MZUMBE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COURSE TITTLE; EDUCATIONAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

COURSE CODE; EDU 201
TASK; GROUP WORK

PARTCIPANTS
SN NAME REG. NO
01 AMINA MINGA 13312059/T.15
02 AZUHURA TWALIB 13312044/T.15
03 ISAYA MASEBO 13312002/T.15
04 JUMA BAKARI 13312086/T.15
05 MELCHIZEDEK MASHAMBO 13312075/T.15
06 HALINGA, AYUBU A 13312069/T.15
07 GODFREY RUNYAGILA 13312051/T.15
08 LWAMBO, GERMINUS 13312077/T.15

QUESTION
Compare and contrast the online and formal education, and give your opinion which one
should be applied in Tanzania context.

According to Monroe (2015) online education is a type of educational instruction that is delivered
via the internet to students using their home computers. (Anderson, 2008)Defined online learning,
as “the use of the internet to access learning materials; to interact with the content, instructor, and
other learners; and to obtain support during the learning process, in order to acquire knowledge, to
construct personal meaning, and to grow from the learning experience”. Thus online education is
a type of educational instruction that is delivered via the internet to students using their home
computers.

Formal education can be defined as education typically provided by an education or training

institution, structured (in terms of objectives, learning time or learning support) and leading to
certification. Formal learning is intentional from the learners’ perspective not clear .Formal
education normally delivered by the trained teachers in the systematic intention way within a
school, academic or college which is guided by a formal curriculum.

Both online education and formal education have differences and similarities. The following are
differences,

.Curriculum, the curriculum of formal education is well structured in terms of learning objective,
learning time and learning support. Normally formal education is delivered by the trained teachers
in the systematic intention way within a school, academic, college or university. While online
education is not well structured and mostly designed to bring support during the learning process,
in order to acquire knowledge, to construct personal meaning, and to grow from the learning
experience

Internet access, formal education can be accessed easy than online education because it’s
structured with a specific curriculum and it’s specific in terms of time that is student need to attend
class in a certain number of time. While online education it can be accessed only to the
environment or area with the access of internet where people can download, search the material
required for learning, watch videos concerning the subject matter and listening online from lecture
or teachers.
Physical interaction, in formal education learners and teachers interact physically face to face
direct communications which involves both verbal and non-verbal communication while online
education involves only verbal communication which may lack motivation to the learners.

Scheduling, in online education it is much easier to schedule your classes around the rest of the
day of the learner. While Formal education its courses require that you attend class in a certain
number of time every week at specific times

Formal education requires heavy investments in physical infrastructure such as office buildings
classrooms, hostels as well as transport infrastructures while online education requires less
investments in physical infrastructure which can be substituted with internet facilities.

Online education offers flexibility for a student to join in more programs simultaneously while in
formal education student is bound to a particular campus that can’t allow multiple admission at
the same time. It is also possible for an online student to attend to duties such as part time jobs
which are difficult to do in formal education.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ONLINE EDUCATION AND FORMAL EDUCATION:

Time management; both online and traditional classes require students to manage their time
wisely so as to meet learning objectives of the courses in which they have registered. Both modes
seem attractive in view of some factors such freedom of attending classes and employment for
some students. In general, students who opt for online system of education seem to be engaged in
other activities such as employment or family caring which limit them in following formal timely-
schedules of attendance and participation. Without the above barriers, the student may wishfully
to go for formal education.

Participation; both online and classroom-based courses have means to assess students
participation. In traditional classes, for example at Mzumbe university, students participate in
seminar classes, make presentations and the university requires attendance of an allowable
percentage to allow student to seat for the end-of semester examinations. Similarly, online
participation is mandatory, usually through written discussions in chat rooms, message boards and
forums.
Assessment modes; both online and traditional education have structured ways of making
assessments using assignments, quizzes, tests and examinations. However, the organizations of
these assessment tools may differ according to the type of educational settings i.e. online or
traditional. Traditional classroom instructors can offer tests, oral examinations and presentations
while online instructors grade students through papers, open-book examinations and contributions
to online discussions. Overall results difference and performance is little and is reported to be a
matter of individual student learning style. According to www.education.seattlepi.com , students
who are highly self-directed, organized and autonomous, online is a better learning platform while
those who tend to rely on instructors for directions would happily opt for traditional education.

Interaction; Online education involves interaction among various students in country and even
over the world. Students can interact what they have in their mind with their fellow students or can
interact with teacher through the use of internet for those shy students or introvert who cant interact
in classroom concerning the subject matter. And on the side of formal institution interaction can
occur among the teacher with students when teacher ask question in a classroom and when students
reply that is interaction, also students can interact with their fellow students through group
discussion to discuss various task like assignment provided by a teacher.

Skills; Online education provide required skills as that in a formal institution, that means through
online education people can get skills or knowledge depending on their programs example people
nowadays obtain online degrees of different programs like Business, Finance and Communication
those also can be obtained in formal institutions

Formal education should be applied in Tanzania because

It provides interactive classroom setting that promotes the open exchange of ideas, since in formal
education learning is being conducted in the same classroom so it is easy for students to exchange
ideas and questions with one another, also it allow first hand interaction with a instructor without
any communication barrier.

It provides motivation to student since teacher can decide to give bonus of marks or money to
student who respond to question asked by the teacher
Online courses let the students learn at their own pace, schedules and acquire the same knowledge
as they would have acquired in the traditional settings.

CONCLUSION

Hence the two systems of education has got benefits and drawbacks it cannot be told this particular
system is best or worst. According to our convenience and based on the suitability of the benefits
you can choose the best one and educated yourself well.

REFERENCES

Anderson, T. (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. Athabasca University Press.

Avouris, N. M., Dimitracopoulou, A., Daskalaki, S., & Tselios, N. K. (2001). Evaluation of
 Distance-learning environments: Impact of usability on student performance. International
Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 7(4), 355-378.
Bates, A. T. (2005). Technology, e-learning and distance education. Routledge.
http://education.seattlepi.com/compare-contrast-online-vs-classroom-instruction-1757.html retrieved

on 15th January 2018 at 2000hrs pm