Introduction
The concept of online education has gained immense popularity in recent times. This system announces a departure from the traditional approach to education. Nowadays, with the spread of internet facilities, you can acquire education wherever you are. You do not have to carry heavy bags. Your laptop, even your mobile phone, contains everything you need to study. Innumerable online sources grant you access to various e-books. A goodly number of online platforms offer instruction in different disciplines of study. There are online and offline apps that facilitate you in searching for the material you want in any field of study. With the progress in technology, it has become feasible for institutions to organize online classrooms. Since 2019, COVID-19 has also played a vital role in promoting online education. This essay will look into different aspects of this mode of education.
Essay on Online Education – Advantages and Disadvantages
Outline of the Essay
1: What do we mean by an online education system?
2: A Bit of History
3: Reasons for its recent trending
4: Advantages of online education
5: Disadvantages of online education
6: Conclusion
Essay
What do we mean by an online education system?
An online education system is one which connects instructors and students through the internet. The idea of this system resembles the idea of distance education. The distance education system has been in practice in many countries for decades. It facilitates students who cannot join educational institutions for any reason. The correspondence in this system relies on the traditional mail system. The students receive books and other materials required for discipline with a list of assignments through the mail. The online education system is a furthering of this system. In this system, online facilities supported by the internet facilitate students and teachers in correspondence. Initially, there were downloadable recorded lectures and printable related material. However, with the advancement in technology, now there are apps and engine systems that enable live student-teacher coordination.
A Bit of History
The University of Illinois is the first to introduce online education in America in 1960. In 1984, the University of Toronto offered complete online courses for the first time. CALCampus is a short form for Computer Assisted Learning Center (CALC). Margaret Morabito founded it in 1982 in Rindge, New Hampshire. It was a small centre that offered offline computer-based learning. In 1986, Morabito succeeded in connecting computers and modems and CALC launched its first live classroom. In 1987, Morabito launched QuantumLink Community College. It offered live online instruction. Today, we call this model virtual classroom instruction.
Reasons for Its Recent Trending
Advancement in Technologies
The 21st century marks stupendous progress in the fields of cyber and information technologies. It enhanced opportunities for online learning. Also, the awareness of the importance of education grew manifold. At the same time, owing to financial and geographical impediments, not all people could attend classes at educational institutions. In this situation, the online education system proved very helpful. It offered the opportunity of learning while earning in any corner of the world where the internet is accessible.
COVID-19
The pandemic, COVID-19, played the most significant role in the recent rise in the trend of this system. With strict regulations all over the world, life came to a standstill. Educational institutions all over the world had to discontinue classes. It hurt the education of the students badly. The jeopardy would have been greater if there had not been an online education system. Educational institutions hurriedly converted to this mode of education. This conversion in the mode of instruction helped to save the careers of many students.
Advantages of Online Education
Low-cost and Time-saving
Online education is low-cost and time-saving. It subtracts the transportation cost from the overall expenditure on education. Institutions can save the expenditure that they spend on organizing physical classes. It also saves a lot of time that the students waste in travelling from home to institution. The students may use this time in preparing for the examination.
Offers Equal Opportunity
The online education system offers an opportunity to all students irrespective of their age group, ethnicity, or geographical location. It helps people who do jobs but want to improve their educational profile. They cannot participate in traditional classroom mode for time constraints. Similarly, people living in areas where there is no access to institutions of education may benefit from this system. They can get education on their computers, laptops, or mobile phones.
Flexibility of Time
The online system of education offers the flexibility of time. The students who cannot attend a virtual class can download a lecture. They can watch the same lecture even in their time of leisure. Also, they can view the discussion in the comment sections.
Removes Shyness and Fear
Many students fail to demonstrate confidence in physical classes. They are too shy to exhibit their qualities in the presence of their class fellows. Some students fear electronic devices. They are afraid of handling computers and laptops. The online education system removes both shyness of participation and fear of electronic devices.
Disadvantages of Online Education
Lack of Discipline
The most important feature that educational institutions create in students is discipline. The students follow a timetable and a set of rules and regulations. But in the online education system, students are free from such restrictions. They do not have to abide by the timetable and the rules and regulations of institutions. It results in a lack of discipline in students getting an education through this system.
Lack of Sense of Competition
In physical classrooms, students learn a sense of competition with their fellows. They keep an eye on the tactics their fellows use to improve their performance. When a student passes through a physical class system, he gains greater confidence in the professional world. The online education system does not have this sense of competition. As a result, the students who go through this mode of education may lack confidence and a sense of competition.
Resources and Connectivity Problems
For online education, students must have good computers, laptops, or mobile phones. Some of the students cannot afford to purchase any of these. It casts a negative effect on the acquisition of education through this method. Also, the students have to remain connected to the internet. A lack of technical resources to keep students connected to the internet causes problems in getting an education via the internet. It is a disadvantage of the system that results in poor results for the students.
Impact on Social Life
In an online education system, students have to spend a good deal of time on their computers and laptops. They need a disturbance-free environment. Generally, they remain in isolation for this purpose. It detaches students from their social connections.
Moral Aspect
The online education system demands a strict observation of ethics from institutions and students. The institutions should ensure that the students are provided with quality content. It should meet the needs of the ever-changing demands of time. The students should ensure their diligence and discipline. They should not take being online as an opportunity to surf entertainment websites under the cover of online classes.
Conclusion
With all its advantages and disadvantages, online education has become a reality of the time. It is up to the institutions and students how they make use of it. Education, whatever the mode of acquisition, is the most important goal. And it should get the foremost preference.
