Is Online Learning as Effective as In-Person Learning?

 McKayla Talavera

Montoya

English 102

8 July 2025

Is Online Learning as Effective as In-Person Learning?

Growing up we’ve all been so used to being taught in school or as it says in my title “in-person”. Being taught face to face surrounded by tons of staff and students is something most of us have experienced, it is known to be the most common teaching method to this day. But around 2020, once covid hit is when things started to change drastically. Dew to the pandemic people had to stay home so that meant kids weren’t allowed to go to their schools and had to learn at home through zoom. I experienced this through 6th & 7th grade which was very unfortunate because the main thing I’ve always enjoyed about school was being able to see my friends and teachers and it was taken away from me. Having to be responsible for logging in for each class at a certain time, making sure my Wi-Fi worked because if not I would be missing some important things talked about during the short class time we had was all very stressful. Not only were those things stressful but as a visual learner and someone who always needs reassurance on their work it was very difficult to reach out to a teacher and get a response back that was detailed and could help even a slight bit. I’m going to talk about what in-person and online learning is, the benefits of the two but also the disadvantages. Along with how they each work and why each one is better for certain people and me.

What is In-Person Learning?

According to edglossary.org In-Person learning is “any form of instructional interaction that occurs “in person” and in real time between teachers and students or among colleagues and peers”. In a more detailed way in-person learning is being able to be surrounded by other people close to your age, be more hands on with your learning getting to talk with classmates, experience new techniques taught by a teacher and learn certain things about puberty when you get to the age. Even if you’re younger your peers will make sure you know important things for not only your health but safety as well.

What is Online Learning?

Tomiso gives a brief explanation on what online learning is. Online learning is being taught fully online through electronics. Tomiso states how you learn your assignments through either hardcopies or eBook and your assignments can be many different things, “essay assignments, online discussions, quizzes and exams”.

Perspective #1: Why In-Person Learning is Better

In-Person learning is better because if you are a visual learner which is claimed to be the top way of learning, then in-person is for you. Berry College has an article; “Why Face-To-Face Education Has Benefits”. One of the reasons being better academic performance, “being in a classroom lets you receive more direct instruction, lets you ask questions, and you are also less distracted”, Berry College. Being able to learn in-person or “face-to-face” also gives you access to resources and support where you can not only get help but also build a “community” with the people you might talk to for help in or outside of a class, Berry College also mentions something like this for example “labs, learning to clearly communicate and practice collaboration”. If you want to have a better academic performance and learn some more skills while learning, being talked through about what you are going to learn and have questions responded right away with feedback and also building a community then in-person learning is for YOU! So, if you are wondering what is best for you than just compare they ways you prefer to learn and the things that help you the most for your academics.

Perspective #2: Why Online learning is Better

Online learning is better because it gives you the ability to be flexible and kind of build your own schedule. Duse states 10 benefits on why it’s better and flexibility is one of the ten reasonings. When you choose to study online and you don’t understand a topic you can always go back to the lecture unlike learning in-person learning where you would have to take notes and realia on those. But Duse also mentions something that’s important to a lot of people which is reduced cost. When online you will sometimes have online books, as for in-person you’d have to pay for every textbook you need which adds up. Sometimes people have the preference of learning outside of a classroom because it might help them focus better.

Similarities and Differences:

The similarities between the two is that with both you tend to use a computer to get a lot of work done, your lessons are taught through a teacher and you use regular school essentials. The big difference is that sometimes with online a teacher might just have you go over the assigned things on your own as for in-person they go over it a bit. A huge difference is that one is online learning through and electronic and the other is face to face.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Both ways of learning have their strengths and weaknesses, just like everything else. Some strengths that in-person learning has is being able to get immediate feedback in the classroom and from other students, having someone to make sure you’re focused and getting work done. These are some strengths for in-person learning but come of as weaknesses for online because sometimes they don’t get immediate feedback and have to wait a while and staying focused might be hard for them and no one can hold the accountable to staying on task. Online learning does have some strengths for example, being able to build your own schedule. If you’re a busy person that usually has a lot of things to do, then it might be helpful. Another strength is being able to return to a lot of old lectures. Sometimes this isn’t available for people who take in-person classes because a teacher may expect the to always take notes so I’d consider it a weaknesses for in-person learning along with not having as much flexibility. When learning in-person you must work your days around your classes.

Compromise:

When trying to come to a decision on which is “better” or as effective there’s no right answer. There is no right answer because everyone learns differently and has their preferences. One person may learn better in a classroom environment with other students but someone else may prefer to learn online and it might work better for them if they tend to travel a lot. Like I mentioned above both in-person and online learning have downsides on things that are kind of similar which is not being able to go back on something if you didn’t take notes on in in class and for online it’s not being able to get a response right away on a question you might have. But when thinking of it there’s an option that sits in the middle of answering our question on which may work for being more effective for some people.  Hybrid learning is another option, but it may not be offered everywhere. Hybrid learning is where you can learn both online and in-person, this is usually offered at colleges and an example of hybrid learning would be my class English 102. I got into class only Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 11:00 am to 12:10 pm and the rest of the days I get to learn from home and go over the assigned things. Being able to learn hybrid has been the best for me because I like to have my days to work from home and get things done but also learn in a classroom to get feedback and talk to the people around me. As I mentioned above from Dues flexibility is something that can be very important especially if someone has work and sports. When I mentioned my experiences, it was mainly me bringing down online learning because for me I sometimes struggle to stay focused and stay “disciplined” to do my work and by that I mean having a set amount of time to do work and not just uses the time I don’t have class to go do other things. This may be another struggle for people who choose to do online learning because you are less disciplined. So if you’re thinking in-between the two I would say to go over the way you learn best, if you like to socialize, flexibility and staying disciplined if the last two are important to you or play a big role.

 

 

Works Cited

 

“In-Person Learning Definition.” The Glossary of Education Reform, 15 May 2013, www.edglossary.org/in-person-learning/.

Tomsio, Lisa. “What Is Digital Learning? A Quick Overview from TxDLA.” TxDLA, 6 Dec. 2022, www.txdla.org/a-quick-overview-of-digital-learning/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22501143781&gbraid=0AAAAADJr4OTaDoUbpPc2VBGyQFKzfVrwq&gclid=CjwKCAjwg7PDBhBxEiwAf1CVuy_2LGmS-WNnICmplcrSov9aWsynUG9gsIzaM60pTW-cb_e6_9q0YBoCRHcQAvD_BwE. Accessed 8 July 2025.

Berry College. “The In-Person Advantage: Why Face-To-Face Education Has Benefits.” Www.berry.edu, Berry College, 12 June 2024, www.berry.edu/articles/blog/2024/in-person-advantage.

Loeb, Susanna. “How Effective Is Online Learning? What the Research Does and Doesn’t Tell Us (Opinion).” Education Week, 20 Mar. 2020, www.edweek.org/technology/opinion-how-effective-is-online-learning-what-the-research-does-and-doesnt-tell-us/2020/03Links to an external site..

DUSE. “Benefits of Online Learning in a Virtual Classroom.” School of Education, Drexel University, 3 Aug. 2020, drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/benefits-of-online-and-virtual-learning/.