ONLINE EDUCATION

ONLINE EDUCATION


DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICE
Online education : "A CLASSROOM WITHOUT WALLS, IT'S ENGAGING IN ASSISTED, SELF DIRECTED LEARNING.”
Online education, also known as distance learning or e-learning, differs from traditional education because students are not required to visit an actual classroom and listen to an instructor face-to-face. Online education is truly about student convenience. Students can check in, work on assignments, and turn them in when their schedules permit, not when the college doors are open.

Online education means students no longer have to:
* quit their jobs to attend college,
* take time off from work to attend a specific course,
*spend hours in rush hour traffic or drive 200 miles to the nearest college or University,

It also means students:
*learn at their own pace,
*gain more one-on-one access to their instructors, and
*earn degrees in less time than it would take to juggle traditional courses.

How Online Education Works
After researching the best accredited institution, students are required to apply to one of the college's degree programs. Once accepted into an online program, students are asked to sign up for appropriate courses. After the registration process is complete and students are accepted into the program, the real work begins.
Students begin their course studies by logging onto the Internet. Once they're in their appropriate classroom, they'll learn by reading assignments, asking questions, and receiving instructor feedback. Some courses even offer forums and/or chat rooms where students can gather, with or without the instructor, to discuss assignments. Finally, students are graded on homework assignments, final projects, and test scores.
The most common function used in online education is electronic mail (email) that allows students and teachers to send messages to each other. In addition, most networks also provide conferencing capabilities that let participants conduct multi-person discussions either in real-time (often called "chats") or on a delayed basis (asynchronous).

All Courses Are Not Created Equally
Different programs require different levels of computer and/or Internet knowledge. Therefore, it is vital students take the time to speak with potential instructors, previous college students, and even the computer tech department to get a better understanding of the teaching methods and technology used.
Online instructors, like those teaching traditional courses, bring to their courses their own personal experiences, teaching objectives, and preferred methodologies. In addition, the institution's technology and technical support also influence learning experiences, Some courses are text and content-focused, while other courses emphasize more technical skill and interaction with technology.


ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE EDUCATION
E-education is definitely a good option to get a online degree to improve student’s career and living styles. Besides, there are so many advantages with which he/she can be benefited with if he/she pursue a distance learning course. Some of the benefits of online education are discussed below:

Low Cost:
Online studies cost less than any college direct programs. Universities and college charge very less tuition fee for any online course compared to the direct program.

A Flexible Time Schedule:
Students will be the master of their own schedule. Time is not a constraint in an online course. They can attend lectures, complete assignments and take exams at their own time.

Effective Learning:
Online learning is more effective due to technological involvement. Students will get study materials easily through the internet. Universities and colleges offering online programs are facilitating transcripts, live discussions and training materials which can be retrieved via mail, e-mail or the school's website for reading, downloading and printing. Instructors are also available at Students' convenient times and respond to queries quickly through e-mail.

Do not need to live in a hostel:
Students do not have to live in college hostel or any other place away from their home. They can stay at their home with their family and pursue the online course

Saves time:
Online schooling saves time. Students won’t have to spend time driving to school, finding a parking space and racing the clock to get to the classroom. His/her home is his/her classroom.

Students are the one in control:
Students plan their study time around their work or family time. They create the schedule. If something happens and he/she can’t keep his/her planned schedule due to an emergency or some other reason, he/she can still get all your work done when things get back to normal. This means he/she are the one in control. They set your own hours and their own pace for whatever works best for them.

The impact of negative body language or censuring tone:
Some learners feel uncomfortable speaking up in a traditional classroom because other learners give negative nonverbal cues, like frowning, rolling their eyes, sighing loudly, crossing their arms, or shaking their head. Online, even if other learners feel negatively about a statement, the learner writing the comment gets to complete the thought before someone else posts a reply. Plus, learners—at least in a print-based chat session—do not get the chance to see or hear each other during a chat. The impact of negative body language or censuring tone is missing from an online written chat.

Enhancing student-to-student and faculty-to-student communication:
The integration of online, web-based learning with proven education methodologies provides substantial added value to traditional education. Students and faculty can both benefit from using the communication and assessment tools that are made available via online learning.

Accessibility:
Attend online classes from anywhere.

Choices:
Take courses in different subject matters.

Communication:
The ability to communicate and interact with students all over the country or even the world.

Availability:
Documents, transcripts, live discussions and training materials are all archived and recorded so that they can be retrieved via mail, e-mail or the school’s website for reading, downloading, and printing. Instructors are also available at convenient times and respond quickly through email.


DISADVANTAGES
Alongside the advantages of the Online Distance Education there are also some downsides. The major disadvantages of Online Distance Education include access to technologies, a higher cost of running online courses than people originally envisaged, the inability to receive technical advice and perhaps the most damaging of all, the negative attitude held towards online distance education by lecturers, administrators and even some students.

