Is a real teacher in a real classroom always better than online learning? True or not true? Dr. Barbara Oakley explains how our brain responds to different forms of learning.
What? Online learning versus traditional learning in a recent article in the scientific magazine Nautilus.
Who? Dr. Barbara Oakley is an engineering professor at the University of Oakland. She has been researching everything related to learning for over twenty years. She is an authority in her field.
Topic? How does our brain react when we learn? Does online learning affect our brain differently than classroom learning?
Conclusion? The results are clear and show the efficiency of online learning:
- We have fewer attention problems.
- Our brain is made to respond to moving images. By focusing on a single image, such as watching an instructor, we lose focus, even if the topic is interesting.
- We have a better understanding of the learning process.
- Using moving video images stimulates our brain in a different way. It becomes part of the interaction, allowing us to gain more insight into processes.
- We can process difficult information faster.
- By intentionally learning information, we process it more quickly. Online learning allows you to revisit material, practice, and test yourself. You learn in a more focused, and therefore quicker, way.
- We remember better.
- Information is linked in our brain to images, which helps store the material in our long-term memory.
How all of this works can be read here.