Challenges and Benefits of Online Learning in Secondary Schools

Sociology
"What are the challenges and benefits of online learning on secondary school student?"
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Sociology
Abstract
The study analyses the advantages and disadvantages of online learning in secondary schools in
Australia. Basically, the issue of online learning has gained prominence in most of the secondary
schools in Australia (Adachi, Tai & Dawson, 2018). The secondary schools use online learning
whereby materials are either sent to students by the use of computers. With advancements in the
field of technology, most of the secondary schools are moving to online learning and teaching.
The paper, therefore, will present the benefits and advantages associated with online learning to
students in secondary schools Australia. In order to account for challenges and benefits
associated with online learning, 12 sources were analyzed during the study. The main issue was
to identify how different sources such as article argue on the issue of online learning. The
research project involved assessing the information contained in the 12 sources used during the
study. Some of the online learning areas focused during the research project included the Open
and Distance Learning (Balakrishnan,Teoh,Pourshafie & Liew, 2017).
Keywords
Challenges, Benefits, Secondary Schools, Technology use, Open, and Distance learning.
Introduction
Basically, online learning and teaching are gaining wider popularity in most of the secondary
schools in Australia. This shows that increased technology in the education sector is shaping the
learning strategies to most of the secondary schools in the country. Based on the context of this
research project the issue of online earning is described as the method whereby instructions and
acquisition of knowledge are facilitated by the open distance learning strategies. The entire
process of online learning by students is facilitated by the use of computers and the issue of

Sociology
technology which is shared via the use of the internet (Brener, Cama, Hull & Treloar, 2017).
Researchers argue that the use of technology in the modern world offers a variety of
opportunities in the education sector. Some of the wide benefits of technology in the modern
world include promoting the quality of interaction between the students in secondary level,
promoting interaction between learners and teachers in the education system and enhancing
communication between different groups in school. In addition, online learning helps to access
the plethora of resources in the education system. Many of the secondary schools in Australia are
on the verge of adopting the use of technology thus increasing the effectiveness of their Open
and Distance learning in school (Caesar et al., 2016).
Research question
What are the benefits of online learning to secondary students in Australia?
What are the challenges faced when using online learning in school?
Methodology
The aim of the project was to identify the positive and negative impacts of online learning in
secondary students in Australia. In order to understand the effects of online learning, the research
analyzed 12 sources which had different information about online learning to the students in
school. The research used keywords such as (negative effects of online teaching to students and
positive impacts of online learning to students when learning) (Gardner et al., 2016). The 12
sources used were the literature articles and journals which explained the recent impacts of
online learning. While searching the articels we first entered the key words in the research
databases (in our study we used Education Resource Information Center in Australia and also
google scholar) which were used to obtain the sources explaining the topic of the study.After

Sociology
opening the google scholar than ten pages appeared each page having different sources.To be
specific we specified the time whereby we indicated sources from 2010 to 2019.After selecting
the source based on time then the key words were entered in the database. The first keyword was
(negative effects of online learning to Australian students. After the page opened we selected six
sources and tabled as indicated in the paper. After selecting the six sources we refreshed the data
base and then entered the keyword (importance of online learning to Australian students).The
page opened and selected another six sources which had information on benefits of online
learning. The sources were tabled as shown in the paper. The information obtained was analyzed
whereby we grouped the results.
The 12 sources used;
Author (s) Year Title
Adachi, C., Tai, J. H. M., &
Dawson, P.
2018 Academics’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges
of self and peer assessment in higher
education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education, 43(2), 294-306.
Balakrishnan, V., Teoh, K.
K., Pourshafie, T., & Liew, T.
K. (2017).
2017 Social media and their use in learning: A comparative
analysis between Australia and Malaysia from the
learners' perspectives. Australasian Journal of
Educational Technology, 33(1),80.
Brener, L., Cama, E., Hull,
P., & Treloar, C.
2017 Evaluation of an online injecting drug use stigma
intervention targeted at health providers in New South

Sociology
Wales, Australia. Health Psychology Open, 4(1),
2055102917707180.
Caesar, M. I. M., Jawawi, R.,
Matzin, R., Shahrill, M.,
Jaidin, J. H., & Mundia, L.
2016 The Benefits of Adopting a Problem-Based Learning
Approach on Students' Learning Developments in
Secondary Geography Lessons. International
Education Studies, 9(2), 51-65.
Gardner, P., Slater, H.,
Jordan, J. E., Fary, R. E.,
Chua, J., & Briggs, A. M.
2016 Physiotherapy students’ perspectives of online e-
learning for interdisciplinary management of chronic
health conditions: a qualitative study. BMC medical
education,
16(1), 62.
Garner, R., & Rouse, E. 2016 Social presence–connecting pre-service teachers as
learners using a blended learning model. Student
Success, 7(1), 25-36.
Jackson, D. 2017 Exploring the challenges experienced by international
students during work-integrated learning in
Australia. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 37(3),
344-359.
Johnson, G. M. 2016 Technology use among Indigenous adolescents in
remote regions of Australia. International Journal of

Sociology
Adolescence and Youth, 21(2), 218-231.
Macleod, J., & Kefallonitis,
E.
2017 Trends affecting e-learning experience management.
In Strategic Innovative Marketing,4(12), (pp. 753-
758). Springer, Cham.
Ouyang, F., & Scharber, C. 2017 The influences of an experienced instructor's
discussion design and facilitation on an online
learning community development: A social network
analysis study. The Internet and Higher
Education, 35, 34-47.
Plowman, E., Anderson, J., &
Douglas, J.
2017 Adapting online learning to overcome disadvantage in
rural Australia. Australian Nursing and Midwifery
Journal, 25(2),89.
Queiros, D. R., & de Villiers,
M. R.
2016 Online learning in a South African higher education
institution: Determining the right connections for the
student. The International Review of Research in
Open and Distributed Learning, 17(5).123.
Analysis