required to take attendance, clock in, and clock out in order to prove that they finished the school day. Unlike synchronous learning which does not necessarily call for fixed blocks of time to hold video conferences, this type of virtual learning is rigid when you log in and log out.
Choose This Type of Online Learning If: You prefer to mimic a traditional school setting as closely as possible while easily managing your schedule around a fixed block of time for schooling.
Computer-Managed Learning (CML)
Also known as Computer Managed Instruction (CMI), this type of online education relies on a computer program or application to facilitate a student’s online learning process. Through the program or portal, students can receive the materials they need for learning, while also being ranked or evaluated by the computer through preset criteria based off of the students’ learning goals.
Choose This Type of Online Learning If: You want a convenient, all-in-one channel for your self-paced learning while having control and objective evaluation of your learning goals.
E-Learning
More closely associated with children, E-Learning is an online education type that is conducted through an online learning platform that offers timed or self-paced activities in order to learn more about, measure, or review knowledge about a lesson. Students usually click through lessons and quizzes, introducing an aspect of gamification as you learn. Results are recorded for their review and monitoring.
Choose This Type of Online Learning If: You want a fun, self-paced style of learning that you can use to idly pass time by while still reviewing important subject matter for your program.
Which One is the Best?
While all six of these virtual learning types are valid choices, choosing the best one is easier said than done. This is because you know yourself, your priorities, and your needs best. Determine what your ideal online education type is based on your own self-assessment, so you can be sure that your online learning is an investment that you can maximize.
If you are decided on online learning as your schooling method of choice, get in touch with us today to select the best program to fit your goals!