Online resources have removed some of the geographical barriers associated with learning, but there are still a lot of factors that come into play; experience, educational qualifications, background, style of teaching, etc.
Insider Higher Ed, a Washington D.C publication, reported that online learning has advantages over the conventional face-to-face environment when it comes to student learning. The result of the study found that online learning had a better outcome than face to face learning on average.
And according to District of Columbia Public Schools, online education is enhanced by technology. It can be lessons involving the sole use of technology, or a blend of technology and face-to-face lessons, like live video conferencing.
This indicates that technology and online platforms have assisted the process, along with opening up resources for students to find the perfect lesson in their respective localities.
1. Facebook Graph Search
It’s unlikely that you would be using Graph Search to search for music lessons; and you’re missing out on all the new search features and data Facebook has introduced in recent times. Now it is possible to make search queries in the search bar at the top of profile page based on a particular location.
For example, typing in music teachers who live in Washington DC, will present a listing of all the individuals who teach music in the search locations, along with their employment position and other profile data. You can browse the listing and contact the individual who looks suitable.
2. Online platforms
In the same way that online education efforts in our nation's capitol are enhanced by technology, so too are its resources multiplied by Internet tools. A lot of companies have launched their own online search engines (some have even combined them with social networks) to help students search for appropriate music teachers and courses from the comfort of their laptops or computers. Students can easily find piano lessons, guitar lessons and a variety of other courses, and some platform offerings even allow them to enter a zip code to search instructors nearby.
Mooctivity is an example of a company that recently launched such a platform, combining a social network with an advanced search engine to help students browse through above 500 courses based on key course features, reviews of instructors, choice of friends, recommendation of teachers, etc.
3. Search engines
Google recently released their latest hummingbird algorithm, which makes it easier for search engine users to search for long tail keywords. It essentially implies that users are going to get better search results whenever they enter a long, even scattered search query, compared to the results that were presented before this introduction.
Now long-tail search queries are going to return better results. Such search queries will return teacher listings while taking into account all the factors discussed at the start.
4. Forums and answer sites
Forums are the place where you will get to read honest reviews about particular lessons and instructors, because students are likely to share unbiased reviews and experiences in such places. Answer sites, on the other hand, can be used to directly ask if there are any lessons near your location.
You’ll have to create an account before you can participate in forums, and the same principle applies for answer sites. You can even include your requirements (teaching experience, gender) in both the platforms. Community members usually reply very quickly, depending on how much members are active at any given moment.
Feel free to use one or a combination of these tools to search for lessons that fit in your needs.
Thanks to our supporting contributor, Katherine, for this featured post.
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