The education system as it currently exists – is a classic example of the past … Of course, we all sometimes desire to be a graduate of a prestigious university, preferably with a hundred years of history. Prestigious, expensive … and not very effective. Time goes by fast, knowledge becomes obsolete, and there is a constant need to learn something new – to complete education, to be retrained.
Distance education should not be considered in general – on this subject there has been written many articles and other things. Let’s talk about the “small forms” of a new education architecture – the webinars. Especially, they perfectly complement the classical education, helping to make up for lost time and just learn something new.
Various outdoor activities, that are, in real life, very popular all over the world for a long time. All kinds of literary cafés, popular science public seminars … etc. This format has its advantages, but we just do not always have the time and opportunity to attend such events, especially if living in a small town. But with the proliferation of high speed internet an opportunity to hold webinars appeared, and most importantly – to participate in them. This requires only a computer with Internet access, equipped with speakers. Many people have laptops now with the same speakers.
Obvious advantages of webinars are:
– Money savings on schooling. First, the cost of online learning is much lower than in open workshops and training sessions. Second, do not need to spend money on travel, hotel, and food. The cost of the learning process is also minimal: all you need – it’s a personal computer connected to the Internet, speakers, and if necessary, the webcam.
– Saving of time. Webinars’ technology means training via short sessions: typically 1 to 4 hours.
– The possibility of interactive participation. Participants can view the webinar presentation, video, desktop of coach exactly in the same way as if they were in a lecture hall. Students can ask questions and get a trainer recommendation for a specific situation, to participate in surveys and polls, expressing an opinion to the coach.
– For webinars there are no borders and distances. Participant of the webinar can be from anywhere – office, business trip, vacation, home.
– The webinar is an effective way of learning. In a short time the best coach and the company can be picked. More and more companies are organizing webinars, many spend free introductory webinars. People can visit different online seminars before choosing the person you like and can trust. Most trainers and companies conducting webinars, try to provide not the proverbial, but a narrow and exclusive information..
– Ordering a webinar, there is no risk, even financial. You will be able to return the money if for some reason cannot attend the webinar.
Cons are: there is no “live chat”, as no one sees (video webinars are still a rarity, often all the listeners only see the speaker). Part of webinars is free of charge, others have a certain fee.
There are a few tips for those who choose to attend such an event:
- Decide on the topic of your interest, do not try to attend everything.
- Make a choice in favor of free webinars – if the subject is really yours and the author “hook”, it is already possible to move to a fee.
- During the event, be active, ask questions (of course, when it can be done, but most of the webinars necessarily involve feedback).
- If you are tired and do not really perceive what is happening – it is better to listen to the audio recording (ask in advance whether it is, or make by yourself, in extreme cases).
- Do not get carried away too much – remember all the good things are reversed, if overly fascinated by the process.
- If this process grabs you, think – maybe you can try to hold similar events without any help (but that’s another topic, just say it is not so scary and difficult as it may seem).
And do not forget that a virtual world is just a way to explore reality. Good luck in exploring the world and yourself!
