Online Learning vs. Class Room Learning

 Online Learning vs. Class Room Learning


Online Learning clinched a business of some $50 billion with some 3.5 million students benefiting from it in 2006 and the figures are leaping day by day. In a couple of decades, it is touted to touch a trillion dollars, when third world countries are expected to wipe out rural illiteracies though online education.

The effectiveness of an e-leaning system is derived from three basic functions which comprise quality education, affordable education, convenience and flexibility to learners while tangible environmental impacts such as lesser use of paper etc are incidental to it. 


The enigma of the online has kept many a student away from going online for learning. The most often-cited reason is the fear of poor comprehension in a virtual class room. The second impression is that one will miss the interaction with other students in a virtual class. The million dollar question here is whether they are assumptions or real. Put in one shot, one can aver that these fears are no more than figments of imagination and myths. The Sloan report, based on a poll of academic leaders, says that students generally appear to be at least as satisfied with their on-line classes as they are with traditional ones. In fact, the comprehension is better in a virtual class than in an in-person class. 

Why is e-learning so popular in certain parts of the word?
In many contexts, online coaching is self-paced and the learning sessions are available 24x7. Learners are not bound to a specific day/time to physically attend classes. The quality of education in advanced counties is measured at least in part by the quality of faculty. Students especially in higher levels of education do not mind hunting for the best of the faculties in the world. The fact that instructors of the highest caliber can share their knowledge across borders ensures quality of teaching can only be better in virtual class room. Well known specialists can make information available internationally, to anyone interested at minimum costs. An internet connection, a computer, and a web cam can allow an interested student from any nook of the world to benefit from the knowledge of a leader in any specific field. 

Test preps like GRE and GMAT are intensive studies. In such deep studies, a wholesale classroom treatment can not be as effective as the one-to-one online tutoring. Many who have been gullible victims of the public-meeting type of classroom tutorials with over fifty students and  with no chance to clarify their doubts, will understand the difference between mass teaching and private coaching 
  
In the Indian context, online coaching is all the more relevant not only for reaching out to the rural illiterate mass through technology, but also for higher levels of learning such as test prep. For an office-goer or a marketing executive who can not reach a class room at the appointed hours, online learning is the only solution. For a girl student, who can not go home in time after class sessions in the evening; online coaching is the only means. For persons who are staying out of major city centers, virtual classes are the handy way out. For a student who wants to access a particular faculty because of his specialization but who stays in another place, online is the route. Even within city limits, commuting form one part to another is becoming a Herculean task. For these groups, on line learning is the panacea.  

The Letter “e” in e-learning does not stand for just electronic in today’s context. As the learned author Luskin puts it, it is interpreted to mean exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended, excellent, and educational in addition to "electronic”
None can illustrate this better than Alicia Helle, an online student at the UW, who says, “Obtaining my degree online has been a blessing. With two small children, I am able to work when it is convenient for me and my family. I have nothing but positive comments and experiences".