As students progress to higher classes in school, they seek more autonomy and intellectual freedom. Online learning can help them pursue highly individualised learning programmes, possibly even college level courses. These, combined with hands-on exercises, real world exploration, and thorough assessments, can be highly beneficial to their learning progress. They can explore their options by trying out introductory topics from different fields, before committing to a specialisation. Online learning platforms can help these students become more independent learners, before they make their way into college. I believe that we must not hold back students from pursuing an online course but instead provide them guidance as they navigate through it.

Mobile apps that provide enhanced learning opportunities for school children have become quite popular as of late. Since mobile phones have already found their way into their hands, these apps are being used to supplement classroom learning. Teachers and parents need to act as anchors and mentors, curating the kind of educational content students are exposed to, during this tricky phase of exploring the right career to pursue.

Virtual public schools, that offer full fledged K-12 education have already sprung up in some parts of the world. They even offer a combination of the traditional system with online education. There are programmes that provide support to families that wish to home-school their children in the form of online course material. These programmes bring parents and teachers into the fold, by involving them in their child’s education from the get go. However, their effectiveness in the long term needs to be studied.

Online learning programmes will also open up opportunities for children from the weaker socio-economic communities who have limited access to learning resources i.e. teachers, textbooks and infrastructure. It will connect them to a global network of online learners, exposing them to new perspectives. The ideas that they receive will not be limited by the number of heads in one classroom.

source: https://www.educationworld.in/impact-of-online-learning-on-school-education/