Is the online learning environment sufficient enough to produce reliable elites in the world today?
The concept of e-learning has been embraced as a substitute for making physical appearance in class and has been a revelation in some instances and in others it has not served that objective at all. E-learning is considered the modern day learning where people across the globe are able to register on education programs of their choice in whichever institution offering the same via this platform. While it is considered an emerging community of learners, e learners and instructors are persuaded of the advantages of the platform and cognizant of the disadvantages, as well.
Empire state university offers an array of learning technologies to its students and one among them are the distance and e-learning technology. Students who have tight schedules to attend classes physically would be required to register to be using this platform in their learning and eventually have their examinations administered online, as well. The fact that the entire content is available to the students makes it easy for anyone who is fascinated to conduct extensive research to do so due to the abundance of resources. The technology has been a preference for many students who could be having other classes whenever discussions are held because e-learning requires of a learner to consistency follow the program tailored for them.
The technology enables learners to share opinions by posting comments on the topics they have learned about and their colleagues will critique their opinions accordingly (Bullen, Mark, & Diane 53)
E-learning has a number of advantages to the users of the same technology; first, it is convenient in discussions irrespective of geographical limitations so that, whenever issues arise that should be discussed, users are able to organize themselves and carry on. While it is easy to access online information, some statistical data is also easily accessed since institutions having updated databases will help learners to access the content that they feel is relevant in helping them demonstrate their knowledge in something they have been learning. For instance, information about infant health, demographics can never be accessed if the database in the institution is not updated and to the edge with distance learning technology is the fact that it is very easy to access relevant data and even demographics.
According to the article, there are always loopholes with distance learning that are associated with the integrity of the whole process in the sense that, it is very unlikely to ascertain whether the work of a person for instance research work are exclusive of that person’s effort or it is subject to external influence. For instance, if an exam is administered online and nobody is there to supervise it the results could reflect otherwise of an individual’s potential. In some cases, however, this approach to learning is working out very well, and this is very much reliant on the disciplined commitment and personal initiative from the side of the students.
The fact that a summary of the whole books and even the whole book in some cases can be found online serves to highlight the extent to which distance and e-learning can be relied upon in the future as a mode of learning and delivery of quality personnel who can take part in nation building. The fact that this platform does not limit collaboration among students across universities helps to create the desired capacity by facilitating the exchange of ideas among learners. The fact that, for a given topic under study, the learner can access an unlimited literature on the same showing the transition of thoughts over time makes e-learning the best technology for learning that a student would love to work with (Zhao, Yong 16).
Most of the latest e-learning and distance learning approaches have found a preference among postgraduate students and short courses learners who would hardly require any interface to carry on with the courses. For instance, some information and communication courses are offered on this platform and students who are not able to pay for the whole course and enter into a classroom con just register at affordable rates and access relevant information in those courses at their own comfort. The suitability of this technology is the fact that, at post graduate level, learning involves across the border consultations and the only platform that can best address that is when learners have access to this technology. Some articles which might help in research can also be shared by colleagues in other institutions among other learners if the technology is reliable.
In my own informed opinion, open distance learning and e-learning is the next big thing looking from the collaboration among universities already taking route. Universities in the UK and those in the Arab countries are already in collaboration, and the only way they can further their dreams and aspirations is through open distance learning and e-learning. This has motivated many institutions all over the world to embrace this learning technology and as seen in the article, most of the institutions are pushing for ICT integration and sharing.
As opposed to the other version of learning approaches the learning process in a manner that enables the student to grow by learning argumentative skills so that whenever they enter into discussion with colleagues, they don’t remain embarrassed at all. The other collaboration is between the empire state university and the turkey’s Anadolu University that have partnered to offer e-MBA in a collaborative approach. The goodness with E-learning is the fact that it gives institutions to standardize to some extent the content they give to students. This comes about when one institution agrees to co-host each other in a learning process so that by the end of the day, whatever one has offered has reached out to learners from more than one institution. In that way, when programmers are deciding on what content will be dealt with, they will end up standardizing the whole content (Sullivan, Teresa 34).
According to these articles, the potential that distance and e-learning will influence the future of scholars to deliver services to the world is growing on a daily basis. Initially, it was thought that the same platform was going to be full of malpractices, however, with the need to use every platform to do the right thing, changes come with time. Initially, nobody thought this move was constructive enough, in fact, others thought that, degrees that would eventually be awarded to distance learners were dubious indeed. The changes in learning approaches from the institutions themselves have helped to leverage on time saving means and making education universally accessible as opposed to deny learners the possibility to do so. The fact that before any distance learning courses are commenced, validation is done, and that serves to lay off any fears of being dubbed into nonexistent courses. Thereafter, the learners will be required to register themselves s and follow the course outline and ensure they are able to cover it all before exams are due.
Works Cited
Bullen, Mark, and Diane P. Janes. Making the Transition to E-Learning: Strategies and
Issues. Hershey, Pa. [u.a.: Information Science Pub, 2007. Print.
Sullivan, Teresa A. Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education: Panel on
Measuring Higher Education Productivity, Conceptual Framework and Data Needs. , 2012. Print.
Zhao, Yong. Research in Technology and Second Language Education: Developments and
Directions. Greenwich, Conn: IAP-Information Age Pub, 2005. Print.
