Articles

Tying Sports To The eLearning Experience

By eLearning Inside
January 13, 2021

Aside from all the benefits of education, one of the reasons that parents will encourage such deep involvement between their child and their school is because of the ties it has to local sports and the opportunities that participation can open for them. As a result, a lot of people might consider that eLearning doesn’t have much of a connection to that tradition at all. However, that might not strictly be true. Here, we’re going to look at the ways that you can help tie sports to the eLearning experience.

The Rise of Sports eLearning

Let’s start with some of the most obvious leading examples out there. eLearning is not just for traditional education or for building specific skills related to the workforce. The online world has already seen the launch of the numerous eLearning platforms dedicated to the sports industry, enabling people to build the pathway to careers within that industry from angles such as marketing, governance, and finance. As such, eLearning platform creators are using the vocational training ability of the sector to help those with an interest in a sports career. As eLearning continues to grow in popularity, it’s only natural to expect that sports eLearning will continue to be more widely available, as well.

A woman trains with ropes
Scott Webb, Unsplash.

Online Coaching Opportunities

eLearning isn’t just opening the way for a vocational entry into the sporting industry. Those who may not traditionally have access to coaches and in-depth education on how to improve their performance at a sport can get the extra attention needed to help them become a sporting champion, as well. Online sport coaching platforms are taking the eLearning approach to a much more direct sporting mentorship role. As such, athletes can learn the training routines to improve their game, get tips from expert coaches, and gain valuable knowledge such as how to prevent injuries while training. While this kind of coaching does come with a more traditional involvement in sports, eLearning platforms are making it a lot more accessible for those who might not be able to benefit from that more direct relationship due to finances, location, and more.

More Sporting Colleges Are Looking at eLearning

As a result of the recent pandemic, eLearning has become a topic of a lot more conversation over the past few years, naturally. However, some colleges may be looking to make a more permanent switch to distance learning as a result. If you’re looking at a college football career, then you should keep up with the news of the latest college football buyouts and see which of the most promising prospects also offer decent eLearning opportunities. You may be able to benefit from the eLearning approach while still being able to take advantage of the traditional college sporting experience.

Gamifying the Sporting Experience

One of the biggest benefits of eLearning platforms is that many of them have incorporated the trends of gamification that, while fostering more motivation and interest in long-term commitments, also enable learners to learn at their own pace. Group training, both in the classroom and on the field, typically matches the pace of learning of the entire group to those who are the fastest learners in the group, or at least certainly somewhere in the top half of the class. eLearning platforms allow teachers and course runners to personalize the course to the pace of the individual, while using gamification to continually encourage them to keep going, no matter what the pace is. As such, this particular feature could help even slow-learning athletes keep up their morale and motivation to continue learning and training.

Pro-Active Learning Frees Time for Coaches and Kids

The ability to customize the learning experience and learn at one’s own pace also allows one to have much more control over how they spend their time. Simply put, parents and children who want to put more of a focus on their sporting education to make the best use of their motivation, interest, and talent might feel more hampered by the traditional school experience than anything. eLearning allows them to fit both training and education into their schedule, making sure that they are able to balance their priorities and allowing their children to excel without having to fall behind in their studies.

eLearning and sports might not go hand-in-hand when you first think about them, but online learning most certainly can tie into aspects of the sporting world, leading to participation in the sports as well as making good use of a student’s passion for sports.

Featured Image: Artur Luczka, Unsplash.