Online learning has been on the rise in recent years, largely due to the convenience, cost, and accessibility the system offers compared to traditional learning. But with the sudden shift away from the classroom and boardroom in many parts of the globe, online learning has grown exponentially and some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has utterly disrupted the education system.
WHAT IS ONLINE LEARNING?
Online learning is essentially a form of electronic learning which delivers education through the internet instead of a conventional classroom. Although the learning takes place through online activities such as reading texts or watching instructional videos, students still have to complete tests and assignments in order to assess their knowledge. Online learning is more independent and does not require you to be in a certain place at a specific time. This flexibility makes education more accessible to people that may not necessarily be able to commit a large amount of time to attend classes.
South Africa in the past, had predominantly face-to-face classes for learning, teaching and schooling. In public higher education systems, these included some first-year classes of 1500 students, packed into lecture halls, which seat a maximum of 400-700 students. COVID-19 has created new-found respect for the term online learning as meetings, training sessions, social events, empowerment activities and facilitation of lectures have become synonymous with the words Zoom, MS Teams and webinars. Formal education programmes, short courses and skills modules are all conducted online. Students can view material at their leisure, take assessments and obtain certificates of competence on completion.
With this great shift in learning and online training, we were approached byHekkie van der Westhuizen, Director of SALDaTI – Southern African Leadership Development and Training Institute, to come up with an online training solution for their company’s leadership skills development courses. Although the Bunnypants Team has been working on something like this for months before Covid-19 strike the nation, we believe that there is no better time than now to officialy release this new leg to our business portfolio. We are very proud and very excited to share this platform with the world, as this was in many ways testing our design skills, our technical skills, our own communication skills and the world’s needs, all at once!
We believe that Online Learning is the way of the future. Whether it be your main source of education, or for assisted learning, it is an absolute must for educational institutions to consider sooner than later.
In years past, instructors had to create their “virtual classrooms” from scratch which was difficult and often led to poor results. Today, an entire industry has emerged to do this for us. Course Management System (CMS) software is utilized and allow instructors to design and deliver their courses within a flexible framework that includes a number of different tools to enable learning and communication to occur.
And exactly that, is why this was the perfect solution for the SALTaTi team.
The Southern African Leadership Development and Training Institute or SALDaTI for short, has been in the making for the past couple of years. Coincidentally, the Italian meaning of SALDaTI is to solder or as they would like to interpret it, the fusion of people and ideas to create and to add value.
They believe in sustainability and social responsibility and they therefore, as far as their resources allow it, provide Youth Leadership lectures and courses on a pro bono basis. They believe in our continent and by investing in our youth leaders now, will contribute to a better Africa for all of us.
The SALDaTI team also recognise that we live in challenging times where the Covid-19 pandemic has forced all of us to get use to a ‘new normal’, which includes a significant shift to what they call DOVE-B (Distance, Online, Virtual, E-learning and Blended development and training). As a result, they offer different types of online driven Growth Solutions in addition to in-person or face-to-face Leadership Development and Training initiatives.
Online learning or e-learning can sound daunting and all the technical terms can seem overwhelming at first glance. But so was technical terms like World Wide Web, Facebook, WhatsApp in the beginning and now from the youngest to the oldest, brightest to the not so bright are using these terms and technology every day with ease.
While traditional education will never go away, neither will distance learning. With online enrolment increasing every day, it looks like online learning is making its mark.
Our LMS System can be used by Schools, Universities, Extra Classes Educators and Learning Academies. With specialised features like interactive learning, blended learning, use of multimedia, course download and offline capabilities to mention just few. What makes it even more special is that it is very easy to use for the users and website owners. No Coding skills is needed!
Although platforms and solutions like Google Classes, Zoom and MS Teams are very useful and helpful for online learning, it is not the long term solution for your institute.
With all of these platforms, your data and intellectual property is theirs, not yours. Like with the Google Plus social platform, it can suddenly close down if Google decides to stop this service. And then all your work, information and time spent will be gone. But with building and owning your own LMS system, course data, documents and all other information is stored within the institute’s data property and can be reused and accessed at any time. As it is owned by your company and not any other third party.
Is your institute prepared?
Is your school ready?
Are you looking for easier ways to educate a larger group of students at once?
Then this is the perfect solution for you!
To learn more about what we can offer your company, how this solutions can help you, features and more information on Learning Management Systems, visit our website by following this direct link https://www.bunnypants.co.za/packages/e-learning-website-prices-south-africa
Or send us an email with any questions or a no obligation quotation to [email protected]
