Online Learning (Amazing Talker, Engoo, SnapAsk)

As mentioned before, we're about to enter an era when schools are no longer necessary and with the push from the COVID pandemic, online learning is booming like never before. Though schools may become less important, there appears to be an increasing need for "teachers". Paradoxical?

oh yeah we're promoting ourselves haha

Online learning has been trending especially hard this year. What makes it so popular that they could potentially, and aim ambitiously to replace school? First of all, people could learn practically EVERYTHING online nowadays, photography, acting, communication skills; you name it. While there are way more platforms on the market, we're only discussing three, Amazing Talker, Engoo, Snapask. And no, we're not talking down on or belittling them. How dare we, being a tiny speck of dust in the field of education comepare with them. We couldn't have degraded any of them more than they have already done to themselves.

The best features for online learning are commonly agreed on as convenience, variety, user-friendly, and low budget, or simply put, anytime, anywhere, anyone, and any price. While the four of As are definitely a good principle for universal education, "knock-knock", business is here. Again, making money isn't wrong; it's how you make money. What we can't tolerate is using the form of education to cover up business strategies. Later on, you will see the examples, as we explain.

Amazing Talker is a hot trend right now for online teaching. Its strategy is very clear and appealing, "faces". It has been widely advertised every here and there on various sites and it displays as such 3 on the left. They promote the faces of individual teachers instead of the conventional "bargains" and "teams", which fits perfectly in this era when everyone with the internet could make themselves known to the

world, YouTubers, Instagramers, whatnot. As a result, "the faces" of teachers transform. They're much younger and posing as if they were online dating. We condemn this misleading approach. Let's ignore the superficial part and check further. All of a sudden, everyone's got a master's degree or a Ph.D., which should have been great because we need professionals back in the field. This is not the case. The problem with "over-qualification" is first, you don't break a fly on a wheel. While having a teacher with a doctoral degree to help anyone with entry levels could be great, in reality, it only overwhelms the students by the cost. Therefore, the learning period shortens. Secondly, they're not indeed that qualified.

Its predecessor "Engoo", is simpler. They find better-known people to help advertise and maybe focus on a bit about making learning a habit. That's pretty much it. Wait a minute; are we trying to be nice to Engoo and not be as critical as we were to Amazing Talker?

No. There isn't much to say because these "faces" on the campaign are not actual teachers but just endorsers. They get paid to smile in the picture. Besides, there isn't information other than the invitation. It's just normal.

Finally, there's Snapask, which emphasized problem-solving. It's got "a bank of helpers", not necessary teachers we presume. Snapask is making its own territory in the market by targeting exam-study students while maybe making it a bit cooler because it's connected with a phone app. You prepay a number of questions you could ask. Also, it wants to achieve the goal of making people believe "help is accessible".

They're just trying to help; why do we have to be so mean about it?

Here's what's wrong with them. Other than false-representation like what Amazing Talker is doing whether intentionally or not, the rest of the gangs, if they really help at all, were merely making a balance on the pros and cons. Technology and innovation are unstoppable nor should they be. However, our learning pattern has become dangerously dependant on short fixes and also less valuable. Take the perspective of an athlete. There's no way any of them thinks that they could just hire a quick 5-minute coach for the game as much as they wish it were that convenient.

Though there is much to criticize if we actually see what's inside all of them, online learning still does some good. It in fact makes learning borderless, nevertheless cannot replace real learning, and shouldn't be considered real education, but an attempt to assist. It may not help some of us but it could be just what others need. Choose wisely.

#education