Whenever we are to decide a mode of training, majority of the organizations find themselves in a position where they have to choose between self-paced learning and classroom or virtual learning. You know there are many myths about the effectiveness of self-paced learning. But in reality, it is true that self-paced learning can enhance your learning experience more than any other mode of learning. And that is why, we are here to prove you how self-paced learning can enhance the learning experience.
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- University of Illinois via Coursera
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Ways how Self-Paced learning Enhances the Learning Experience
Below are some of the advantages that can prove self-paced learning to enhance one's learning experience.
1. More Convenient
When we talk about corporate learning, it is no joke that all the employees would find it very difficult to keep a balance between work and training. Because of the work load and overlapping work priorities, sometimes they would find it difficult to attend scheduled training programs. And that is the part where the role of self-paced learning comes to screen. With self-paced learning, all the employees can learn anytime and from anywhere and whenever they want. Whether you are working or travelling, at home or even a little sick, it won't matter as with self-paced learning you have the option to study whenever you want. Thus it enables more people to attend training programs and the drop out ratio reduces eventually. You might also be interested in online learning growth insights.
2. Cost Effective
Let us be very clear about one fact. Self-paced learning is very much cost effective as compared to virtual or classroom training. With virtual training, there are many expenses involved, the instructor fee, venue cost, technology cost, and what not. On contrary, self-paced learning does not involve any of these costs and that is why it is highly cost effective.
3. Suits all Types of Learning Needs
We all know that different people have different learning styles. Some people like to go through the same learning content a hundred times which results in more time for completing a course. Whereas there are some people who prefer to get done with a course real fast. Well, in either case, the learning and comprehension capacity of every individual is different. And that is why self-paced learning justifies this situation. Whether you don't want to wait for others and finish the course fast or need more time to grasp the content at your ease and pace, self-paced learning fulfills your requirements really well.
4. No Scheduling issues to Face
For any learning program to go well, scheduling is considered to be one of the major challenges and especially in courses where a large number of people are involved. But in self-paced learning, the issue of rescheduling and cancellation get out of equation. It is because the learning managers simply have to launch a program and then set a deadline for course completion. Now it is up to the learner to complete the course before the given deadline. You can also checkout how to leverage vicarious learning theory in online learning.
5. Can help build a Solid Base
Same like virtual classroom learning where teachers tend to take tests from the students to find out how much they have understood a concept; self-paced learning also has a variety of quizzes and assignments at the end of each module. Completing these quizzes or assignments at the end of every module can help learners evaluate themselves and also give instructors a clear picture of a student. If for instance, any knowledge gap is found, then the learners can easily review the content again and again until they succeed in developing a solid understanding of the content. So you see, this type of flexibility is not available in virtual training as the teacher is not going to wait for you until you have completely understood a concept. But in self-paced learning, you can freely ask questions and have them answered by the instructor in a while.
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- ATC Training via FutureLearn
- 3 weeks (2 hours weekly) of effort required
- Course type: Self Paced
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- via edX
- 171,892+ already enrolled!
- 2 Weeks (2-3 hours weekly) of effort required
- Course Type: Self Paced
6. Leads to Greater Focus
It is so true that in a classroom where there are so many students including your friends, you can easily get distracted and instead on focusing on the topic, you end up wasting time with your friends. But hey, that is so not the case in self-paced learning. As you get to learn alone at your home or any other place which is less distracted and thus learning everything with more concentration. You can also find out how to improve online course effectiveness through gamification?
Final Thoughts
Concluding our discussion with a viewpoint that no matter how many people say that self-paced learning is not as effective as it should be, you should know that they are wrong. And the above mentioned reasons or advantages can justify what we are saying. Therefore, self-paced learning is indeed very effective in providing educational services to not only students but employees, customers, channel partners, and more in numerous ways. So, read this article today to find out how self-paced learning can enhance the learning experience and never stop learning.