Self-paced learning is booming. Why?

The pandemic brought a lot of changes in the way students learnt and schools operated. While some of these changes were time-stamped, and would either be withdrawn or modified, some are here to stay. Self-paced learning belongs to the latter group. The most interesting thing is that it started slowly as a trend in India before the pandemic with online courses and an increase in skill-based courses, picked up during the pandemic, but is actually a very strong trend now. This means there are some inherent benefits and advantages to this mode of learning which accounts for its popularity.  

What is self-paced learning?  
While online courses and out-of-school courses were using self-paced learning for school students before the pandemic, online schooling brought it into mainstream practice. In this way of learning, students learn at their own tempo, with learning deadline instead of time-based deadlines. For example, they need to finish 10 chapters of Physics over 10 months, instead of 1 chapter in a month. The overall learning goal remains the same, but the student is allowed to decide what to study when.  

What are the advantages of self-paced learning?  
Self-paced learning has the following advantages and more:  

Suits individual learning styles better-

 Some kids are fast learners. Under this system, they can quickly finish off their work and concentrate on projects, extra-curricular activities, sports and anything else they want to. Slow learners, on the other hand, can manage their schedule better instead of dashing to catch up with the rest of the class.  

Gives students more time to explore-

Self-paced learning allows students to plan the year in advance, have more time in hand, and explore other areas of learning. For students deeply interested in any subject, it’s a boon, as they can tackle the syllabus for a whole year at a go, going deep into the subject.  

Makes students good time managers and more committed-

 Self-paced learning is a hands-on course in scheduling, keeping commitments, and prioritising. These are life skills that help students later in their work life.  

Self-paced learning is more convenient for teachers-

Teachers can give more individual attention to students, and also schedule tests in a more convenient manner.