What can be better than sitting back at the ease and comfort of your home and getting valuable educational degrees? It sounds extraordinary, right? But, thanks to the internet, this luxury is readily available to pupils these days.
Online education procedures have a huge role in the modern education system. It is especially after the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course, the concept of online education existed even before the lock down. But the pandemic and lock down have hyped its volume to some extensive extents. Actually, during the lock down period, both instructors and students got a chance to explore. They found ways to enhance the ease of education via the online mode. In some scenarios, the online learning scope can be instrumental and advantageous to some extent.
Earlier, the trust and confidence over such courses were less. Many students and even their folks considered these courses not so genuine. But the scenario is changing; instead, say it’s evolving. Both the teachers and students are taking small steps to make this type of learning more and more accessible.
Before opting for any type of online learning, understand what it is and how it works.
What is Online Distance Learning?
Online distance learning is the form of learning where students can sit back at home and learn various courses via online learning classes and video recordings on an audio-visual platform. By such means of education, students get the opportunity of enhanced learning irrespective of geographical or financial boundaries. Moreover, well designed online learning can be a very convenient and effective form of education for the huge number of students, who can go to school or colleges due to whichever reason. In other words, it can be said that online distance education has made education more accessible.
Another point about online distance education is that these courses can be completed parallelly while pursuing various other activities like working full time. These days, students believe in gaining experience and work experience besides obtaining the degree. This is justifiable because the recruiters also seem to value the experiences and applied skills along with the candidate’s knowledge. Hence it is natural for students to look for opportunities to give them certain work experience. But first, completing the education and then going for experience is time-consuming. Therefore, to save some time, it is advisable to start working and, side by side, keep learning via online distance courses.
Who Can Avail Online Distance Courses?
There are no hard and fast rules as per the eligibility criteria of students who can opt for online distance courses. But of course, there have been data which shows which students mostly tend to go for these courses.
But students who usually take up this course are –
- Students who do not have the facility of offline campus education in the areas they live.
- Students who cannot afford campus education due to economic reasons.
- Students who wish to take up courses from foreign universities but cannot actually visit them.
- Employees of a company who require additional certificate courses or training to boost their skills.
But other than these, any student can opt for online distance learning courses. Especially in the current post-pandemic scenario, many students and instructors feel that going for online classes is a much safer option.
Resources of Online Learning
Online learning tends to be the future of the education system. However, to adapt to the potential changes that are yet to come, students of all age groups must have a prior idea about the requirements and resources of the same.
The essential requirement for online education is your dedication to learning and a proper interface with solid internet connectivity.
On the other hand, resources of online education are as follows –
- E-books
- E-sessions
- Videos
- Recorded Lectures
- Discussion forums
- Live question and answer sessions.
Now the resources used may vary for different institutions. Most of them wish to conduct E-sessions via video conferencing over internet-based platforms and provide reference books. But some organizations work quizzes and live Q&A sessions based on the sessions preloaded on their website, post which they give the candidate a completion certificate. Many also tend to send notes and recorded lectures to students via email. Then they perform an evaluation test in the form of an online test.
Do remember that whatever source or resources you might have access to, you must have an idea of how to use it to your utmost advantage.
Related: https://entertolearn.net/top-benefits-of-ebooks-in-modern-learning-that-you-cant-ignore/
How to Pursue Online Courses?
The online distance learning process basically involves 3 steps – Accessing, Attending and Evaluation.
- Accessing – The first step involved is accessing an online course of your choice and convenience. To get the best, you must research a lot to get details about all available and choose the best one for you based on your comfort, time, and price constraints.
- Attending – The next step involved is attending the classes and referring to all the materials provided. Most of these courses have flexible hours of sessions. You need to be attentive and dedicated enough to attend to them and do all that is required for the completion of the course.
- Evaluation – At the end of each online course, there ought to be a test that will judge your learning throughout the course and provide you with a certificate as per your performance. Do not consider any unfair means during this test. Institutions providing the scope of online education have ways of preventing such activities. So, act accordingly.
Parting Words
Online education has got a huge scope in the near future. Due to its flexibility, it is becoming more popular among students and instructors. You can understand that online education options are easily accessible from all the points mentioned above. As a student, you just need to be determined to pursue them and put in efforts only after knowing about the entire process.
Hence go on learning from these courses and growing your knowledge or skills sitting back at home doing anything parallels.
About the Author – John Harris is a full time online social science educator and collaborates with a few renowned universities of America. In addition, he is associated with Allessaywriter.com to help students with their essay assignment help. He believes that online education can change the bigger picture by reaching out to a more significant number of students.
