Advantages of Distance Learning

Distance learning has had its increase every year. Many students are going into it for convenience and attainability. It is so convenient that working students can have their education during breaks, or anything in-between. They don’t have to report to a conventional classroom anymore.

Education has come a long way. No longer is the idea of a classroom the only place to learn everything. In fact, you can have your education without even seeing a classroom in your life. That’s the uniqueness of distance learning.

And there are a lot of advantages to it. Let us take a closer look.

Easy Access
This is the reason why many students are availing of it. It is accessible, easy to handle. Because contemporary life is so busy, and at times you have to do two things at the same time, people are striving for that easy access on things, including of course, education.

No Time Wasted
The concept of working at the same time as studying is unusual, but it saves a lot of time. You feel a sense of accomplishment when doing so many things aside from work concerns. You also have the opportunity to finish a degree while doing your day job.

Smooth Schedule
You can study anywhere you want. As long as you have a good internet connection, then you can study, research and even discuss subjects online without actually being there with your instructor.

At Your Own Pace
Education has never been this easy. Studying at your own rhythm can only bring about a more concentrated education in the process. It is quite pressure-free, and deadlines are almost always non-existent.

Time Away From Academics
You can spend more time doing other things, like nurturing a hobby or time away with your family. Who knows, your family might help you with your assignments.

Improving Distance Learning Systems

University students choose online degree courses with various levels of abilities; however, good results in a college degree demand a variety of skills. Besides the fundamentals, like numeracy as well as literacy, particular soft abilities connected with online work, which include versatility and group interaction, are important to online student achievement. The Distance learning students also need to learn technical skills, like utilizing computer programs and Internet solutions, to perform efficiently in school.

Listed below the guidelines in distance learning systems that can help online college students develop the abilities essential for achievements:

Schools that embrace these picked guidelines might let students find higher amounts of success in an internet-based involvement.

Improve Social Media Engagement
Online students usually build feelings of remoteness. They fail to see the superb advantages that in-person classes provide, like the opportunity to create relationships with faculty and have interaction culturally with other students.

To assist online students in experiencing the connection and help them in obtaining a few of the same information and also solutions accessible to university students, teachers and facilitators should utilize social media, like Facebook and Twitter, and also other chat features. Social media will help students really feel more attached to their school by permitting for more connections.

Online Tutoring Services
Preserving students afloat educationally is yet another key process. Many online methods may serve as helpful or course options. These external options can enhance what happens in the online educational setting. Free online tutoring solutions assist students learn further information and help with remediation around subjects which range from literary to statistics.

Promote Online Study Communities
Online tutoring has created some distinctive social network groups or online study groups. Such groups may help supply further assistance about particular classes or topics. To some degree, the development of such groups improves the students’ activities, motivating them to participate deeper with the material of the program and to interact with colleagues who have some degree of affinity with their similar training course. Online students can encounter other students personally at nearby libraries or in coffee shops. Facilitators need to make students conscious of these possibilities.

Distance Learning Systems has exposed many paths for individuals who require the time and versatility to balance household, work and personal needs. Teachers still need always improve their initiatives to answer the unique requirements of online students.

The Blessings of Distance Learning Systems

Distance learning systems has become a blessing to the field of education. Despite the shortfalls in technology, this alternative way of learning has becoming promising for the 21^st century learners. Let’s delve deeper into the advantages of Distance learning.

Convenience of time and space
This is one of the biggest edge of distance learning. Students no longer have to drive all their way to be present in a class, physically present beside the instructor, gather study materials from the library, or gather together with other students.
Some students who are partly working, have time restrictions and may not study in a traditional class setting. Distance learning may provide them the opportunity to perform academics despite having work.

In addition, young adults won’t have to go far away from their state to get formal education. With various distance learning system, students can learn effectively as in a classroom.

Saves Money
Cost for online learning is much cheaper than on-campus counterparts. Students worry less since they don’t need to pay for commute, lodging, uniform, canteen, and miscellaneous school fees.
Online programs offer modules that can be downloaded on the computer. So, the need for bulky books will be somewhat eradicated. The cost for school supplies such as paper, pen, and notebook will no longer be needed due to the notepad feature offered free by Microsoft windows.
Earning while Learning
As mentioned, students can work at the same time study. When you have a job, you have income, and with a stable income, you are able to support your studies without plunging yourself from debt – unlike every one else.

These are some of the obvious advantages Distance learning systems can give. Efforts in improving the system is still going on, and great possibilities are to be expected in the future.

Difficulties in the Success of Distance Learning Systems

The widespread of the internet has created various distance learning systems that came up with excellent educational outcomes. This new learning system, though advantageous, has several challenges to overcome.

Over the past several decades, different hurdles have left distance learning systems inferior to its equivalent – face-to-face learning. Some of these challenges include the difficulty to change presentations to suit audience, inability to control teaching progress, and lack of learning styles. But the biggest one is the “keeping up” pace of communication.

