Online Education and E-Learning: Potential and Benefits

Outline

The world of Computer technology has experienced advanced growth. This technology has, therefore, been applied in each and every aspect of our lives. The internet, which has improved the communication network, has also led to the invention of other facilities.

One of these improvements is in the education sector. Learning is being made more reliable and convenient through the various research programs that are being conducted. E-learning is a technology that is gaining ground, and it is just a matter of time before it is preferred and accepted. This is because of the various advantages it has over the normal physical learning.

Online Education And E-Learning

E-learning is simply referred to as electronic learning. It is a means through which students can acquire the knowledge and the skills required through the internet without having to travel further. Physical institutions have been for long used as the main means through which knowledge could be transmitted.

In the recent past, however, technology has taken a tremendous growth which is also being transferred into the education sector. People have come to discover how convenient and reliable the internet is, and it is because of this reason that electronic learning is gaining much popularity in the world of technology.

More and more advances are subsequently being made in this field of technology to ensure that it offers the desired services. It is because of this growing industry of education that has prompted me to research more on it. Physical learning institutions have had their own challenges that have been hard to overcome despite the various efforts employed.

It is, therefore, important for us, instead of looking for more solutions to better these institutions that may never be realized, we need to perfect on this modern means of learning. It already has advantages of acceptability, and we will hence not again need to convince the masses that it is the best (Levy, 2006).

Among the challenges that physical institutions face include; lack of adequate research and learning materials as most institutional libraries are not flexible enough to handle all the study requirements of the ever-changing syllabus, minimum number of students being admitted to the colleges due to inadequate learning facilities, some students literally missing their places just because they took their admissions late, poor performance of students due to the poor quality of education they are given, frequent school dropouts by students due to lack of funds, interfered learning process because of the negative influence from peer groups, selective education system to only those who can fit in the stipulated learning program and students being subjected to long procedures of accessing travel documents in order to acquire international knowledge — long periods of finishing the courses that cannot be adjusted even when the student works harder. Boring lectures made the students lose the morale and motivation of learning. These are just but a few of the challenges that can only be solved by electronic learning.

With this modern education technology, students will enjoy these, among other benefits: education will be made possible to any candidate who has the desire to study no matter their location, due to its flexibility, online learning makes it possible for the student to study at his or her convenient time, online learning has a great relief not only to students but also the lecturers who don’t have to be confined to a particular routine to offer or receive knowledge.

They can do it anywhere at any time. Adequate research materials are available online, and the students will have a variety to choose from, which will improve the quality of their education. The internet is generally a connection network, and through this facility, students can interact with different lecturers and students, which will enhance the sharing of ideas and in turn giving them educational satisfaction (Chen, 2004).

Learning can also be done in a language media that is preferred by the student; this will make learning more interesting and exciting to the students who previously were forced to learn a certain language in order to study in a particular country.

There have always been cases where the students have related their poor grades to the lectures incapability to offer them quality learning materials and also the administration not providing them with good learning facilities. All this will be minimized as the student will be made responsible for the grades that they get.

Electronic learning will ensure that time is adequately used, and no time will be wasted on transportation costs to the learning institution and also the amount of money used to buy many research books that are at times never used. Drug abuse and illicit relationships are some of the activities common in physical institutions that impact the students’ academic and social life.

All this can be minimized if learning is made online. Racial social and all kinds of discrimination are common in physical institutions. Some students are subjected to this unfair treatment, which hinders them from adequately acquiring the knowledge and skills they need.

If given a chance to study online, these students will have better grades due to the fair environment at their disposal. With electronic learning, quality education will be offered to all at an affordable rate. This will help to minimize on the limits that some professional courses were imposing on the students who had a desire to take a certain course but could not due to the high fees.

Online education will help to boost student confidence as they can prove and ascertain the information that they have received by comparing it from similar websites. This will reduce inadequate knowledge that the students, at times, receive because they did not have adequate research materials.

On line learning compared to physical institutions provides a variety of courses, and any discipline can be studied by a student who would otherwise have to travel far.

This will prevent them the consequences of taking a certain course simply because they had no alternatives. E-learning connects students from all corners of the world. This is important in boosting their awareness skills as they are able to share knowledge and exchange ideas concerning the various topics.

