Myths And Misconceptions About Online Learning
Online education has become the norm in developed parts of the world as traditional way of learning is less affordable and doesn’t provide the benefit of being flexible. Despite seeing a slew of universities providing accredited degree programs and a surge in demand for online education among students, which most happen to be young adults, there still is a stigma attached to being a graduate through an online degree program.
According to a study around 5.3 million students in the US alone took at least one online course in fall 2013, which was 3.7 percent up from the previous fall. It is an indication of a change in perceptions and misconceptions among people — especially: students, employers and members of the academic community have regarding online education and e-learning in general. With tuition fee skyrocketing and lives getting busier, online education has proven to be a second door for people who want to pursue education without being constrained by time or money and that is why in 10 years ‘Online Education’ would be the next big thing.
Here are some of the problems, myths and misconceptions being tackled and dealt by a group of people who are paving the way for education to be accessible and open to everyone all over the world and are changing the face of education through technology:
- Online Courses Are Easier:
Many consider online courses to be easier than traditional classroom learning due to the fact of being flexible in terms of time but the challenges faced by students are quite the same and at times different than in-person education.
Lynn Atanasoff, a career counselor at Pennsylvania State University says:
“At reputable institutions, students have to complete the same material as in-person, except they also have to really manage their time because online no one is reminding them when assignments or projects are due.”
Students have to put in the same amount of effort as they would for a traditional classroom environment.
2. Online Degrees Are Looked Down Upon By Employers And Hiring Organizations:
Organizations, some members of the academic community and employers in the early days of online education were dismissive and disparaging regarding degrees earned online. They had this negative perception due to a number of online diploma mills that were rampant and offered illegitimate degrees and diplomas for a fee and some were not familiar with the idea of online education.
But there has been a shift in opinion since many reputable institutions such as MIT, Stanford, Duke and Johns Hopkins have taken on and joined hands with new, independent accredited schools in offering online education.
Hiring officials say factors that affect and are taken into account by employers while hiring individuals who have an online degree or certificate are the credibility of an institution i.e. if it’s an accredited one and the quality of the program being offered along with how good the applicants themselves are.
3. The Quality Of Education Is Not Good:
Just like academic standards vary from one college to another, same is the case for virtual schools who provide access to education. Prospective students should double check and validate the credibility of an institution before enrolling in an online degree program. One such example of a reputable institution is Purdue University which is well-renowned for its bachelor’s degree in engineering.
Research also suggests otherwise. The quality of education and the outcome through online learning is no different than on-campus classroom and online schools are making sure to develop and maintain a standard that every school has to go through in order to ensure quality of virtual learning. Online degrees are now being widely accepted by recruiters because it’s the same in terms of quality of education earned through brick and mortar schools.
Conclusion:
Technology has provided a way for everyone and has made things easier. Online learning or E-Learning is one way of doing that. A student doesn’t have to be restricted only to a handful of options regarding how he/she wants to go about his education. E-Learning is certainly not there to make physical college campus education defunct but actually to add to it.
John Ebersole, a writer for Forbes Magazine in his resounding piece online says:
“What online learning does is bring knowledge to the student. How we
harness the power of online learning to advance our society is where
we need to focus our efforts and not on the perpetuation of myths
that will hold us back.”
(I wrote this article in 2015)
