What is virtual education?

Electronic education, which is the translation of the word E-Learning, is sometimes also known as Virtual Learning. It refers to a type of education in which the main part of the education is carried out electronically and using electronic and computer platforms, and the teacher and student are not physically present in the same classroom at the same time, and the educational content is presented to the student using electronic methods (such as audio files, video, Internet and telephone connections, etc.).

Electronic education relies heavily on and needs computers and its use. The majority of virtual education today is pursued using computers, and due to the widespread use of the Internet in this field, electronic education is sometimes referred to as computer education and Internet education.

Advantages of virtual education

Virtual education has many advantages and benefits for learners, which are mentioned below:

No need for physical presence and commuting: In the virtual education model, since the teacher and student communicate using electronic platforms such as the Internet and video conferencing, there is no need for the teacher and student to be physically present at the same time in a specific place. This eliminates the time and financial costs of commuting and attendance for students and professors; and allows students who are very busy to use this training during their free time.

Relatively lower cost: The cost of producing virtual training content is lower than that of in-person training content, and in addition, the audience of each series of virtual training can be increased to reduce its costs. After creating educational content, this content can be used several times and costs can be reduced. E-learning provides the possibility of using educational content for more segments of society.

Adjusting the speed of learning: In most educational e-learning models, the speed of learning can be reduced or increased and its flexibility can be used.

Teaching required content: In virtual training courses, learners can focus on what they need and intend to learn and avoid repeating what they know. With this in mind and considering the fact that in virtual training, learning is student-centered, the speed of learning increases by up to 50%. In addition, there is very little time wasted in virtual education courses due to the lack of physical presence and commuting.

Visual and auditory appeal: Most virtual education content is created in new and visually attractive ways, and the boredom and monotony of old books are gone. This increases the enthusiasm and energy of learners (especially young and adolescent learners) for education and reduces fatigue due to excessive reading.

Content update: The speed of providing and producing electronic content is faster than printed and physical content, and new content can be provided to learners very quickly. However, changing printed educational content is difficult due to the high costs of producing and providing content, and this change is made late. This has made it unnecessary for some areas where educational content is constantly changing (such as software training).

Increasing the quality of learning: Using visual and multimedia content engages many parts of the audience's brain and helps the content taught to be recorded in their minds for a longer time, while the uniform content presented in books and educational booklets is very volatile and is quickly erased from the audience's mind.

Respecting educational justice: By using e-learning and reducing costs, as well as establishing the possibility of using education for users in remote and deprived areas, educational justice and equality are created.

Using professors in different locations: Since this course does not require the physical and permanent presence of the professor, it is possible to use professors who are present in different locations and universities.

Re-study and multiple times: Each student can use educational content as many times as they want and review it again.

Using the latest teaching methods: In e-learning, the most up-to-date teaching methods are always used to transfer content to the audience, but classical education has often shown itself incapable of using new teaching methods.

Ability to use content while traveling, working, etc.: To use online education content, there is no need to be in a specific location and you can attend the classroom from anywhere using a computer and the internet. This makes education possible for people who are constantly traveling.

Using the best professors: In face-to-face education, the professor must be present in the classroom, and for this reason, it can cover a small and fixed number of students, and for this reason, many students are deprived of the advantage of using strong, mature, and educated professors and must use weaker professors. But with virtual education, all students can be given the opportunity to use the best professors in each field.

Ability to learn while working: For most working people, education ends with graduating from university and they can no longer continue learning while working. But virtual education allows students to learn even with the heaviest tasks.