Even the world’s largest army cannot stop an idea whose time has come goes a popular quote.
Distance learning was an idea whose time was long overdue. Though distance learning is not a new idea, its time has really come now aided by technological advancement, in its new avatar as E-learning.
Whether E-learning will eventually replace conventional class room learning, only time will tell. But should it?
E-learning aims to reach students at their home through the electronic media. It uses various cyber tools at its disposal to reach out to their students. In E-learning one has access to a wide variety of books, learning materials, online tutorials and virtual class rooms.
E-learning is a boon for people, who wish to study further while working, without having to compromise their work hours. It saves time and money, avoids travel and offers excellent flexibility to learn at one’s own pace, topics of varying difficulties.
Universities now conduct on line evaluation of students, to assess their performance in an effort to make learning more effective and the degrees more credible and acceptable at par with class room learning.
However E-learning lacks the following advantages of contact or class room learning.
Let’s give it to our teachers. The world’s most boring topics turn interesting in the hands of a skilled teachers and dreaded subjects become dream subjects in the hands of great teachers.
E-learning, in spite of all its advantages cannot replace the teaching techniques, knowledge sharing skills and above all the ability to turn a good student into a brilliant one, by his inspiring ways.E-learning is learning in isolation. You miss a peer group of similar minds that help in informal exchange of ideas, debating and understanding the concepts.Class room learning is important to develop the extra-curricular, social and life skills for students.
To conclude, E-learning is definitely welcome for people, who wish to add on to their academic knowledge, keep themselves abreast of the new areas of developments in their profession. It is also a good opportunity for people, who could not access higher education immediately after their schooling for various reasons.
Class room learning lays the foundation for academic brilliance, as well as social learning during ones formative years, under the guidance of able teachers.
This is the nursery where future generations bloom.
C.Komalavalli
Assoc.Prof(IT)
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