E-course

As said, “Humans spend years eating, sleeping, working, and worrying about those things, but it is their free time that is most important. If spent well it can render them into great people, if squandered, it cannot,” we all want to be productive and make the most out of the time that we have every day. However, we tend to procrastinate things too often or focus too much on making every hour productive can be counterproductive, in fact, leading to lower performance, fatigue, and eventually burnout. We need to rest and find effective everyday activities which supports our health, well-being, and a high level of performance.

During my vacation, I had lots of spare time at home. I had nothing to do other than sleeping and eating. For much time to waste, I thought of spending it on some online learning platform and as a teacher-to-be, it is must that we never stop learning. Fortunately, I had the perfect opportunity to participate in Virtual Sensitization Workshop on Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Peer Education which was organized by Y-PEER Bhutan. This workshop was conducted from 2^nd to 6^th February 2022.

Figure 1: Certificate for Virtual Sensitization Workshop

Figure 2: Assignment of making slogan

After experiencing the program, I got to explore on countless yet significant topics such as Consent and Healthy Relationships, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), Gender Based Violence, SRHR and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). The best practices were the discussion part where we got to debate and question the MKO (more knowledgeable others) in ZOOM meeting and had hands-on experiences such as developing slogans, informational video and some quizzes which enhanced my knowledge. Despite it was done online, I had such an authentic experience from this program and inspired me to crave for more knowledge.

Figure 3: Certificate for M4M program

Figure 4: Slogan on CSE

Contented by the first online learning, I had such an intrinsic motivation to participate in regional E-course on “Mental Health” conducted by M₄M (Me for Myself), an international campaign. It was conducted from 4^th March to 8^th April 2022. This program didn’t disappoint me as well.

Some of the followings are the benefits that I discovered from online learning.

1.   Flexibility

Among the many benefits of an online learning, virtual classrooms are great for people who are advancing their education while working. In a traditional classroom, lectures will be scheduled at a specific time of day and our schedule will be formed around the availability of classes. When attending a virtual campus, online learning allows for far more autonomy in deciding our own schedule which means we can study whenever it’s convenient for us.

  2. Reduced Costs

Education can be expensive, but virtual learning can provide a number of ways for students to save. Not having to commute to campus can help us save on transportation costs. Most online programs offered by the school are also financial aid eligible. Between all these sources of savings, cost-cutting can be an enormous benefit of online classes.

  3. More Free Time

Because our schedule isn’t dictated by classes, we can spend more time doing the things we want. Plus, in addition to saving money, not having to commute also means saving time because we don’t need to travel to-and-from campus. That extra time can be used in any way we want, such as spending time with our family. All we need is a digital device and an internet connection, and we have access to the necessary tools to further our education.

 4. Increased Collaboration

Online students have better opportunities to collaborate with classmates through virtual group work and meetings. One of the benefits of online courses are the message boards and grouping tools that allow students to post their feedback on readings and other assignments and respond to their classmates.  

5. Personalized Education

Students who find their focus suffers from classroom activity may benefit from online classes. Students who aren’t as assertive may have better opportunities to participate in class discussions when communicating online. Working from our own choice of environment, with self-paced learning, the result can be a more personalized learning experience. For example, students to choose the time that works best for them to complete readings and assignments. Since the coursework is online, courses can be completed anywhere there is an internet connection.

6. Enhanced Time Management Skills

While the benefits of online learning include the flexibility to complete assignments at a time that is most convenient to the student, the student still needs to manage their time wisely to ensure they complete their assignments by the deadlines set by the professor. Online courses teach students how to manage their time better since the student bears the responsibility of engaging with the course instead of simply showing up to class on an assigned day and time. As a result, students not only gain knowledge from the coursework, but they also sharpen their time management skills.

7. Repeated Access to Course Materials

Where a traditional lecturing leaves us at the mercy of our best note-taking skills, video presentations can be watched and revisited as necessary. If a student didn’t quite understand some of the content covered in a video lecture, they can go back and listen to it again. Students can use lecture videos as a supplemental tool to help with competing assignments.

Through these pictures (figure 2 and 4), we can 

 Thank you!