ONLINE SCHOOLING: How online classes works

An online school is a type of educational structure done through the internet. The students and the teachers communicate through an online platform which includes videoconferencing or others. A good online class is an amalgam of video recordings, live chats, and live lectures complemented with assessments, class works and certain tasks that the student can finish up anytime. Since the acceleration of the coronavirus pandemic, colleges and schools have been shut down and the need for developing an online schooling system is crucial for all levels of education.

It is important I point out that the structure of an online class varies from one system to another. However, there are certain structures all online schools must possess for effective communication and knowledge transfer between teachers and students.

An online class is expected to have a log-in system where students, teachers and even parents can access the LMS. The LMS is an acronym for Learning Management System. The LMS is a virtual portal that houses everything about an online school. The LMS is just like the physical school building that contains everything needed by the teachers, students and parents. However, the students, teachers and parent portal is expected to be different because of the difference in needs. Once the student logs into the LMS, the student should be able to see; the courses enrolled, the syllabus of the course, the progress so far, contact teachers and coursemates, gain full access to online libraries and also view their performance.

Also, the school's L.M.S should also be mobile-friendly so that student can use their mobile as an alternative means to complete their assignment and even participate in video conferencing or live lectures. The parents of students should be able to access their ward performance and also communicate with their teachers or the admin. 

The first step to take in starting an online school is to visit the website of the school, get more information on the various online schooling platform they have, also know the teaching methods they use and be sure it's convenient for you and also ensure you can learn and get the best out of their teaching methods. Moreover, ensure you fully understand the requirements of the online program before proceeding to register. There are some online schools or programs that need some amount of hours per week for video conferencing. Ensure you can keep up with all their requirements before enrolling for online schooling.

Some advantages or cons of online schooling are listed below: 1. Proximity: Online schooling is not affected by distance. Teachers can communicate, teach, and share resources with pupils, students or undergraduates from across the world. Provided there's internet access at that location. Therefore, the idea of distance being a barrier is not applicable to online school. 2. It is easier for the teachers: The teachers find it easier because there would be no disturbance or noise from the students. Online schools enable teachers to pass information to students through the internet. This reduces the workload on teachers. 3. It saves the cost of transport: This is a major breakthrough in an online school. It eliminates the cost of transportation for both the teachers and the students. Some students live at a distant location from their school, therefore online school allows them to save the means for transportation.

4. It ensures teaching without physical contact: It has made the impossible of teaching without physical contact possible. This is also one of the major breakthroughs for an online school. Teachers can teach students without seeing them with the help of the online school. So if you need to learn from a teacher that stays abroad it won’t be a difficult task with the help of the online school. 5. It reduces the spread of contagious diseases: This is one of the major reasons online school became rampant. During the persistent spread of the pandemic, schools resorted to online teaching/school in order for the students not to stop learning.

Some disadvantages or cons of online schooling are listed below: 1. Students might not be taught adequately: This is one of the major disadvantages of online school. Most student finds it difficult to learn without the physical assistance of a teacher. 2. It is limited to the internet and data: It depends entirely on the internet. Therefore, if there is a poor network connection it would be very difficult. Also, data must be available. 3. It does not ensure proper monitoring of students by teachers: This is also one of the major problems of online school. The online school does not allow the teacher to monitor the students in learning. So students may not understand what is being taught by the teachers. It depends on the type of student learning. Students that learn fast and can learn on their own would not have problems with online school. The set of students that would find it difficult to learn through an online school is the students that learn slowly and cannot learn on their own. 4. It is limited to power supply: Most countries do not have stable electricity. Approximately, over 50% of countries have problems supplying stable electricity. This is a disadvantage that reduces the efficiency of online school. The above are the major advantages and disadvantages of online school. Online school has improved over the years.