INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The Name of the School (University)
The City and State where it is located
In this assignment, I am going to look at the impact of online education. In order to explain my argument in depth, I am going to do some research regarding online education and how people are reacting to the service currently. Furthermore, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of online education.
2.0 Online education:
Online education also known as E-learning is a form of distance education. Online education can be provided in two different ways; it can be over the internet or through a visit to a lecturer/mentor at your convenient place and time.
It is not compulsory to conduct online education in a physical classroom. The place of study can be chosen at the most suitable time to study. The online courses are delivered to students all over the world via the internet, and the instructor email your works. The lectures can also be delivered through video chats.
2.1 The current review/market of online education
The higher education sector has experienced massive publicity in the recent past. Many institutions have preferred to engage its students through E-learning rather than the traditional methods of teaching. This fact is substantiated by the number of online degree programs are advertised by both the social media and mainstream media. An increasing number of students registering mainly for higher education have rendered the traditional method of teaching and learning irrelevant. The resources are no longer sufficient to cater for all these students supposedly seated in class waiting for a teacher. Besides, the number of students in the job market has also increased. The e-learning provides such students with efficient and adaptive methods of learning (Halsne and Gotta, 2002). These factors have, therefore, expanded the online education market to the extent that any willing student can enroll for any program from any institution worldwide.
There are two main factors that have led to the expansion of the online education market. These factors include expanding degree programs’ market and the changing demographics of students pursuing higher education. Emerging new degree programs not offered by other institutions are offered through the internet so as to reach a larger population of students who would otherwise have been locked out of such programs due to distance barrier. The students who are targeted by the online education market are drawn from the new base of students that leads to increasing in online education enrollment (Bocchi, et. al., 2004). The new base includes students who are already employed and cannot learn through traditional methods of attending a class. Bocchi, et. Al (2004) estimates that the difference between the average students who learn via online education and those who attend classes is that five out of six online students are already working and are unable to attend this classes. Other demographics show that those who do online learning are older, more likely to be married and have children. These aspects of social life make it cumbersome for this group of students to use the traditional methods of learning thus expanding the online education market.
The market contains two most exploited area of online education. The largest category is the Career and Technical Education (CTE). CTE provides the greatest opportunity for online education service providers because may of students who enroll for the program are employees. Large portion of this population is more likely to pursue online education that sitting in class to attend lessons. It is estimated that average online student using the CTE program is 37 years old. Studies have shown that between the year 2001 and 2003 76.3 percent of colleges offered CTE courses through online education (Bocchi, et. al., 2004). The second category of online education is the in the field of preparation of teachers. There is demand for teachers to increase their level of education through certain certification online programs (Besser, 1996). These two categories have played a critical role in the evolution and expansion of online education market.
There are various tools that have been instrumental in the expansion of this market. The introduction and use of mobile technologies, as well as social networks, has increased the number of students enrolling for virtual learning programs. Facebook and Twitter have frequently been used to advertise and promote online education while Skype and Google talk have joined the market also as new media of advertisement. The U.S market and Western Europe enjoy the majority share of this market. Research also suggests that Africa is also rising to the challenge. In spite of technological challenges the continent faces, it has utilized the available resources to tap into the online education market (Bocchi, et. al., 2004.) The players in this market are as diverse as the students seeking online education enrollment. Schools have established platforms for sharing information, as well as online exchange programs with other schools. The e-learning material publishers have also invested heavily in the market to provide sustainable study materials for the ever-increasing number of students. As teachers become ICT competent, they will develop their online materials and exchange with their colleagues as well as their students. Institutions of higher education are the major players in this market. They have increased the number of courses they offer in e-learning as well as online courses.
Online education market has its challenges that need to be overcome if the students are to benefit maximally from it. One of these challenges is to define the required number of students who will make the program economically feasible. Expanding education programs beyond the normal geographical boundaries increases the number of students enrolling for these programs (Besser, 1996.) The increase in the number of students leads to insufficiency of available facilities for learning. The high number of students may, therefore, jam the network when, for instance, all of them are trying to access online library at the same time.
Another challenge is how to provide technical support for the new program. Online education demand expansion of software and network activity. These new support resources must be supplemented by new or extra staff to help the student in using them. If the existing staff is maintained, then it would be cumbersome for students to get sufficient support on how to use these new resources (Besser, 1996). This may reduce the quality of services provided in online education. Expanding the staff brings in other challenges on how they will be funded and how recruitment searches will be conducted.