Here are some disadvantages listed:
Progress:
With an online education, there is probably no one checking your progress on a regular basis. You may be given some guidance along the way, but you and you alone are usually responsible for working your way through the course.

Oral Communications:
Due to interaction through email or text chatting, individuals may not have a chance to enhance their oral communication skills.

Lack of skills in technology:
Many of the lecturers and administration officials connected with online distance education programs are unfamiliar with the technologies themselves

High running cost:
The cost of simply running appropriate computer systems and an Internet connection is expensive enough let alone when students have to pay for other multimedia material. Many of the new technologies are not cheap and even if they are cheap to distribute they may involve a large cost for the production of & equipment used to produce the item.

Employment:
Not all work industries acknowledge online degrees.

Fraud:
Many online degrees are not valid or accredited.

Courses:
Not all courses are available online.


TARGET AUDIENCE
The Internet is a powerful and popular medium for information exchange. Because of its 24-hour accessibility, people who are not able to attend a traditional college or university can obtain an education from a distance easier than ever before, and at their own pace.
In the past, working adults weren't able to further their careers because of time restraints; including, but not limited to, working overtime, business travel, and caring for families. Online education takes away those time restraints by offering a completely virtual learning experience.
Working adults can now continue their education, earn higher degrees, and earn more money by attending courses that primarily take place over the Internet. Therefore, online education is for the adults and for those who can’t built their careers by attending a traditional college or university because of time restraints, though advantages of this service can be taken by anyone who have computer with internet connection.


FITNESS FOR PURPOSE
According to recent reports, roughly one in six students enrolled in higher education – about 3.5 million people – took at least one online course last fall ( 2005 ) . This is double the number who reported doing so in 2002. Five Years of Growth in Online Learning, reported a 10 percent increase in popularity for the cyber classroom.

A Survey in United States
The Sloan Survey of Online Learning, “Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006,” shows that 62 percent of chief academic officers say that the learning outcomes in online education are now “as good as or superior to face-to-face instruction,” and nearly 6 in 10 agree that e-learning is “critical to the long-term strategy of their institution.” Both numbers are up from a year ago.
Researchers at the Sloan Consortium, which is administered through Babson College and Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, received responses from officials at more than 2,200 colleges and universities across the country.
The Sloan report shows that about 80 percent of students taking online courses are at the undergraduate level. About half are taking online courses through community colleges and 13 percent through doctoral and research universities, according to the survey.

E-learning has come full circle
An electronic page is miles apart from a textbook. The challenge for e-learning portals is in making their Web pages as, or more effective than textbooks. This is done by making the "virtual course interactive, with chat and other software to make learning a real experience"
E-learning has indeed become an essential component of the learning process, rather than an independent and isolated tool. As a result, experts maintain there's been a noticeable trend amongst post-secondary institutions towards including facets of e-learning in their curriculums.
"E-learning was initially viewed as the be-all and the end-all," Mr. Van Wingerden, vice-president of learning solutions for Perth-based dominKnow, told , "but it has come full circle."
"People have really started to understand the fundamentals as well as the limitations. E-learning can give you a really strong base," Mr. Van Wingerden said.


HOW THE SERVICE CAN BE IMPROVED?
Improvement is needed in the following sectors:
* Although online distance education is supposed to reach an unprecedented learning audience the number of these students with access to the required technology is relatively low. So, improvement is needed in this sector.

* The online programs are great; however, the actual means of accessing the information are missing in a lot of communities. People who live in regional areas rarely own computers that are able to run all the new technologies. The major reason why this is so, is because of the high costs of the computer and the cost of Internet access. This high costing should be cartel down.

* Another major setback to the new online distance education system is the current lack of skills by students in using the new technologies. The online student’s has to acquire the kind of necessary knowledge and understanding about new technology.

* Many online education syllabus writers aim to have their education programs work in conjunction with new technology and to do this the teachers must pre-empt what technological changes are going to be made before the time of release of the course material. This leaves plenty of space for incorrect assumptions of what will be available.

* One of the most common thoughts from many institutions is that, just by using an online system to deliver the course, that it will simply just make the course better. More needs to be done than simply making the course available online to make the course a success.

* Teachers should Know the technology they are using! Be very comfortable with it — it will make their life easier and students will rely on them for assistance.

* Teachers should know their audience so that they can design in appropriate questions and interactions. Know your participants’ names and use them! Ensure that content is fresh and relevant to their needs. Be aware of what learners might not be aware of.

* Institutes should plan the course carefully and make sure that it has enough flexibility. Set clear expectations. Use a syllabus or outline to manage student expectations about institutes response time for individual emails, and define student participation so that students know there is a reward for quality as well as for a minimum number of postings.

* Institutes should send out lots of preparation information to make sure attendees are comfortable in their environment.


NON-ICT SOLUTION
Some of the non-ict solution of e-learning is listed below:
* Traditional method.
* In rural areas, some educated people teaches children where there is no school.
* Private tutor.
* Coaching centre.
* Language / speaking club.