Post Covid19 - Is Online Future Learning The Future of Education?
Adenike Iwasepeletu MA, MMP, ANIM, ANIPR
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The Digital Space has brought various innovations to many economies across the globe today and the Educational sector has been one of the key sectors to profit and benefit from this enterprise. With the innovation of the internet and other new forms of digital technologies such as mobile, cloud, AI and ML it has become relatively easier to have access to quality education whenever and wherever as long as there is an available computer/laptop/tablet/smartphone.
Today’s generation of students/learners have become more tech savvy than the last thus schools/institutions do their students a disservice by ignoring what has become part of the global economy - online education. It is no longer about what teachers/educators like to use but what is needed and useful in order to make education competitive.
According to Sugata Mitra, one of the problems of education was that the best teachers and schools do not exist where they are needed the most. Thus, his solution was to give the responsibility for learning back to the students via SOLE a self-organized learning environment based in the cloud. The result was a learning experience that is student driven rather than teacher centric where the teacher’s job is to pose the question and the students’ job is to seek and explore the answers by utilizing web-based technology within a supportive network.
Online education has been with us for over 15years, a 2017 research by Allen and Seaman shows that of all students taking at least one online class 48% are enrolled only in online programs further a 2019 poll found that over 30% of higher education was offered in a 100 percent online format another 46% of recent graduates took an online credit as part of their degree programmes.
The trend for online education was further heightened by the covid19 pandemic which is forcing global experimentation with online teaching. There are many indicators that this crisis is going to transform many aspects of life as tectonic shifts in society occur when unexpected events force widespread experimentation around new ideas and online education is already included in this dynamic shift. This is because the ongoing covid19 has highlighted the differences between and the cost benefit trade off of the suite of services offered by educational institutions from preschool to university level and the ultra-low-cost education of an online education.
It is fitting thus to assert that we have entered the era of the revolution of online education and that indeed not only is online education here to stay but it is the future of fast, flexible, convenient, competitive, affordable and accessible education. It has become the impetus to educating the world on a global larger scale, with online education the world can see more people get educated and within the shortest possible period and timeframe. Online education will also tackle the issue of high dropouts’ rates characteristic of traditional educational systems.
With online education teachers/educators/instructors can collaborate with their colleagues from other countries or continents and share resources and materials online that enrich a student’s learning experience. Through online education both teachers and students have access to a vast amount of data and students especially are given the chance to develop their researching skills at a younger age by searching for information and learning to filter through them.
MOOCs massive open online courses cum platforms such as edX, Udacity, Khan Academy, Coursera and The Great Courses offer various courses for aspiring learners. Also, ERP and LMS learning management systems; this virtual classroom software allows the learners and instructors to upload a piece of course information for easier access through the inclusion of digital whiteboard, facilitates exchange of information between the teachers and learners, enhances attending lectures through e-classrooms and enables getting free course materials.
Many students are attracted to online education because they are able to combine their studies with work or personal commitments. They like the fact that they can learn at their own pace and fit school into their busy schedules. Bill Gates visited institutions that are at the forefront of providing online access to higher education especially for low-income students trying to fit their studies around full-time jobs and families. He heard inspiring stories of students who were taking advantage of these flexible learning models to pursue an education that could put them on paths to new careers.
Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School Professor predicts that half of all traditional institutions/universities would not exist in 10 years from now because online education will undermine their business models to such a degree that many would not survive. The future of education therefore lies in all educational institutions at all levels of learning embracing online education.
Reference Links
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/will-half-of-all-colleges-really-close-in-the-next-decade/
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Education/Colleges-Without-Walls-Arizona
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/what-we-do/us-program/postsecondary-success
https://www.onlinestudies.com/article/four-surprising-facts-about-online-studies/
https://onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/digtiallearningcompassenrollment2017.pdf
https://www.apnorc.org/PDFs/Young%20People%202019/APNORC_Higher_Education_report_2019.pdf
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/05/18/coronavirus-live-updates-archive-may-10-may-17
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_in_the_United_States
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4 年Dr Abioye i would appreciate it if you shared your expert opinions on my article to keep the conversation going! thank you!