In spite of these challenges, there is no doubt that online education has gone viral. The whole world enjoys the benefits that come with this market both economically and academically. There is every reason to believe that with technological advancement, this market will experience a fast and significant growth over the next decade. The growth rate is estimated to be approximately 7.6 percent that will generate revenue of around $51.5 billion by the year 2016 (Besser, 1996). E-learning will, therefore, continue to grow using this revenue. The government as well as business opportunities will spur this growth if they support the system through healthy regulations. Only through appreciating the crucial role that e-learning offers to our community, then people can experience the greatest benefit that the same will offer for the posterity.
Advantages of online education:
In today's busy lifestyle, most people have no time to go back to school even if they have the intention to get more degrees for career advancement, job promotion or simply to learn something new. Online education is capable of providing you with a flexible learning environment from any location as long as you are equipped with internet connection. In addition, with a proper time management, you can easily plan your online learning sessions to fit your busy schedule and follow your own pace of study to complete your degree program.
Another main advantage of online education is that you can attend the online classes from the comfort of your home or at any location that you find suitable to you. So you can enroll into any online degree program offered by any universities around the world as long as they make their degree program online.
Other more advantage of online education is that it is easy to apply online rather going to the university, so you can save money that you would otherwise have spent on the journey. Also in terms of tuition fee, online education costs less than the campus based degree program.
Disadvantages of online education
The main disadvantage of online education is that the student will not enjoy personal attention with the lecture or another student. In addition, it denies the student a chance to interact and socialize with other students.
How does online education work?
Most online education works on a weekly schedule rather than on a daily basis. Contributing to the discussions, and experiences make the course much more interesting. Most courses require interaction of students with teachers.
There are two types of online education courses
- Fully online courses: These kind of online courses administer 100% of the class meeting and coursework are conducted online. However, in certain cases the students will be needed to come to campus for a test or an orientation.
- Hybrid online courses 50% to 95% of the class are held online.
- Video based courses: are like face-to-face classroom courses, with a lecturer speaking and power point slides or online examples used for illustration. Video streaming technologies are used. Students watch the video by means of freeware or plug-ins (e.g. Windows Media Player, Real Player)
4.0 Conclusion
I strongly believe that online education is essential because it saves time and effort especially for people who are at work to support oneself or family and cannot attend class at a given time. Therefore, this will give the student an opportunity to do their personal work and study at their chosen time and place. However, online education can be expensive, and students do not get enough support as much as normal students who attend classes on a daily basis.
Recommendation:
Online learning students should be connected
The community of students is taking advantage of online education need to be connected to enable them hold a discussion forum in their area of specialty. The market must take advantage of the social media to connect this student for efficient exchange of ideas and learning materials. Learning becomes more effective when the number of students and teachers can connect and share ideas. The teachers will interact with the students showing interest in whatever they do which will boost the morale of the students. Low levels of interpersonal connection with the instructor deny the student the required confidence and motivation to excel in their online courses. For instance, a study has shown that online instructors who frequently interacted with the students and responded to their queries demonstrated a sense of caring which helped the student to improve their academic performance (Besser, 1996).
Perpetual study programs need to be developed and implemented.
Online education provides a platform for delivering courses to students any time during the year. However, many institutions still program their studies in the same manner as the traditional on-school model. Tests are given once a year, and especially several years after the students have sat for their exams. The authorities in the education sector should allow institutions offering online education to test their student throughout the year so long as they have completed their course. The schools should enroll the students throughout the year rather than making it an annual event.
Greater Attention needs to be paid to the creation of high-quality online programming
Institutions should not use the online education as a market to increase their revenue. However, they should work extremely hard to ensure that whatever program they roll out for students are intended to improve the performance of their students. They must observe high-quality online courses that seek to improve the lifestyle of the population it serves. They must conduct research and develop strategies on how to improve online education with stronger student learning and performance outcome.
References
Besser, H. 1996. Issues and challenges for the distance independent environment.
Bochhi, J., Eastman, J., and Swift, C. 2004. Retaining the online learner: profiles of
of Education for Business, 9(4).pp. 86-92
Lee, A., and Michael, S. 2009. Distance Education: definition of terms and glossary [Online] (Updated 6 March 2011) Available at http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FHCunwzqfEYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=definition+of+online+education&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ID5dVI_cD-mR7Abs8IC4Cg&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=definition%20of%20online%20education&f=false (online) accessed 8/11/2014
Syracuse University. 2014. Online Education [Online](Updated June 2014) Available at http://ischool.syr.edu/future/onlineeducation.aspx accessed on 14/11/2014
Colorado State University. 2014. Online and Distance Learning [Online] (Updated on 16 June 2014) http://www.online.colostate.edu/onlinedistance/online-learning.dot accessed on 14/11/2014 accessed on 12/11/2014
Havard, J. 2014 Advantages and Disadvantages of Online education [Online] (Updated on 23 August, 2014) Available at http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/62604/phoenix_university/advantages_and_disadvantages_of_online_education.html accessed on 15/11/2014
