In this New Age of technophiles, a majority of the career-driven people are resorting to online education without much of a contemplation. Be it an aspiring student, a prospective employer or a hardcore professional, the very concept of online learning appeals to a large community. However, one cannot judge whether it is tough or easy without giving it a try whole-heartedly. There is an ongoing notion that it caters only to a certain community of people, mostly who are introverts and geeks at the same time! But it is a mindless thought. There are way too many benefits that come along with an online course. It is for you to decide as to why you want to adopt online education to get a valuable degree, when you have the clear choice of a brick-and-mortar school.
Though everyone has a unique learning style, there are three basic ones that are the most prevalent:
- Auditory form: These category of learners have a sharp and attentive ear. They have the strong ability to grasp and perceive study materials through their sense of hearing. Being mostly interested in reading chapters aloud may be during preparation, they excel at explaining topics to others in a systematic way. They are more likely to follow spoken orders than written ones, as spoken matter gets registered into their heads instantly. They love being hosts to cultural events on stage which is all about speaking. All efficient auditory learners are marked by these characteristics. Auditory learners take great interest in software programs that read aloud the chapters in text format. They might resort to mnemonic devices to keep solid memory of all the important points while studying. These learners literally feed on video lectures or presentations, concoct little rhymes or phrases to remember crucial information. They are also into podcasts related to the topic they are studying and listen to them while taking a break or resting, for revision purpose. With a vast array of audio books, podcasts, videos and several other online learning tools, online education system is a complimentary fit for these auditory enthusiasts. In fact the beauty of online learning lies in the fact that it allows you complete privacy of your own learning space so that you can read your study material aloud to yourself, without having to think about others.
- Kinesthetic form: These category of learners learn the best through physical activities or tasks rather than via any audio or video format. They excel at mending things and are hardly sensitive towards background sounds. Though likely to get distracted easily, they enjoy getting into role-play activities that make them learn much faster. They are more into the practical approach like hands-on practice rather than the theoretical one.
Online courses have a lot to offer to this category of learners as well. Mobile learning allows these learners to grasp easily without getting stuck up in a schedule. Mobile learning implies to study related materials on mobiles in many format that allows people to learn while moving from one place to another. It is beneficial for them to be engaged in exercise while reading coursework. This is a great option for them since being in a passive state while reading gets them dozed off. Classes that conduct meaningful debates or discussions researching through the web to complete assignments, Real-world assignments or tasks followed by reporting the results in the forums are fit for these students. Interactive collaborative projects are a treat the kinesthetic learners to bring out the best version.
- Visual form:These learners have an unprecedented sense of sight. They grasp well through visual forms of lessons. Learning in a quiet environment is their forte. They are excellent at spellings and sincerely enjoy the vibrant visuals of fashion and entertainment. They are good at analyzing charts and bars and lean on their visual skills even during lectures.
They click a mental picture of all the valuable information and restore it for a long time. Their senses grasp visuals faster than words. Videos and PowerPoint presentations impact them more than monotonous lectures. In online learning environment, there are many tools pertaining to visual forms of lessons such as PowerPoint presentations, lecture videos and course outlines. Online environment can prove to be a delightful educational journey for this category since they love their screens, in the first place!
You need to know which kind of a learner you are, in order to identify the program best suited for you. You might not belong to any one specific category, but might be a combination of the two or three of the above.