Giving lectures in auditoriums to large number of students is an old way

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Giving lectures in auditoriums to large number of students is an old way of teaching with technology available today there is no justification for it, and everything should be done online.

To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give your own opinion.

Write at least 250 words.


Sample Answer 1:
The traditional classroom where the teacher delivers lectures is becoming outmoded exponentially with the advent of cutting-edge technologies like, the Internet. Many educationalists contend that conventional classroom learning is no longer useful as much as online learning. In my opinion, I do not agree that online learning outweighs the traditional method of learning.

Students take a course because they need to comprehend the course content. In a traditional classroom setting, learners are face to face with a teacher, and in the most classes, the teacher delivers speech about the course content. At any point in the time, students can ask about what is confusing, and the teacher clarifies the concept of the topic. Students, thus, can communicate easily and get answer immediately. So, when it is the course the student knows nothing at all about, or he found difficulties in the past, then the conventional classroom setting is the better option for him.

In contrast, with an online class, students are offered set readings and projects, and are expected to learn the content on their own. Students need to email the teachers, or to post to a discussion board in order to ask questions, and they wait for the reply. This may slow down the learning, even if students are doing the readings and projects at a good pace. So, the online course can work well if a leaner takes the course he is comfortable with.

Personally, I do not admit with the notion that there is no justification for classroom setting, as it still is the best option for the students who know they need discipline to get the task completed. That is to say, the method provides the students with the support they need to clarify the concept, and to complete assignments or projects on a daily basis. That is why, I incline to the traditional classroom setting.

Summing all of the above, the students, especially the pupils who are unable to comprehend things easily, would be better off with the traditional way of learning in the physical classroom. Since, it offers opportunity to ask questions whenever the students feel difficulties and also provide them with prompt clarification.


Sample Answer 2:
Education is the process to expand knowledge among people and lectures are done to spread the knowledge. In this age of globalization, giving lectures manually at an auditorium has become old-fashioned. Everything should be done online and there are some strong logic backing the issue.

It is acknowledged that lectures have some benefits but what if someone misses the lectures? There are no possible ways to arrange for the same lecture again and both the lecturers and students will disagree to sit for the same lecture twice. As a result, the student who missed the lecture for some unwanted reasons is unable to get the lecture. He may get the lecture sheets or notes on the lecture but once it is missed, it is gone forever.

But if the lesson is provided online, everyone does not need to be present at the right time. Rather the students could listen to the delivered lectures at their convenient time. They are having a great flexibility here. Yes, they may have issues to be clarified from the lectures, and there are several options to get clarification from the lecturers like chatting, discussion etc.

When someone attends a lecture on a large auditorium and appears on test over the same lecture, it is impossible for the lecturer to provide the results immediately. But in online lectures, one can have instant results! This is the unique feature of online education, and thus it is getting recognition in the current days. Besides, attending a college for some specific or special degrees for one or two years is really expensive but the costs are almost half for online education. It is also economic in the overall sense that a student needs to attend the classes regularly which will save energy, time and money for him/ her.

Finally, to wrap the discussion, all of the arguments above favor the decision for online lectures. If people follow the old practices even in this globalized world, they will lag behind in the race. So, the practice of online lectures should be promoted more by discarding the old-fashioned rules of lecturing in large auditoriums.