What is E-Learning?
E-Learning is an advanced form of learning using electronic resources. This form of learning has become extremely popular in recent time because of the rapid growth in technology and the various advancements made in the learning system. E-Learning has a number of advantages as compared to primitive methods of learning.
- The students can get their lessons by sitting at their own home. They need not have to travel to far off places just to attend the classes. They can learn at their own independent place and time.
- E-Learning does not require any physical space or a classroom as everything is done online. Students can learn at their own pace. If they find it difficult to understand a particular topic then they can go through that topic over and over again.
- The students will also be able to customize their course material as per their own requirement.
- E-Learning also enables one-to-one interaction. In case you face any kind of problem, you will be able to contact your mentor directly and clear all your doubts.
What are the challenges faced in Elearning?
Although e-Learning provides a number of opportunities to the students, it has a number of challenges as well. Now let us have a look at some of the unit challenges of E-Learning:
Isolation: A big advantage of online learning is that a student will be able to study their lessons from their own homes. However, this can be really isolating. E-Learning methods can create a distance between the students. There is no physical interaction between the students. They are not being able to learn in an encouraging and supporting community. This can bring about a lot of difficulties and they may find it difficult to persist in future.
Lack of instant response: In case of E-Learning, the mentors and the teachers work during their working hours. So, the students may not be able to get an instant response to their queries. They may have to wait for a considerable amount of time to get their doubts cleared. This can be very demotivating for the students
Lack of proper technology: The people who are not very familiar with the latest forms of technology may find it difficult to cope up with E-Learning methods. Also, the lack of proper internet connection prevents a student from taking his or her classes smoothly.
What is social learning?
How does social learning help to overcome the challenges faced in Elearning?
Social learning can definitely help to overcome the challenges faced in E-Learning methods. In social learning, the students need not be isolated from one another. They will be able to share their views with one another and also interact with other students of their age. This will also help the students to build up their confidence level. Proper communication is a very important aspect of learning and without proper communication, the students will never be able to gain proper knowledge.
What is the need for a community website?
A community website enables social learning. It brings together a number of students in a community where they can learn their lessons. A community website plays a great role in developing a positive mindset. It also helps to create a positive relationship between the students. Here we have listed some of the advantages of developing a community website for learning.
It enables better learning. The students will be able to interact with each other within the community and also share their ideas with one another. They will take more interest in their lessons in a cognitive environment.
Community websites help to improve the retention rate of the students. Once they start feeling connected with the community, they will join the classes the following year as well. This will definitely help you to expand your online learning business.
A lower level of stress: As the students are learning their lessons together, they do not feel stressed out or isolated. Instead, they begin to feel more motivated. This will definitely help to boost their confidence and yield a better result.
How to design a community website for students?
There are various ways by which you can design a community website and the easiest way to do so is by taking the help of WordPress. WordPress is not just a web development platform. It is a content management system using which you will be able to develop a fully functional community website. However, in order to design the perfect community website, you will require an exclusive WordPress theme and a set of plugins.
E-Learning plugins: To design an E-Learning platform for your students, you need to integrate LMS plugins to your community website. Two such popular LMS plugins are LearnDash and LifterLMS.
LearnDash Toolkit
LifterLMS
Community plugins: Community plugins let you design an online community. These plugins allow you to add community features to your WordPress website. BuddyPress is one such plugin.
BuddyPress plugin
WordPress theme: WordPress themes provide a framework on which you will be able to create your community website. These themes provide you with a lot of customization options using which you will be able to design your desired website.
Reign BuddyPress
Get Now
In this way, a community website can help to boost your E-Learning business. It is highly beneficial for the students and allows them to learn their lessons in a cognitive environment. What are the other benefits of having a community website for an E-Learning platform?
Interesting Reads:
