Advantages Of Online Education
On line education, also known as E-learning is a method of learning and teaching through electronically supported medium. The information and communication systems serve as the assigned media to implement the process of learning.
In online education the educational content is delivered through the Internet, audio/video tape, satellite TV and CD- ROM. It can be through self help or instructor led. It includes media in the shape of text, image, streaming video and audio or animation. Since the advent of online education, questions have been raised whether online courses are able to match face to face courses in respect of academic quality and effectiveness. Is it possible to achieve same learning objectives in online courses as in face to face learning? The answer may lie in the simple fact that by 2006, 3.5 million students in US alone participated in online learning at institutions of higher education.
Many academicians are of the opinion that online education has some distinct advantages. They classify them as under.
Learning is student- centered.
In the face to face learning process, whether the instructor uses lectures discussions, role playing or small group activities, it is only the instructor managing the show. In the online system the students are empowered to learn on their own and often teach each other.
Intensity of writing
- In literature classes, students are often told to develop writing skills which teachers say is the best method to teach the art of writing. Online courses are more writing intensive than traditional classes.
Inter active discussions.
The discussion forum is one of the most exciting features of an online course. In the traditional class room, a question is raised by an instructor and same group of bright students respond. In the online case, discussions occur in a new dimension. When a question is posed on the discussion board, every student is expected to respond and mostly respond intelligently. In the case of an asynchronous discussion, the time is not limited to the period duration but may last a week and there could be many student postings in that time.
Wealth of course materials
In the online education system, the students can get the opportunity to " visit" many primary source documents. A well constructed and creative online course can take e.g. anthropology students to various cultures of the world.
On demand interaction.
Instructors can take the help of many types of inter active learning aids on the course sites e.g. Power Point Presentation, flash cards immediate feed back tests etc. Contact with instructor can occur through e-mail any time. Students can use e-mail, chat rooms and discussion boards to establish study groups.
Instant feedback.
Though students do not see a teacher in the classroom every day, online students can access their teacher better. They can pose questions through e-mail and can frequently engage in a dialogue that would be difficult to organize in a face to face system.
Online education is constantly expanding due to its many advantages and is the best parallel system of learning in the world today.