Benefits of Online Education Part 2

Another course that normally required one to one, teacher to student contact, in the past was CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Teachers found that students learned much better online for an unexpected reason. In one-on-one training, a student had to take their turn as the patient needing resuscitation. That was not comfortable for some students. With online CPR, training the students.

Online learning is extremely flexible allowing you to study conveniently around your busy schedule. The majority of our students are also working while they study online with us.

Flexible study schedule

You choose when and where you study and there is no fixed schedule. Read textbooks, watch lectures and contribute to discussions at times and locations that suit you.

Flexible study

Career enhancement

Studying at masters level can lift your career to the next level, whether that be to help you stand out from the crowd or to transition to a new career.

How an online masters can support your career development

Equal degree to on-campus masters

Our online programmes are academically equivalent to on-campus degrees and involve the same level of work overall. The qualification you get is of equal value, and your degree certificate will not mention that you studied the programme online. You will be taught by lecturers and tutors who are among the leading figures in their field and passionate about their subjects.

Collaborative experience

Studying online is not an isolated experience. You will have very regular contact with students from around the world and our academic staff here in Edinburgh. Our online environment is designed to support and encourage collaborative learning.

Study collaboratively, not alone

Study from anywhere

You can study with us from anywhere in the world, there is no need to come to Edinburgh.  We currently have 3,500 students from more than 170 different countries enrolled in online learning programmes at the University of Edinburgh.

Access to support services

You have access to the same support services as on-campus students, with more than 800,000 e-books and e-journals available in the library, access to careers consultants, as well as IT and academic support services, too.

You also are entitled to install up to 5 copies of Microsoft Office software on personal computers and devices for as long as you are a student with the University.

An Introduction into Lesson Observation

Lesson observation is not as daunting as it may seem. The most important thing is to make sure the feedback you get is both honest and constructive. It should be geared towards helping you improve as a teacher and not to put you down. The process is partly an interaction between the observed and the observer and preparation for this.

Lesson observation has a longstanding tradition in the assessment and development of new and experienced teachers in England. Over the last two decades it has progressively emerged as an important tool for measuring and improving professional practice in schools and colleges.

This article reviews literature across the three education sectors (i.e. schools, further education and higher education) in order to compare and contrast the role of observation. In doing so it discusses the key themes and issues surrounding its use in each sector and identifies common and contrasting patterns. It argues that in schools and further education, observation has become increasingly associated with performance management systems; a dominant yet contested model has emerged that relies on a simplified rating scale to grade professional competence and performance, although the recent introduction of ‘lesson study’ in schools appears to offer an alternative to such practice.

In higher education, however, there is limited evidence of observation being linked to the summative assessment of staff, with preferred models being peer-directed and less prescribed, allowing lecturers greater autonomy and control over its use and the opportunity to explore its potential as a means of stimulating critical reflection and professional dialogue about practice among peers.