Online Learning at TVSEMINARY
Advantages of Online Learning
The Effectiveness of Online Learning
The classical, face-to-face instruction is often compared to online learning, and the former is claimed by many to be more efficient. In response to this controversy in September 2010 the US Department of Education issued a detailed report that conducts meta-analysis of 45 published studies that compare online and face-to-face learning. The analysis demonstrated that the online format is at least as effective as face-to-face classroom training. Online education is becoming more and more popular in the contemporary world and provides all the conditions for high-quality learning. You can earn a degree in theology and grow in your knowledge and service to God without having to quit your job or move to another location. Online learning is the future of Christian education!
The Significance of Testing and Assignments for Learning
It is believed that the primary purpose of home assignments is to evaluate the students’ academic performance. However, here at TVSEMINARY we are convinced that homework is first and foremost aimed at enhancing learning, ensuring long-term material retention. This is why TVSEMINARY emphasizes interactive exercises, which are a key factor for the students’ engagement and learning. Even video lectures provide multiple opportunities for interactions: the students are now and then asked to answer simple retrieval questions to test if they are following the teacher. Such strategy is not only helpful in keeping the students focused on the material, but also has significant pedagogical value. Thus, two papers in Science (Karpicke and Roediger III, 2008;Karpicke and Blunt, 2011) show that activities that require students to retrieve or reconstruct knowledge produce significant gain in learning – much more than many other learning strategies.
Study Material Storage and Retrieval
While a lecture delivered in a real classroom can be missed or not fully understood, video lectures can be easily accessed at any stage of the learning process, allowing the students to review the difficult parts at the time that suits them best. It is also possible to take self-check tests several times. All the above ensures better material retention and, therefore, a higher final grade.
Course Tutoring
Each online course is supplemented by tutorial support. A tutor is a specialist with relevant skills and expertise in your area, who ensures that your learning is efficient and enjoyable. He/she can answer your questions, clarify the assignments, respond to online forum discussions and give you the information on what tasks are still to be done. All the written papers are reviewed by a course tutor, which helps students improve their skills and progressively demonstrate better academic results.
Simplicity and Easy Access
Our online courses are designed to be self-contained. The only prerequisite is Internet access. Learners’ electronic record books are created automatically and can be accessed any time to view the current grade for the course, which consists of several components. Each course is divided into a number of weeks with a clear, step-by-step study guide. Thus, a student is given a good idea of what he/she is expected to do at each stage of the learning process.
Student interaction
Recent studies show that student interaction is a vital component of quality online learning. So we do our best to make TVSEMINARY’s learners feel a part of a learning community. For each of our courses we offer an online forum where students can interact on the difficult issues related to the course topic and receive the tutor’s feedback on the discussion. In addition, students can exchange their prayer needs and pray for one another on a regular basis
