Pros and Cons of Remote Learning for Kids in 2022
With the exponential advance in technology making remote learning more accessible every day, more and more people are considering it as a sensible option.
A recent pandemic provided a good trial run for distance learning and gave us a glimpse of what this practice would be like on a large scale. Remote learning proved mainly a success, but it’s not without its own share of disadvantages.
Whether or not to switch to studying from home is a pivotal decision in a kid’s life. It carries many implications and consequences that need careful consideration. That is why we set out to weigh up the pros and cons and help you make an informed decision.
Pros :
Practical convenience
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. With remote learning, all you need to do to get started on your school day is to open your laptop. Contrast that with rushed morning drills, hasty preparations, travel time, and expenses of attending your school in an old-fashioned way. It’s always tempting to take the easy path of least resistance, like buying a high quality research paper from GrabMyEssay, instead of spending days on it yourself.
After switching to distance education, you will notice many small improvements in your daily routine that will soon add up to a huge weight off your shoulders. Finding matching socks, forcing a half-cooked breakfast down your throat, and switching three buses to get to school will all become burdens of the past. Morning anxiety is no more!
Extra sleep
Sleep is often underrated. If you have ever slept through a good movie or outsourced your essay to thesis help online to grab a nap instead, then you know the importance of sleep. A highly simplified morning routine also means you get that all-important extra hour of sleep you always thought was the missing variable to a successful day. As any non-morning person will testify, setting your alarm clock to those 30-40 minutes later can mean the difference between a day-long healthy attitude from a complete night’s rest and a full day of non-productively idling around like a sleep-deprived zombie.
Choose your own classroom
Effective studying requires full concentration and undivided attention, which means you have to make sure you feel comfortable whenever attending a class or essay writing. Should you grow bored by the confines of your room, you can move your study spot around the house. You can also opt to go to your grandparent’s or classmate’s place and tune in to your classes from there. Not being tethered to a physical location can also allow the family to travel on vacation or relocate to their holiday house at any time without interrupting children’s education.
Cons :
Social isolation
Receiving education includes many alternatives. You can attend classes from home, be homeschooled, or even self-educate. But what all these options fail to provide, as opposed to traditional school-going, is social experiences. For a developing child, the presence of a healthy social life is of the highest importance, as it shapes the underlying foundation of their personality and provides human connections that are irreplaceable constituents of a healthy upbringing and overall happiness.
Moreover, basal personality traits that early social experiences hone are as, if not more influential in future job hunts, professional growth, and overall success in life than education alone.
For these reasons, many rightfully argue that having fun and forming friendships are even more important aspects of school than education. Remote learning can deny kids these necessary experiences that many take for granted and atrophy their social skills.
Missing out on simple pleasures of life
People who work or study from home often admit they miss the simple things in life – like taking a bus, bumping into someone they know on the street, or enjoying a refreshing lunch in a cafe – things that to you may seem like fruitless chores or incidentals.
Home is supposed to be a place of rest and relaxation. It is a safe refuge from the busy and chaotic outside world. Kids and adults alike look forward to returning home after a busy day to kick back and let loose. How do you hope to keep associating your home with fun and careless relaxation if it’s also a place you study or work from?
Simply going from place to place and changing the environment provides a healthy variance in your day that is hard to realize you even need before you lose it.
Bottom line
Learning from home has never made more sense. Modern technology has made remote learning not only possible but more efficient and practical than the traditional alternative of physically attending school. Without careful consideration, the apparent conveniences of distance learning may outshine its deeper, more intricate downsides and quickly lure you in. We hope our piece elucidates the main benefits and costs of this type of learning and helps you make the right choice.
Joanne Elliot is a former journalist turned online teacher. She likes sharing her thoughts and experiences on all things studying on the blog she has recently started to host. Her work has proved influential and is greatly appreciated by the growing online community looking for learning advice on her page.