Online Education
Introduction
Online education encompasses the use of internet-based programs such as videoconferencing, emails, and instant messaging to transfer knowledge to the learner. Advancements in technology have greatly accelerated the rates of integrating online education in numerous institutions. The extensive popularity of online education has been significantly triggered by its advantages. The positive implications of online education range from convenience to time efficiency. These advantages have attracted a lot of students to enroll for online education programs. The benefits of online education also include the emphasis on content delivery for each learner. Despite these merits, online education has some drawbacks. This type of learning does not cater for adequate interpersonal communications between the students and teachers. Online education also has the demerit of being over-reliant on technology systems.
Communication between students and online educators is hampered when there is a technological breakdown. Due to such drawbacks, solutions are required within the online education sector. These solutions must be linked to the numerous challenges affecting online educational programs. The determination of a student’s learning style is among the best solutions. This intervention would help in establishing whether a student should be considered for an online education program. The results of such intervention would be an improvement in the efficiency of different computer-based learning programs. This research narrows down on the merits, drawbacks, solutions, and results for online education.
Advantages of Online Education
Online education prepares individuals for the modern working environment. Most organizations in the 21st Century use the latest technological systems in their respective operations. During recruitment, the employees must recruit employees with the required proficiency in current technology. Online students are exposed to the best technologies in terms of software and computer applications. They are also exposed to emerging trends in hardware components for different system requirements. These are essential attributes for enhancing the proficiency of students in current technologies. Due to such skills, modern employers mostly prefer the graduates of online education. In contrast, an individual educated using the traditional classroom approach is at a considerable disadvantage in the proficiency of current technological trends (Gerard, 2012).
In essence, the graduates of online education programs are considered as the finished product in the modern job market. This is because such students possess excellent skills in advanced computer operations and innovativeness. In addition to competitiveness in the job market, online education is highly flexible. The online educator can modify the course structure in line with the intelligence levels of different learners. Such modifications are immensely essential in the improvement of learning outcomes. The flexibility of e-learning is also depicted by the adjustments made on the duration of a given lesson. In a normal classroom setup, the duration of lessons is always definite. In such setups, the instructor can barely extend or shorten the duration of a lesson because of rigidity of timetables (Adrian, 2012). Online education is helpful in that it mitigates such rigidity.
The teacher can plan about the duration of each lecture depending on the student’s availability. A session can also be extended in case the learner requires additional clarifications. This is a high level of flexibility that has greatly accelerated the popularity of online education among most people. In online education programs, the learners can obtain immediate feedback from instructors. Computer-based learning has excellent systems for assessing tests within minutes. This provides the student with timely feedback. The computer based education programs also have effective self-assessment systems. These quizzes are essential for learners, and they are administered even in the absence of tutors. In the traditional classroom settings, students must wait for days or even weeks in order to obtain feedback about their performance in continuous tests.
Online education has the advantage of exciting students about learning. Due to the excellent levels of flexibility, most learners always look forward to the program. Computer-based education programs are also advantageous in that they integrate theoretical frameworks into practical perspectives (McPhee, 2012). This helps in strengthening the student’s ability to apply the knowledge in the workplace as an employee. Minimal time is wasted in online education. This is due to the exemplar scheduling in any course for online education. Time efficiency is a pertinent element of quality improvement within the learning process. These different perspectives underline the numerous advantages of online education.
Disadvantages of Online Education
Online education is widely considered as an inevitable aspect of the 21st Century. However, it has some notable disadvantages. These learning programs require an exceptional standard of self-discipline and time management. The instructor is not in physical contact with the student, and this is an ingredient for the learning program to get out of hand. This is because of the extensive freedom and autonomy afforded to students in online education. It is almost impossible for the online educator to establish an effective mode of punishing students when they do not complete assignments on time or violate the guidelines. In a physical lecture room, a student must behave or face the lecturer’s wrath. Developing such an environment in online education is more or less impractical (Nikolaos, 2012). This is a shortcoming of online education because it significantly compromises the efficiency of learning. Legitimacy is also a pertinent challenge in online education.
There are countless websites offering online educational programs for students in any field or level of specialization. The validity of some of these websites is massively questionable. The competence of the instructors used in some online programs has also been called into question by educational experts. Such perspectives provide substantial challenges for students as they seek to choose between a legitimate website for online education and an unauthorized institution. Due to such confusion, an individual might lose thousands of dollars to unauthorized facilitators for online educations. In the job market, some employers are skeptical about the quality of knowledge acquired by students in online education. Such employers will mostly prefer to recruit the graduates of recognizable institutions as opposed to the holders of online certificates.
Online education limits the development of a student’s skills in face to face communications. The virtual classrooms do not offer the personal touch or connections between learners and tutors. The students are also limited in terms of interacting with colleagues. This is an undesirable aspect of personal development. In essence, the virtual classrooms used for online education are more or less secluded. This implies that the student’s face to face interactions are massively limited. Online education is highly dependent on technology (Spencer & Hassan, 2011). Like any innovation, computers are susceptible to faults. The technical hitches can negatively affect the entire online learning process. The acquisition of some of the devices used for online education is also considerably expensive. This is an indicator of the shortcomings of overdependence on technology for education. A student might not be conversant with the technological devices used in computer based learning (Faulk, 2010). This has negative implications on the efficiency of online education.
