With smart-phone becoming a modern day necessity today among the teenagers and students, it will not be inappropriate to say that a smartphone coupled with internet connectivity plays a significant role in the lives of the millennial. The youth use mobile and data connectivity as a staple for information processing, communication, sharing and retrieval of knowledge. From the moment you wake up till you go to bed at night, one thing that permanently remains with you is undoubted –smartphone. Mobile devices have been the single biggest game changer driving online learning platforms, with over 90 percent of India’s college and university students owning or craving for a mobile phone and/or an internet connection.
The recent easy and cheap access to the internet as well gave this a boom, letting each and every one utilize the internet without having to spend a fortune. Getting access to regular internet, also greatly impacted the education arena, paving the path for ‘anytime and anywhere’ education. The growing popularity of online learning system has enabled numerous individuals to fulfill their long before broken dreams related to education.
One-of-its-kind Education:
Online courses offer a unique environment that puts the student at the center of the learning experience. It’s not a conventional classroom teaching consisting of boards, learning equipment, students and teachers; it’s an innovative platform where students from all over the world can come under one roof and attain classes. Apart from the regular learners, online education has come as a complete blessing for those who belong to weaker socio-economic communities, who are not able to afford the access to learning resources i.e. teachers, textbooks and infrastructure. It will connect them to a global network of online learners, exposing them to new perspectives. The ideas that they receive, will not be limited by the number of heads in one classroom.
Accessibility:
While classroom learning ensures the students for accessing only a handful of faculty members, in online learning scenario, learners are subjected to be guided by a range of teachers from across the world. It promises to bring universities and professors to your homes and hostels through mobiles and computers. In fact, there is a great need for professionals today to reskill themselves in a good interval of time. However, their respective job responsibilities seldom allow them to do so. Online learning also cops up with this situation by enabling professionals from different fields to pursue short-term courses side by side their job by giving the option of weekend classes or arranging weekdays classes in flexible timings. Moreover, having realized the significance of e-learning, the Ministry of Human Resources and Development and state skill development bodies like APSSDC have started uploading lectures online so that they can be easily accessed by students anytime and anywhere.
Affordability:
In a developing country like India, parents have to struggle a lot to send their wards in a reputed institution for studies as along with educational fess there are many expenses attached. Especially for parents from small towns of the country, it becomes more difficult as it takes a great fortune in pursuing education while staying in a big city. Not just the education, the student has to take care of lodging and commuting as well. Quality education comes at a high cost, but with the advent of online education resources, students can access it at a much lower cost.
It’s true that online education till date has changed many lives and to some extent has changed the way of traditional way of imparting education. But this is just the beginning of the revolutionary concept of online education which has the potential to disrupt the education system in India and provide a better learning environment for the students.
Courtesy: Higher Education Review
