Paying Attention to the Online Learning Environment: The Importance of a Low-noise Environment

Abstract

The learning environment has been recognized as an important factor affecting the quality of offline learning. The existing literature demonstrates that the learning environment also has an impact on online learning and it is more influential than most factors. Due to the flexibility of the learning environment, both the positive and negative effects on online learning are magnified compared to offline learning. Noise is a vital component of the learning environment. The research results of multiple scholars show that noise has adverse effects on learners' physiology and psychology, and the negative effects of noise on learning efficiency cannot be ignored. With regard to the impact of noise on online learning, noise can lower the quality of online learning by impairing the learner's reading ability, memory capacity and maths and literacy ability. Especially, the noise of the online learning environment is more uncontrollable than offline learning, which magnifies the negative impact of noise on learning efficiency. Finally, this paper makes recommendations for learners, teachers and schools respectively, like using noise-canceling headphones or earplugs and removing noise sources in advance.