A move forward towards online education

In a recent study US Department of education indicates that the students who use online learning in addition to the classroom are more productive. This is definitely a move forward towards the use of online learning in mainstream education. Online learning is fun and interactive, the students who experience this are encouraged to use it more often. The ability to share and learn from other students anywhere in the world is a definite plus point.

According to the study "Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection." At present, there are various online educational media resources such as like videos, online quizzes, audio books and speeches, electronic flashcards which includes video, audio, images and text.

Having said this, the use of the right online multi-media platform is a very important factor in this endeavour. With the technology advancements in the education, there are various collaborative learning and multi-media flashcard platforms. These platforms help students to expand their knowledge at their own pace and works best for their lives and schedules.

There have been quite a few collaborative learning platforms gaining popularity. The features that many platforms are different and is entirely user-driven, anyone can contribute by submitting or editing or reviewing the questions and answers, as well as adding rich content such as photos, videos, audio voice recordings and math equations. In addition, students work in teams to create review materials, paired with video explanations, for their class and some like FunnelBrain leverage a learning management application known as the "Funnel" that tracks and monitors learning progress with a spaced repetition algorithm.

In conclusion, it appears that blending the right collaborative social learning website with that of the traditional classroom will lead to long term benefits for the students.