It’s no surprise that online education keeps growing in popularity and spreading across all industries. The remote access to information allows people from anywhere in the world to teach and learn all kinds of skills. Live video can take online learning much further.
If you are an educator or planning to start an online course, this blog post is for you. We’ll go through the main advantages of live streaming for online education and why you should consider going live.
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Advantages of live streaming for online education?
Expand online reach
Online teachers, through live streaming classes, get to reach an audience never before possible. While video conferences are great for small classes, live streaming offers the chance for a teacher to encounter thousands of students.
Teachers can take their online courses further than ever by simply going live on a social media platform such as YouTube or Facebook. These platforms also encourage this type of content which means, you get more exposure while live.
Access to knowledge
By the same token, everyone that has access to the internet gets much more access to relevant knowledge. Regardless of the subject matter, users can find online courses for anything these days.
When you add live classes to online courses, students can expand their knowledge and take their abilities much further. Live streaming classes can help you increase engagement between you and your students.
High level of interaction
Unlike any video on demand course, live streaming can help you boost online education interaction. The real-time interaction allowed by streaming platforms encourages students to participate, ask questions, engage with one another and share their opinions.
Many students hesitate to ask questions in class because they fear the exposure and their classmates’ disapproval. But, when they find themselves in an online environment, asking a question, suddenly feels much easier, which, in turn, helps them learn more.
Show & Tell – Infinite resources
Human beings are highly visual, and our attention span is rather short, which can be a challenge for online teaching. Unless you go live with tons of resources, such as videos, images, and live demos to keep your students interested and highly engaged.
When online teaching meets technology, specifically live streaming software, the possibilities are endless. With the ability to go live and share your screen, add multiple cameras, use pre-recorded videos, show slide deck presentations or even use the mobile as a webcam, teachers get to really impact students in the best possible way.
Analytics
Another considerable advantage of live streaming for online education is the metrics available. Online teachers can track their live classes to determine what’s working and what can be optimized.
For instance, if the live class started with a thousand students and half of them dropped off mid-class, the teacher could go back and evaluate what was being discussed at that point. Monitoring and optimizing your online classes will make them much better over time, and you’ll be able to expand your online reach.
Cost-effectiveness
Online education, in general, is a much cheaper alternative for students, educators, and institutions, which is an advantage in and of itself. But live streaming takes it further.
Going live on Facebook or YouTube is free, which means you can reach thousands of people without any expenses. Then, even within a low-budget, you can get the right resources such as live streaming software and equipment to create good-quality live streams.
For more details on live streaming equipment, check out our Live Streaming 101 Guide.
Collaboration and sharing
A massive advantage of live streaming for online education is the collaborative environment and sharing possibilities. Since your live class is online, you can invite other educators or experts to join it, from anywhere in the world. It’s a fantastic medium to create video collaborations and expand your audience.
When you stream to social media platforms, your viewers can share your live stream with the click of a button. That’s a fantastic advantage if you want to grow your viewership and get more students.
Learning (or teaching) on the go
Both students and teachers can benefit from the mobile quality of live streaming for online education. When students can watch your classes from anywhere, it increases the likelihood of them coming back to learn more. They always have their phones nearby, which increases your chances of getting viewers when you send a notification that you’re going live.
For teachers, the ability to stream from anywhere creates exciting possibilities. For example, teachers can stream part of a class from a museum (if allowed), or from the botanic garden or the zoo! There are tons of possibilities to deliver curious and compelling classes with mobile live streaming.
Key Takeaway
Live streaming can add lots of value to online education. It can help teachers deliver highly engaging, interactive and fascinating online classes. The fact that it’s live might be intimidating at first, but once you overcome the fear of going live, the benefits are huge.
Though live video is extremely popular, it isn’t a crowded space yet, when it comes to education. These are just a few of the many advantages of live streaming for online education. It’s time to use live video to your advantage and help your students learn the most!
Take online education to the next level with the right live video tools, download ManyCam today!
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