In this era of competitiveness, it is necessary to constantly upgrade one’s knowledge. Hence, there are many who are taking recourse to joining online courses that provide learning opportunities which meet one’s needs. These courses are not only designed to be flexible, fitting in with the schedule and budget, they also help realise professional and personal aspirations, says Gaurav Pal
Online education has been a preferred option amongst students and teachers for a long time now. The easy accessibility, affordability and an ever-increasing emphasis on improving the quality of the available courses has made the sector more popular than ever before. The segment is growing at a rapid pace of about 27.9 per cent since the last three years. About 100 new e-learning companies have been set up in the last three years, taking the total number of e-learning companies in India to over 140.
In many countries including India, the online mode of educating oneself is becoming a radically cheap alternative to expensive or cumbersome college education. Many opt for these courses when they want to juggle studying further with work or with family life. Websites, which are frontrunners in the online education segment, are now also stressing on the fact that with their free courses from top global universities, an online exam from a third party with a small registration fee is the way forward. Many universities are increasingly accepting credits earned through these online programmes which is acting as a huge motivating factor for many graduate and under-graduate students.
Several independent colleges and university consortiums are dedicating more time and resources to the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to make their course material, lectures and interactive activities available to students across the globe. MOOCs, greater variety of study courses and credit acceptance by the best global universities make the segment more exciting than ever before.
Universities have begun to offer their top courses through various platforms. Not only do these courses enable students to access high-quality courses and course material, they also create a useful platform for like-minded learners to come together and share knowledge and discuss courses, opinions and information.
A reason why MOOCs are rated very highly by most educators is due to their ability to expose students to a broad range of life experiences. Students are able to interact on a singular platform with teachers and co-learners from across the globe and this gives them the chance to learn from others’ wide-ranging variety of experiences and cultures.
Many online and distance courses have an extended term, which allows participants to work at their own pace for up to nine months. Students can participate in discussions and view videos whenever they are free. Courses offered online cover an exhaustive range of topics from computer science to international relations to art history and offer courses of interest to almost anyone in the world.
Most online knowledge management companies have begun to make a visible and significant impact in India across the learning life cycle, from school level to preparation for competitive exams or acquiring and fine tuning professional soft skills across specialised courses in universities or vocational institutions. Students who are opting for these courses could be anyone from K-12 students, professionals who are seeking to add on skills, those seeking guidance and mock tests to prepare for competitive exams, or keen learners who are looking for greater intellectual stimulation through courses on poetry, composition, or mythology.
Courses employ a large variety of interactive teaching techniques like video lectures, group projects that can be done virtually, peer-to-peer assessments, and sometimes even physical meet-ups for students who may be residing in the same area. Power points and movie clips are other oft-used methods. Besides this, trainers often speak about the material and encourage class interaction. Role plays, business cases and exercises that help the learners to experience the concepts that are presented. Many websites have also gone out of their way to accommodate students with disabilities by introducing features like closed-captioning. While many critics of online education complain that the retention rate is low and that few of the students who enroll actually complete the course, many others believe that students actually find online learning more engaging and interactive as well as easier to pursue since they can study as per their convenience and can sometimes also complete the course after it has technically ended.
Most of the courses in the online space are now based on a business model which aims to provide courses for free, while charging students for certification denoting completion of courses or course credit. Many platforms offer students the option to take university level courses and obtain course credit by paying a small fee. This business model also operates on the assumption that students who take free courses, may, at a later date sign up for paid courses or enroll at a given university.
Given the ease of enrolling into these courses, their ever-widening spectrum in terms of courses offered, the quality of material and institutions involved, the online education sector is bursting at the seams with new trends and newer innovations. Students are flocking to this sector for the opportunities, convenience and exposure it offers and educators are capitalising on its growing popularity and extremely promising future.
With the advancement of technology and rapid change in life, the importance of e-learning is growing day-by-day. E-learning is student-centric and focuses on every particular need of the students. The best part of e-learning is that it simultaneously authorises learners from different backdrop to equally access the superlative resources, and provides them with all kind of referral materials, tutorials and teaching sessions from knowledgeable instructors and faculty.
(The writer is CEO, Intelivisto Consulting India Pvt ltd)