Online College Learning
One of the quiet revolutions to
accompany the Internet has been a change in the role and
stature of correspondence college, online college
learning. Although some of the older institutions have
probably been around since the time of the first
matchbook, most people look somewhat askance at distance
learning. Schools that offered degrees by mail have been
considered suspicious shortcuts, at best; at worst, some
have been outright scams.
Using the
Internet -online college learning
Distance
learning is quickly becoming "Internet learning" in the most
popular form of non-traditional education delivery -online
college learning. Online communication between students and
teachers has somehow legitimized the process and at the same
time altered the cast of players. Students are typically
professionals and working adults but also include senior
citizens and others who could not regularly travel to a campus
for classes. Perhaps most importantly, with online college
learning, the names of the educational institutions have
changed--from specialized training schools with names like
"Lucky's Art Institute" to respected universities and colleges
with long-standing campus degree programs.
To be
sure, some online learning programs have simply replaced the
U.S. Post Office with the Internet, conducting a rather sterile
transfer of documents via e-mail. In many other cases, though,
digital libraries are being made available to off-campus
students, and cutting-edge technology for data sharing,
collaborative research, and group conferencing are becoming
invaluable resources, not mere gadgets.
Online
college courses extend the scope of students to invalids or
students who live and work outside the institution's home state
or virtually anywhere in the world. They also improve
educational quality by offering access to famous lecturers
(e.g., Gore Vidal, George Gilder, or Nicholas Negroponte). Some
argue that classes that include skilled professionals,
foreigners, and an overall broader cross-section of people have
greater value than the homogeneity of many American college
campuses.
Not all
online college learning serves the completion of a college
degree. The delivery of training materials via the Internet
offers tremendous potential savings for corporations,
especially in areas like Information Systems in which change
and retraining are frequent. In some cases, online skill
training takes place under the guidance of a college or
professional training provider, but companies are also
recognizing the value of offering internal employee training
through private intranets.
Problems
There are
problems yet to be solved in deploying online college learning,
of course. Equipment remains costly, although the increasing
ubiquitousness of PCs, both in universities and in the hands of
students, is reducing the significance of this issue.
Communications speed is another; overall Internet bandwidth is
in high demand, and students generally are at the short end of
the online stick, using modem connections that are too slow for
satisfactory real-time audio or video
transmissions.
Perhaps
the greatest obstacle to the wider use of distance learning is
a lack of understanding, and, in some cases, a reticence on the
part of college faculty. Many college teachers view online
education as a threat to their positions. Those who accept the
new technology may struggle to understand it and wonder how it
can be used and what special policies should be in place for
students.
How it
works
There are
two common models through which online college learning is
usually implemented. In the first, students gather in a place
removed from the teacher's location. The boundaries of a
familiar classroom setting are then expanded by incorporating
satellite, cable, and other networking technologies to bring
the teacher and students together in real time. With the second
model, the student works more as an individual, using a PC to
supplement traditional course work, engage in directed study at
his or her own pace, or "attend" a class that is in session
within a networked environment.
The result
is a more project-oriented mode of learning that may require a
higher degree of discipline. The advantage, though, is that
students can complete a course around their own schedule, yet
it's still an experience directed by the facilitator, with the
potential for group interaction. This model is well-suited to a
person who may not be able to access a classroom due to a
disability, scheduling conflicts, or geographic location. The
use of e-mail and electronic bulletin boards can also increase
class participation by encouraging students who are normally
too shy to speak in a group to contribute. Online college
learning is becoming one of the best methods
nowadays.
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