When e-learning is made accessible to all the desiring students, quality education will be offered not only on e-learning institutions but will also pose greater challenges to the physical institutions that will be under pressure to offer quality education so as to fit in the competitive market. With this continuous trend, every institution will strive to offer the best, which will, in turn, improve the quality of education offered worldwide (Schultz, 2002).

Online education will ensure that apart from acquiring the knowledge, they can also have opportunities to apply whatever they are leaning through internships and also make it possible for them to work as they learn. This will help reduce the burden that the students place on their parents and sponsors who otherwise have to take care of their education expenses and at the same time, their upkeep.

Many more things can be done alongside learning through the internet. Many people had to sacrifice between education and other commitments like family. But now, nobody needs to worry as they can still adequately attend to their duties at the same time as they acquire the knowledge that they need (Bourne, 1999).

It will be possible for all the students who desire to acquire international knowledge but are unable to due to the long procedures that are involved in getting the travel documents and also admissions to those institutions due to the many restrictions by some countries.

There is also no limit to the number of students that can be admitted to the online institution, online education has a flexible capacity, and so a student who wishes to enroll any time can do so without the fear of missing a place due to late admission.

With online education, there is no stipulated time limit for acquiring skills in a particular field; it all depends on the student’s speed of learning. Admissions can be taken at any time of the year and the same completed in a shorter or longer time, depending on how fast the student is.

This will also create and increase responsibility on the part of the student as each one of them will aspire to work harder and finish the course in the shortest time possible. The lectures and the administration will also be relieved of the blames that came with the student’s failure to perform well.

Malpractices and negative influence among students that is usually caused through physical interaction will be reduced as students’ relations will only be academic through e-learning (Pope, 2001). Frequent physical interactions make students be so familiar with each other that can make them engage in some non-academic activities, some of which usually have a negative impact on their studies and their future lives.

E-learning also provides a wide variety of libraries. One can get learning materials and research books of their choice. Flipping through the library in such books can be a very tiring affair, and it will only be fair if the students are relieved of this task and save time to do their homework by easily getting what they need online. Distance education programs will be made easier as the study materials and other updates will be easily communicated via the internet.

E-learning is a learning methodology that is gaining so much popularity in our current generation. There is an increasing trend in which most students and even teachers are adopting this form of learning. With computers almost in each and every household, e-learning will gain even more appreciation.

It is important for this form of learning to be researched further so as to see how much better it can be of benefit to its growing number of users (Rynson, 2005).

In my research work I desire to explore the means through which this facility can be made accessible to all deserving students by: suggesting admission procedures, how tests and exams will be made available throughout so that the students test their learning progress, enough resource materials to ensure that the students have a variety to choose from, easy accessibility of these resource materials, automatic timing methods that can be used during exams to minimize on the possibility of cheating by the students, feedback reports after every lesson to gauge on its quality and make the necessary improvements to satisfy the needs of each student.

For this service to fulfill its required purpose of giving students quality education programs, then certain amendments need to be done to it, which include; properly trained staff members who understand the needs of the students. This staff should be well equipped to be able to provide the relevant guidelines and the materials needed by the students.

Once these and more adjustments are made, the many doubts of some people who are yet to accept it as the best form of learning will be cleared. Some of the facilities that will be accessible through this method include; online learning, online educations, distance education, distance learning, technology-based training, and web-based training. (Mendes, 2008)

It is no doubt that this is the current technological field that needs to be advanced. It is only through knowledge that further developments can be made in the world. How progressive and advanced will this world be when the means through which this knowledge is transmitted is made to be more reliable and accessible?

Illiteracy will be a story of the past, students will not have to travel far in such of education, employees, parents and many other people will all comfortably fit in the classroom without the fear of neglecting their responsibilities, bias that is at times experienced in physical institutions between lectures and students will be minimized, students will be more motivated through the excitement that comes with e-learning, parents will not have to complain of the negative influences on their students in school and a more responsible generation (Rynson, 2005). We don’t have to wait for ages before this is fulfilled, the earlier we venture into it, the better for us.