Solutions for Online Education
Interventions are required in order to mitigate the different disadvantages or shortcomings of online education. The first solution applies to the issue of discipline and time management within the online learning environment. The instructor must guide the student about the essence of time management. Most online educators assume that students realize the significant role of time management in learning. However, most students are more or less ignorant about it. It is thus pertinent for the instructor to develop a strategy for encouraging the students about enhancing their skills in time management. Another solution focuses on the legitimacy issues for online education (Eleni, 2009).
It is essential for internet regulators to develop a program for identifying unauthorized websites. The identification of such websites is a pertinent step in protecting students from paying money to dubious online education programs. This kind of control is also an essential strategy for enhancing the validity of online courses. Proficiency in modern technological systems has been a massive stumbling block for most students in computer based learning.
These students cannot use the different hardware and software components due to complexity issues. The best solution for this drawback is to develop a user-friendly system with special components for the students. This would mitigate the complications experienced by most students in online education. The issue of cost is also immensely significant within the solution framework for online education. The government must subsidize the high costs of the digital devices necessary for online education (Robinson, 2008). These devices include personal computers, tablets, and personal digital assistants.
Connectivity is also an essential input of online education, and needs to be subsidized in order to enhance the outcomes of online education. Instructors must always evaluate the preferred learning style among the students enrolled for online education. Knowing the learning style helps in strengthening the quality of the course content. This would enhance the credibility of online education, and hence make it acceptable among employers in the job market.
Results
In view of the identified solutions, it is crucial to evaluate the results for online education. Among the most notable outcomes is that online education increases the creativity of students. The consistent exposure to current technological systems ensures that students acquire the required skills of being innovative. These skills are invaluable in the workplace because of the rapid rates of technological advancement. The results of online education are also depicted by the high enrollment rates for higher education. This is a trend notable across the globe (Davis, 2008).
While a university might have inadequate space to accommodate students based on the high demand, online education ensures that the challenge is mitigated. The capacity of online education is almost limitless as long as the student is connected to the internet. This is a positive result of the interventional strategies for online education. The results of online education also have undesirable implications. Online education does not offer an option for extra-curricular activities. The students enrolled for these educational programs are just exposed to academic work. This is because it is more or less impossible to integrate sporting activities into the framework for online education (Smith, 2008). This is among the most glaring drawback of online education. While the student might acquire vast academic knowledge, the development of talent is not achieved.
Another result for online education is the enrichment of globalization. This is a phenomenon in which people share with each other using the numerous technological devices. Due to online education, globalization has been enhanced at intensive rates. People are interested about other cultures and this has immensely strengthened the development of the global village. Consequently, globalization can be considered as a positive result of online education. Improvement in literacy levels is also a positive implication of online education (Spencer & Hassan, 2011). The numerous online education programs provide exceptional opportunities for individuals to pursue quality education. This is advantageous because it increases the knowledge levels across the entire humanity.
Conclusion
The four main dimensions of online education have been examined for this research. These dimensions are the positive implications, shortcomings, solutions, and results for online educational programs. The notable positive implications include an improvement in global literacy levels, flexibility, and emphasis on quality content.
Additionally, online education ensures that universities can increase their intake because space is not a limiting factor in online education. The outstanding disadvantages include the risk of incurring losses to fraudulent facilitators of online education. These are unqualified instructors who correspond to students over the internet for learning purposes. This is a perceptive that can undermine the quality of education in e-learning. Legitimacy is also a pertinent issue which characterizes online education. It occurs when questions are raised about the kind of skills and knowledge obtained by students in online education. The solutions include the introduction of a regulation strategy for identifying credible programs for online education.
References
Adrian, G. (2012). Recruiters’ perceptions of information systems graduates with traditional and online education, Journal of Information Systems Education, 23(2), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/1095795017/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/6?accountid=15042
Davis, C. K. (2008). Online Education Forum , Journal of Information Systems Education, 19(3), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/200158301/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/26?accountid=15042
Eleni, O. (2009). Conceptual collective online reflection, Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, 3(2), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/229043416/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/24?accountid=15042
Faulk, N. (2010). Online teacher education-what are the results, Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 3(11), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/818558678/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/16?accountid=15042
Gerard, F. (2012). A study of onsite vs. online students’ perceptions, Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 16(4), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/1037802822/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/2?accountid=15042
McPhee. I. (2012). Reflections on learning outcomes, Campus – Wide Information Systems, 29(3), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/1022713723/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/7?accountid=15042
Nikolaos, L. (2012). Employers’ perspectives of online education, Campus – Wide Information Systems, 29(3), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/1022713803/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/8?accountid=15042
Robinson, C. C. (2008). Student engagement in online learning, Journal of Education for Business, 84(2), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/202823845/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/25?accountid=15042
Smith, D. E. (2008). The real costs and quality of online programs, Journal of Education for Business, 83(3), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/202821007/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/31?accountid=15042
Spencer, B. & Hassan, A. (2011). Conceptualization and measurement of perceived risk of online education, Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 15(4), Accessed on 25th July 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.wichita.edu/abicomplete/docview/886791682/fulltextP DF/13F7A969BCB775269EE/10?accountid=15042
