The traditional way of learning has been practiced by every country for a great number of years. One may say that it has become a culture of humans or people. And as culture is subjected to changes or upgrades, Learning or education is as well subjected to upgrades. Learning has begun to evolve due to the presence of technological materials and the internet. There has been the emergence of new forms of learning, and people are able to access important information online. People from everywhere around the world are enjoying the great ability and sound learning that has come from assessing from the internet, which has given the freedom to many people.
Presently, learning online is presenting different choices to people, giving them the opportunity to develop themselves intellectually and making learning flexible for their liking. In time past, one could get access to education by participating in a full-time course by attending classes, meeting a teacher one-on-one, or attending classes online with a teacher virtually. In recent times, the internet has given many institutions to expand their mode of education assessed by making a few resources available for their learners. In this form of learning, the student will have to put in an effort of being persistent and determined with his course, given lots of commitments to it. In most ways, the student can take every course of choice at their own preferred times. This makes learning easy and flexible for students.
One of the most essential benefits of education is not just its flexibility but how accessible it is to many people. Aside from the rapid growth of the internet in many developed countries, we see the emergence of the internet also in many developing and less privileged countries. Aside from the general knowledge that the internet gives to those who search for them, most people who are disadvantaged of not getting to the classroom are getting access to the online academic courses and the learning initiatives which has been a great help to them by helping them progressing in knowledge education-wise.
Argumentatively, people tend to raise doubts with the comparison of online learning with the conventional form of learning with respect to quality. People wonder if employers will take people with an online degree. Some question the validity of the certificates obtained in online studies. Another argument rises to the fact that despite the development of getting access to the internet in rural areas, many people lack the basic access needed to benefit from online learning. As a matter of fact, many numerous sources second that what the online institutions and promoters are prompt out there are not of benefit to disadvantaged students. As it stands now, there are many campaigns and inventiveness that are in the pipeline to broaden access to high education. For there to be greater participation, there will be a space of time for such an initiative to umbrella the globe for it will be truly realized everywhere. There is another big argument to be addressed and that is the fact that different students respond to online learning. In some countries, many college students engage themselves in distance learning which is very beneficial to them. With respect to this, students need to be very committed, motivated, and be disciplined to be able to learn effectively at their own pace.
USEFUL SKILLS
In order to respond to the change in the way of learning, online learning, one needs some skills to be able to make use of the available opportunities associated with online learning. Such skills needed include the following:
- The ability to read and write
- Typing skills
- Basic computer skills (clicking, drag, and drop)
- Able to access the internet
Your ability to access the internet and use the computer is key. Most people are disadvantaged with respect to getting access to online learning. This is because they don’t have the ability to access them and make use of them as they desire.
HOW ESSENTIAL IS E-LEARNING?
1. E-learning, also known as online learning has been of great benefit to many people who have been privileged to get access to it. In recent times, many people have been able to acquire double degrees by participating in online courses that add up to their regular conventional studies. Even though you will not have a one-on-one teacher to student relationship, you can have access to study materials including class lecture videos by downloading and saving for future references. This makes studies online very easy and flexible for many students.
2. E-learning, unlike conventional studies, saves one from time and money exhaustion. With the conventional or classroom studies, you always have to attend scheduled classes to be taught to know but with online learning, you can get access to study materials including lecture videos at your own convenient time. You get time to make use of your study materials since they are available to you anytime you want to reach them. In most cases, the attendee signs in with the website that is providing the course so access to study materials is easy since you can log into your account anytime you want to, and make use of them.
3. Many people can get access to online studies anywhere and everywhere they want. But on the contrary, there is a negative cause that may arise, making it difficult for people who are not having access to good internet of people at places with network problems. This raises the argument that e-learning will take time to be understood and accepted all over the world.
THE FUTURE OF E-LEARNING
E-learning is making progress from the time of its emergence. The understanding of e-learning is getting known to many people all over the world due to the increase in the advertisement of it by institutions and e-learning website providers. Due to the technological growth of the world, e-learning will be seen as the most used medium for studies. Many people will not have to travel far to get access to studies. Many institutions have involved themselves in the e-learning concept. The essence of e-learning was highly appreciated during the COVID-19 pandemic in many developed countries. Nobody was attending normal conventional classes to get access to education but online classes were organized for students in other to catch up with time and syllabus. In some developing countries like Ghana, e-learning could not work effectively because of the poor nature of the network and difficult and expensive ways of getting access to the internet. Evidential sources instigate the fact that the growth of technology in developing countries will make it easier for people in such countries to also appreciate the nature of online learning when they have easy access to the internet.
