What are the main differences between traditional and online schooling?

Traditional Schooling Online Schooling Fixed schedules Flexible Constant interactions Some schools offer virtual classes, others do not Physical classrooms and everyday travel Home-based virtual learning Costly Cost-effective Limited time period to join Rolling enrolments are possible

How is an online school better than a traditional school?

An online school is safe, offers flexibility and makes learning enjoyable for students. On the other hand, traditional schools battle with issues like skyrocketing fee, large class sizes, unqualified teachers, school violence, etc.

Is online schooling more affordable than traditional schooling?

Yes, online schooling does not depend on a physical infrastructure, and it reduces the costs of education considerably. There is no transport charge, no miscellaneous expenses, and no pressure to pay for field trips or extra-curricular activities. Top accredited online schools do not have any hidden charges. All this makes online schooling more affordable than traditional schooling.

Traditional Schooling vs Online Schooling: Key Differences

February 5, 2021

In the past few years, India has witnessed major changes in the educational landscape.

Today, a paradigm shift to online learning has proved the potential of digital education. Now that many of us have experienced online classes, the striking differences between traditional and online schooling are also a hot topic for discussion.

Let’s throw some light on these differences and see how online schools are different from traditional ones.

Read on.

Traditional Schooling vs

Online Schooling – A Brief Outline:

Salient Features of Traditional Schooling

Physical classrooms
Students study in a large group
Fixed timetables
Students visit the school premises regularly
All activities, PTM’s and assessments are conducted face-to-face
Teachers interact with students in person

Striking Features of Online Schooling

100% virtual
No physical premises for students to visit
Self-paced and flexible
No location and time restrictions
Accepts students from different time zones
Classes are conducted through the online learning platform
Students study from home
Varied resources are provided to students, such as online lectures, videos, animations, e-books, etc.

It’s time to discuss the differences now.

The Differences Between Online Schooling and Traditional Schools:

Flexibility

A prominent benefit of digital education is the blessing of flexibility and accessibility.

This option is free from time and place restrictions. And factors like these do not hinder the functioning of a digital school at any point. Through collaborative internet tools, students can access high-quality education within their home settings at any time they want. They can design their own study schedules and study at their convenient time slots. All these benefits are not possible with traditional schooling.

Personalized Instructions

The second difference between traditional and digital schooling is the opportunity for personalized learning. Students who enroll in virtual schools avail the blessing of personalized and individualized instruction. Unlike the crowded and noisy traditional classrooms, online schools offer individualized instructions. Educators in these schools are experts in creating personalized instructional designs for learners. As a result, students in digital schools master concepts at their own pace. Plus, they can watch and rewatch class recordings, lectures, or videos to gain a better understanding of the topic/lesson.

A traditional school cannot offer this level of advantage to students.

Teacher Support

Many parts of India battle with the shortage of trained teachers at almost all levels of formal education.

Take a look at some related facts before we move on.

Only 46% of teachers in Maharashtra are duly qualified to teach students.

Maharashtra Facts	%
Are appropriately qualified to teach	46%
Unqualified teachers in private schools	87%

Similarly, many other states face the same problem.

States	% of unqualified teachers
Meghalaya	33.91%
Tripura	51.65%
Nagaland	30%

Traditional schools have many such unresolved problems. But online schooling takes care of all these aspects well. In an accredited online school, teachers are hired not only on the basis of their qualifications to teach students. But top-notch virtual schools also ensure that their teachers are experts in handling students in an online learning environment. These teachers are trained to manage students, clarify doubts and gauge the red flags related to academic gaps or procrastination-related issues.

Student-Teacher Ratio

In a traditional school, teachers deliver instructions to a group of students. And many times, this group consists of a huge number (poor student-teacher ratio).

On the other hand, online teaching serves the purpose of guiding students through synchronous and asynchronous learning effectively. Unlike a traditional school’s crowded classes, online teachers serve a smaller group of students. Additionally, online teachers support the learning of students by creating opportunities to facilitate their learning instead of following outdated methods like lectures.

Teaching Pedagogies and Methodology

Teaching pedagogies in online schools also differ from those of traditional schools. An online school believes in student-centric instructional delivery. This means that in an online learning environment, students get instructions in a way that suits them the best. Their learning style, intelligence type, learning needs, and conditions are kept in mind while planning instructional delivery. And this is possible because teachers cater to a small group of students.

Top virtual schools make use of researched teaching pedagogies like inquiry, discovery, and constructivism, etc. to promote deep learning. But many traditional schools follow age-old practices promoting rote learning instead of driving meaningful educational experiences.

Success Rates and Student Engagement

Another difference between these two educational choices is student engagement. Unlike a traditional school, an online school’s innovative teaching pedagogies and personalized models aim at engaging all types of learners purposefully.

Through attractive multimedia-rich resources and graphical presentations, online teachers manage to engage new-age learners effectively. Online students also show great retention rates with the help of virtual learning tools. All in all, we can say that online education is tailored around the idea of student engagement, which is not the case in a traditional school.

Safety

The evils of school violence, harassment, and bullying still persist within our traditional school systems. By far, there is no foolproof solution to these problems in traditional schools. But thankfully, online schools address these problems perfectly.

With home-based learning, online school students are free from all these threats.

Before we move on, let’s take a look at the problems Indian students face in traditional schools, purely due to their teachers (survey findings).

38% of school students dropped out due to abuse. And the list of problems doesn’t end with this!

Some more findings-

Teacher-Related Issues in Schools	%
Verbal abuse	78%
Physical violence	77%
Sexual abuse	74%

Affordability

Admissions, donations, learning materials, uniforms, books, supplies, transportation, field trips, extracurriculars, development charges, miscellaneous fees, and hidden costs in traditional schools CREATE REAL FINANCIAL STRUGGLES for Indian families.

Data shows that private unaided school fees have increased by over 169% in a decade’s time. With this, the cost of education is touching a mark of 1.5 lakh, and can go up to 5 lakh per year.

But on the other hand, online schooling does the job better with low costs, and absolutely no charges for transport, field trips, and other forced expenses.

Concluding Words:

With this option of online schooling, India now has a perfect alternative to combat numerous educational challenges.

K8 School is all set to support the educational journey of Indian students through 100% online schooling.

Witness this revolution of online schooling with K8 School and be the change yourself!

Book your demo session and explore your tailored schooling plan with us without any delay!

Thanks for Reading!

Frequently Asked Questions

Top of FormWhat are the main differences between traditional and online schooling?
The key differences between traditional and online schooling are as follows:

Traditional Schooling	Online Schooling
Fixed schedules	Flexible
Constant interactions	Some schools offer virtual classes, others do not
Physical classrooms and everyday travel	Home-based virtual learning
Costly	Cost-effective
Limited time period to join	Rolling enrolments are possible

How is an online school better than a traditional school?
An online school is safe, offers flexibility and makes learning enjoyable for students. On the other hand, traditional schools battle with issues like skyrocketing fee, large class sizes, unqualified teachers, school violence, etc.
Is online schooling more affordable than traditional schooling?
Yes, online schooling does not depend on a physical infrastructure, and it reduces the costs of education considerably. There is no transport charge, no miscellaneous expenses, and no pressure to pay for field trips or extra-curricular activities. Top accredited online schools do not have any hidden charges. All this makes online schooling more affordable than traditional schooling.