Germany gets an upswing in the field of eLearning and virtual Things to Learn. The development is forward-looking: becoming a school and Further Training more independent and digital?

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Classroom instruction vs. eLearning: What does ideal learning look like?

Who has enjoyed studying at school? At least not me: Sitting in the classroom for hours, stubborn memorization, frontal teaching and extremely unmotivated teachers could do that to you Fun thoroughly spoil the learning. I was and still am more of an autodidact who likes to teach himself everything.

If you take a closer look, many people feel the same: Although most of them are used to rigid learning processes, e-learning, digital seminars or webinars have been enjoying increasing popularity for a long time. Many People increasingly use these digital learning opportunities to further their professional development. And it doesn't have to be lonely and happen alone in the quiet little room. For example, you can form digital learning groups together with colleagues, in which you meet regularly live or virtually and the Tasks Splits.

eLearning - flexibility as an advantage for students and lecturers

Unforeseen opportunities for learning interaction arise here for both students and lecturers: For example, you can post your direct lessons on YouTube. The lecturer presents all the material and films himself doing it. The advantage here is that the eLearners can watch the video again and again and at any time of the day or night.

The flexible time management has many advantages: For example, you can study when the children are in bed or you have done the other work. But that's not the only thing that improves the learning performance considerably: Another advantage is that you can also sleep between the learning units. At first glance, this seems absurd, but sleeping actually supports learning considerably. Declarative memory (knowledge memory) remembers facts and events and can be divided into episodic memory (events) and semantic memory (facts). We all need both ways - for example by remembering where we parked (event) or by remembering what a colleague would like to be called.

Flexible timing improves learning performance

Now what does that have to do with sleeping? For their study, psychologist Jessica Payne and her colleagues at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana observed 207 students who slept an average of six hours a night. Study participants looked at semantically related or unrelated word pairs at 9 a.m. or 9 p.m. They were alternately asked about the word pairs 30 minutes later, 12 or 24 hours later. During the 12 hour test clearfound that memory was much better after six hours of sleep than when subjects were awake for 12 hours. However, this only applies to unrelated word pairs.

In the related word pairs, there was no difference between day and night. Twenty-four hours after learning, it was found that those who went to bed shortly after studying performed much better in the survey than those who stayed up for several hours afterwards and worked on other things. From this, Payne concluded that sleeping directly after learning favors memory. In this way, sleeping helps the two types of our memory - the earlier you go to bed after studying, the sooner we can remember events and information the next morning. So it is a great advantage to sleep after the different learning units.

Innovative forms of further education on the rise

Many universities have already set up eLearning channels that make it easy for students and other people interested in further education to participate. At such virtual events, including Massive Open Online Courses (called MOOCs) could be attended by thousands of interested people. Students may even have the opportunity not only to attend lessons digitally, but also to write research papers as if they were physically there, and even to be graded for it.

In addition, there are numerous private providers who offer different forms of further education. A particularly innovative form of learning is the one founded in London in 2016 digital learning platform and online library Perlego developed: The two Belgians Gauthier Van Malderen and Matthew Davis wanted an affordable one Alternatives to the high Costs to buy university textbooks while helping publishers regain market share lost to piracy. So they focused on delivering academic, professional and non-fiction books offered in a subscription-based service that gives users unlimited access to these texts for the duration of their subscription

Learning form of the future? 5 tips for effective eLearning

Basically, one can say: eLearning has many advantages - but also some disadvantages. It offers a great deal of flexibility, as participants can learn anywhere and anytime. A variety of offers are also available. But digital forms of learning also require a lot of self-discipline and personal responsibility on the part of the participants, so that such a training Success leads and is not terminated prematurely, participants should note a few basic things. The TÜV SÜD Academy put together the most important tips for effective eLearning:

  1. Find the right offer for your own goals. Record for yourself what goals you want to achieve and what you want to learn. On the basis of these learning goals, you select your suitable learning offer. Also make sure that the scope, methods and qualifications match your learning goals.
  2. Schedule fixed learning times. Online learning offers great flexibility - nevertheless plan fixed learning times. If this does not work or is not possible, it is best to determine the scope per day or week (eg 120 minutes per week). Small units with a maximum of one hour are suitable - so be sure to set a time limit and set an alarm clock or timer.
  3. Create a good learning environment. Create a learning environment in which you can learn optimally. Make sure that everything that distracts you is cleared away. Have everything ready to help you learn (in addition to learning materials, this is also a drink or a snack). Make sure that you sit comfortably and have optimal light (not too dark, but it shouldn't dazzle anything)
  4. Record learning success. Take notes and document your learning success. Hold it like a face-to-face seminar and take notes, whether digital or analog with paper and pen. Visualize your learning progress and your learning success. Write down which chapters you have already edited and which you may want to repeat.
  5. Find a learning partner. It is often better to learn together with e-learning. Find partners who have a similar learning goal. Many online learning offers offer the opportunity to get in touch with other participants in e-learning - take advantage of this and exchange ideas. Do not remain alone while studying and get support from the trainer or online tutor if you have any questions.