One of the most important aspect of an effective learning process is the need to have a two-way (teacher and student) communication. Ever since e-learning began, a big issue has been thrown upon teachers and students. Each one cannot effectively ask or answer questions, frustrations, and comments.

A secondary issue in distance learning system is the absence of student to student interaction. In a traditional classroom setting, students are grouped with other students to share and contradict ideas. Subjects such as philosophy, language, and debate require a peer-to-peer communication for effective learning. With the lack of this kind of interaction, distance learning may just be defined as a mere transfer of information, without the true learning experience.

Today, these challenges still exist both in distance learning systems and in a classroom setting where there is a large crowd of students and a single lecturer. However, with the rapid acceleration of modes of communication in the distance learning programs, a large portion of these hindrances have been overcome. Real-time video classes for instance, a small group of students can benefit through chatting, online libraries, practice modules, and a feedback system that provides rapid response to teachers and co-students as well.

Most of these challenges may have been solved, but it is still existing. However, we all agree that these challenges are continuously being addressed effectively.

Determining an Excellent Online Class

There are plenty of low-quality, low-learning, uninteresting online classes on the market. However, you can also find a few impressive online courses that indulge students that help them learn in ways that aren’t always achievable in a traditional educational setting. The majority of top-notch classes online have a tendency to share some characteristics in common:

Natural Learning Content

Reading through plain textbook and giving answers to fill-in-the-blank questions isn’t an all natural method to study, and excellent online classes steer clear of such formulaic elements. Rather, they try to interact with students through content material that is a healthy fit for studying the topic.

Student-Friendly Pacing

Excellent online classrooms pace the assignments so that learners are not bored or bombarded on any given week. These classes are specifically made to ensure that sufficient time is allocated for focusing on main projects understanding that minor assignments continue to keep students involved in the meantime.

Communal feeling

The very best online classes are produced with a sense of community. Students are welcomed into the course and you can communicate with the teacher as well as your peers inside a friendly atmosphere. You will find a number of ways that a community can be produced in online classes. Some include off-subject community forums where students discuss from last week’s football game or their favorite quality recipes. Others encourage students to publish real pictures for his or her avatar or require students to accomplish group projects. Connections help students feel at ease taking risks and requesting help.

Wise Utilization of Multimedia

Nobody wants to scroll through hundreds of pages of text documents. A good online classroom enhances learning by including videos, interactive activities, and podcasts, along with other multimedia elements. To create multimedia tools, the components should always possess a solid purpose and should be completed in an expert way.

Quality Distance Learning Systems

Distance Learning Systems today has been an important means of gaining knowledge and acquiring a degree without attending a traditional classroom and paying higher tuition, transportation, boarding etc. However, not all schools offering this program are offering a relevant and effective curriculum.

A good Distance Learning Program must be, of course, relevant and updated. The content must be significant to the course and must be suited to the online environment. Every module must be in connection to the course objectives. Students must not be perplexed whether the content is in connection with the course they enrolled in or not. A great distance learning course leaves no ambiguity within the students mind concerning how content is applicable to the objectives. The course must be planned properly and must be using a great approach since online learning is different from traditional classroom set up.

Teachers must be able to engage students on the more personal level. As distance learning gets to be more ubiquitous, teachers and college managers shouldn’t forget how they can personally and properly engage students. The approach is different in making students involved with the topics and discussions. The instructors must be updated with the latest tools and software to best meet the interests of the students.

The instructors of a quality distance learning system must have proper training in managing an online classroom. They must be aware that students have difficulties in focusing on the course since they are away and distractions are everywhere in the internet. The management must be able to supply enough support to the instructors; supplying enough tools, references, trainings and sufficient budget to fully develop and continually improve the program.

The Distance Learning Fees

Tuition and fees for classes online in many cases are evaluated about the same framework as tuition and fees for conventional classes. Nevertheless, some variations really exist between in-state and out-of-state college tuition, price limits at full-time student status and student fees for online classes.

Educational institutions usually charge a set fee of tuition per credit hour for on-campus classes that a college student is registered. Costs per credit continue to keep accrue until students reach what the college considers full-time status. At this time, extra credits do not accrue more costs until students reach an overtime status, after which some colleges add additional per-credit or tuition charges.

Public and state schools add an additional variable into the formula with two distinct tuition rates based on whether a student is a citizen of the college’s home state or otherwise not. Tuition for in-state students is generally lower than tuition for out-of-state students.

On top of these tuition charges, the majority of colleges add student fees, which offer for computer systems and machinery charges, student athletic teams, exercises, student lifestyle services, wellness center fees along with other similar costs.

There are many variations in how colleges manage tuition and costs for distance learning classes. Some schools treat distance-learning classes just like other classes, charging you an in-state or out-of-state rate per credit at a price cap that starts once a student takes sufficient credits that need considering full time.

Alternatively, colleges may not acknowledge a full-time status for distance learning classes, meaning the costs per credit are identical for a student taking one course. The benefit to this circumstance for distance learners is that they may take less than a full-time course load without experiencing all the extra costs that will include additional years on-campus.

