Teachlr is an elearning platform where students from all over the world learn through online courses or live classes taught by incredible instructors.
When experts who come to Teachlr decide to share their knowledge online, they face a disjunctive: Should I offer an online course or a live class?
Every instructor chooses which option adapts better to his/her needs and circumstances, but to make the decision a bit simpler, we are giving a list of advantages and disadvantages of both online courses and live classes.
Asynchronous teaching
Online courses are composed of videos accompanied by supplementary material such as documents, audios and presentations.
Advantages:
- Schedule flexibility: Since courses are pre-recorded, their making does not demand a long term commitment from the teacher. Instructors choose when to create and upload the videos to Teachlr, so they only need to dedicate the time that it takes to assemble the content. Once courses are uploaded, they are available day and night so students can take them wherever and whenever they wish.
- Division of the content: Courses are structured in chapters, which are divided in several short lessons of 5-10 minutes long. This allows teachers to organize their content and calculate the length of the overall course following a predetermined and logical structure. Ultimately, there will be enough time to cover all previously defined objectives.
- Simultaneous sale in multiple places: On Teachlr, all professors have the copyrights of every material they publish, which allows them to share their courses on other eLearning platforms -no problem, more money.
- Connectivity: Every teacher can use tools such as discussion boards and direct messages that facilitate the contact with students in order to clarify any doubts.
Disadvantages
- Interrupted communication: Despite having great tools that allow the connection between students and teachers, instructors should keep in mind that this communication does not happen in real time, nor is direct.
- Payment after 30 days: In Teachlr we are committed to offering the best service possible. Thus, all our students have a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee in case they are not satisfied with the course, which means that teachers receive their payment after the the time of the guarantee has passed.
Total synchrony
Live classes are bidirectional sessions generally used for private lessons, consultancy, tutorships or any other kind of long distance online assistance.
Advantages:
- Complete interaction: Teachers and students are able to meet directly in real time, no matter if they’re in different places.
- Innovative tools: Classes are given in the virtual classroom, which is equipped with an interactive board where users can chat, share presentations and images, write freely, transmit videos and audio, write on a notepad and share screens.
- Immediate per minute payment: Instructors define their rate per minute and the payment becomes effective once the class is finished.
- Content personalization: Classes allow teachers to design the instructional content according to the students’ needs and expectations.
Disadvantages
- Partial schedule flexibility: Teachers must set aside a space on their daily schedule to give classes. However, students and instructors can agree upon the date and time and adapt it to their availability.
- Insufficient time: On occasions the length of the session is not enough to cover all the content -as it usually happens in the traditional classroom-. Hence, the teacher must anticipate any complication and assure that the student completes all the proposed objectives during the time of the class.
What do we recommend?
Although you, as the teacher, make the decision, publishing a course does not necessarily excludes giving a class as well. On the contrary, there is an interesting complementarity between both: Students can obtain the structured content through a course, but if doubts remain, they can request a live class from your profile on Teachlr.
In any case, there are benefits that you can find in both forms of online teaching:
- Save: You don’t need any physical space to teach -you can do it from your own device in any place with an Internet connection.
- Increase your number of students: The amount of students is not limited by a classroom’s capacity. Moreover, on Teachlr you connect with students from all over the world: Time and place are no longer limits.
- Go over and keep learning: Cicero said, “If you want to learn, teach”. Giving a class or course is an excellent opportunity to review and organize everything you know, while perfecting your public speaking skills and learning how to use new technologies.
- Make money: And, of course, get an additional source of income, taking advantage of the knowledge you already possess.
From Teachlr we want to encourage you to share your knowledge with those who need to learn the skills you master. You already know where to go: https://teachlr.com/
Join the innovation in education. Teach whenever and wherever.
