Learning is a key for lifelong success. People always search to learn new things to help them advance on both personal and professional level. In recent years, a new, different educational reality called online learning has been evolved. The online learning can be defined as a learning experience which includes a variety of new technologies (computers, videos, telecommunications, etc) in order to simulate remotely the learning process.

In a world powered by digital technology, online learning is a popular alternative to traditional in-class learning. Online learning is likely here to stay for the long term. Online learning is considered as a helpful and efficient way of study. It is a solution for people with a demanding and inflexible schedule and for people who prefer to learn on their own pace, time and place.

Online learning offers a variety of delivery styles that can offer more flexibility to learners. People can learn online through live online courses in scheduled date and time or through pre-recorded courses. In all delivery styles, online learning is considered as a helpful and efficient way of study, learn new skills, broaden your knowledge, earn your professional continuous training units or expand your career.

Compared to traditional in-class education, online learning offers several advantages for learners, instructors, institutions and companies that offer online learning courses and seminars. These are the top six benefits for learners to consider:

1. Greater Flexibility

Online learning does not require the physical presence of the learner in a specific place. This advantage proves to be very helpful to learners. It allows learners to organise their program more effectively, not having to travel to another location to attend a course or a seminar. This form of learning is preferred by busy people who can’t commit to attending in-class courses and seminars. With online learning, people can attend a course or a seminar in the privacy of their own home, from their office, in a coffee shop, traveling with a train or a bus, even from the beach. All is needed is an internet connection and a computer or a laptop or a tablet or a smartphone

Furthermore, online learning in the form of pre-recorded courses and seminars proves to be even more flexible. It allows the learners to access learning material at anytime, pause and continue the learning when it is convenient for them.  Online pre-recorded courses and seminars let people to choose when to learn. People may not be able to find an instructor to teach them for example about marketing at the midnight but with a pre-recorded course or seminar people have this option to choose the time when to learn.

Flexibility in learning proves to be a great benefit to people. Flexibility in learning helps people to learn while keeping their fixed schedule of their career and family.

2. Online learning unlocks more learning opportunities

Many people are interested to learn new things or improve their skill but simply there is no availability to do this in their location or they do not have time to attend the class hours. With online learning the opportunities to learn are unlimited. With online learning, people have the option of learning from instructors in any time zone all over the world, at potentially any time of the day. What is more, online learning provides a remarkable chance to network with people from different countries with different cultural backgrounds. This gives to people the opportunity to become more culturally aware and expand their knowledge in cross-cultural understanding. By sharing knowledge with each other, people can become more innovative and flexible to the outside world

3. Online learning is more affordable

Overall, the cost of online learning varies, but typically the online learning is cheaper. People can save money in several ways considering the cost of travel to attend in-class courses and purchase digital versions of the course material instead of books.

Additionally, the tremendous saving for learning institutions and companies which do not have the cost of reserving a physical location to teach the course or maintaining a classroom setting, it is ultimately translates into more cost-effective learning for people.

4. Variety of courses and seminars

Learning and training has been expanded with online learning. Online courses and seminars through a Learning Management System (LMS) can easily be categorised by topic in one place. Therefore, people can find different topics of courses and seminars easily. For instance, the Institute of Continuous Professional Training and Education (ICPTE) offers access to seminars in a variety of topics through a course content archive.

Online learning allows people to be enrolled in any course of their choice and can explore different fields and gain new skills.

5. Benefit from gaining new technical skills

While people are attending online courses and seminars to achieve their educations and training goals, at the same time people are learning new technical skills that will benefit them in their work and life. Why? Simply because a basic online course or seminar requires the development of new computer skills. Online learning exposes people to learn how to use different LMS platforms to watch a course or seminar, interact with other people and take online quizzes.

These technical skills are highly valuable these days. Learning these technical skills helps people gain experience with working remotely that becomes more common in business throughout the world.

6. Learn better

Choose the best time to learn. People having the ability to watch a pre-recorded online course or seminar at their time allows them to learn at the time when their brain is most engaged. Each person is productive in different times of the day and the online learning through pre-recorded courses or seminars allows people to learn at the time they can concentrate more.

Be focused in a traditional in-class course or seminar is not easy for many people. There are too many distractions around. But with online learning, no one is around and it helps people to focus more on the online learning presentation. Overall, this helps to create a productive learning environment for people that helps them to learn better.

What is more, this benefits a lot of people who have trouble concentrating and participating in crowded in-class courses and seminars.

Conclusion

Over the past few years, online learning has been growing. Online learning makes it simple and easy for people to learn at their own convenience, pace, time and place, while keeping with their working and life program. Whether people want to advance their career, gain new skills, earn their professional continuous training units or just to broaden their knowledge, online learning may be the right choice.

Set your goals in order to select the right online learning format to meet your needs and start learning.  On www.icpte.com people can find a variety of online pre-recorded seminars to watch at their convenience, pace, time and place.