Several public schools charge all online college students the in-state rate or the out-of-state rate irrespective of their state of residence, so possible distance students ought to research schools thoroughly. In many colleges, the real difference in cost in between distance learning and traditional classes is the fees charged aside from tuition. Distance learners may need to pay a technology fee, however they could save significant amounts of money on room and board or on traveling expenses.

Distance Education Challenges in India

The world’s largest university was the Indira Gandhi National University founded in the year 1985. There are more than 40 thousand students enrolled in the distance education in more than 40 educational institutions. This shows that a huge number of people are embracing the system in the wake of multifarious economic and social changes.

But the system which offers an easy access to higher education had been inconsistent in ensuring the quality of education through inefficiencies and dilapidated regulation. The program is headed the other way and most of the Indian society were not able to understand the purpose it was created. There should have a been a constant policy or a strong management body that will administer properly the system.

In response to this problem, a management body was created for the distance education in 1991. They call it the DEC or the Distance Education Council which is under the aegis of the IGNOU. The job of the council is to regulate, control and monitor the different Distance Education institutions in India. It was later named Distance Education Bureau in the year 2013.

There were still issues and problem arisen even with the creation of the bureau. Many critics have questioned the process, the authority and the system of the bureau. Even there were confusions over legal matters which reached the Supreme Court.

The creation of the Distance Education system has created an overabundance of difficulty and confusion over the years. There hasn’t been a concrete resolution created to properly address the issues involved. The Government was not yet able to keep pace with the fast flowing changes over time. If ever they will be able to try a different approach or strategy to make the system work flawlessly it would be a very ideal program and will be a pattern for other countries to follow.

This is a good example to follow for schools in the U.S. who are planning to put up distance education programs.

Student Driven Distance Learning Systems

With video conferencing, dual stream capture and cloud-based technological innovation, some schools are establishing the convention for college distance learning systems. The University of Maryland has been using distance technological innovation for over 25 years and nowadays uses a system that contains six studio room classes equipped with high-definition cameras, video conferencing, LCD displays, annotators that allows teachers to write over shown pictures and cloud-based lecture capture and web-casting alternatives.

The idea behind these technological innovation is old, but the devices itself is new and is located in the remodeled Arnold E. Seigel Learning Center, which is associated with the university’s School of Engineering. Every engineering class is streaming live and recorded for later on-demand watching. The live documenting of lessons is what places the University of Maryland’s online studying system apart from others. “It’s not like someone comes in and is documenting some extremely produced lecture for a topic. They’re educating a class so as a university student at a distance, you’re getting the identical education and learning as you would if you were here on campus,” says Marty Ronning, assistant director of Distance Education and Technology Services at the University of Maryland.

This type of system “is becoming more of a de-facto convention for distance learning systems and college,” says Scott Morgan, senior account administrator for Western Chester, Pa.-based Advanced AV. Morgan wasn’t engaged in the UMD venture but does a lot of identical set ups in the mid-Atlantic area. The design of the remodeled studying center is designed to make the best academic chance of the university’s learners. Each studio class room has a Polycom video conferencing system and four LCD displays by NEC. They also have Sony models HD cameras, a Panasonic A/V switcher, an Extron annotator and Mediasite by Sound Foundry as a web-casting and lecture capture system. The dual streams help to make as close to an on-campus atmosphere as possible for the school’s off-campus members, says Ronning.

Distance Education and Industrialization

Industrialization has been a feature of distance education for many years. Otto Peters, a pioneering theorist, described when technology is used to reach learners in mass, education assumes commercial features, such as, standardization of services and huge manufacturing of academic products (Keegan 1994). To the level that letters knowledge trusted huge production of academic materials (e.g. books) it was a commercial business. Another sign of industrialization in distance education is division of labor. The course team as initially designed by Charles Wedemeyer and applied by the British Open University is an example of division of labor in online learning. The contemporary university is also gifted with a bureaucracy, by definition is a commercial operation, although the educating methods both in the class room and at a distance, mostly, remain pre-commercial (pre-modern) and craft focused.

Industrialization to train and learn is particularly suitable when the need of many learners for access is at stake. Daniel (1996) focusing the failure of “campus” education to meet such a need, particularly in developing nations, compared the function of “mega-universities,” or those serving the needs of at least 100,000 learners, with that of “campus” colleges. He said: “The mega-universities vary from campus universities in their manufacturing procedures. The operations of the mega-universities owe much to commercial methods, whereas academic procedures on campus are similar to a cottage industry.”

It is worth noting here that Daniel’s idea of a “cottage industry” is different than that of Toffler, who imagined a “cottage industry” as a “third wave phenomenon.” Daniel’s referrals to a “cottage industry” here is a pre-industrial operation with employees who work alone and perform their projects without the benefit of a supporting staff providing them the advantages of industrial division of labor. Introduction of the Internet with its potential for a post-industrial form to train and learn has led to a review of industrialization. Daniel (1996) making referrals to the disadvantages of the pre-commercial, and commercial operations, said “It is likely that neither strategy will be particularly well designed for the third generation of online learning technologies: the knowledge media.”