do you support distance learning or you think classical teaching is better
It really depends on the discipline. For engineering and math intensive fields, it is harder to master the course materials though virtual classrooms.
The advantages and disadvantages are as follows
Advantages:
1) Integrate your studies into your working life without having to take career break
2) Have the flexibility to select study periods, accommodating professional, family and personal commitments
3) Gain an internationally recognized qualification and the opportunity to build up a global network of professional contacts
Disadvantages
1. Distance learning requires self-motivation.
2. Distance learning does not give you direct access to your instructor.
3. Distance learning is isolated
4. Distance learning requires you to have constant, reliable access to technology.
5. Distance learning does not offer immediate feedback.
6. Distance learning may not be acknowledged by a specific employer.
7. Distance learning does not give students the opportunity to work on oral communication skills.
The attached links are relevant to your question
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/20432/education/top_10_distance_learning_disadvantages.html
http://www.distancelearningnet.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-distance-learning/
It really depends on the discipline. For engineering and math intensive fields, it is harder to master the course materials though virtual classrooms.
The advantages and disadvantages are as follows
Advantages:
1) Integrate your studies into your working life without having to take career break
2) Have the flexibility to select study periods, accommodating professional, family and personal commitments
3) Gain an internationally recognized qualification and the opportunity to build up a global network of professional contacts
Disadvantages
1. Distance learning requires self-motivation.
2. Distance learning does not give you direct access to your instructor.
3. Distance learning is isolated
4. Distance learning requires you to have constant, reliable access to technology.
5. Distance learning does not offer immediate feedback.
6. Distance learning may not be acknowledged by a specific employer.
7. Distance learning does not give students the opportunity to work on oral communication skills.
The attached links are relevant to your question
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/20432/education/top_10_distance_learning_disadvantages.html
http://www.distancelearningnet.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-distance-learning/
I do not see that there is a need for postgraduate and graduate distance learning programs, although, it might work for some disciplines, but, it will, for sure not work for almost all fields.
Distance learing can be adopted by universities for some disciples in the undergraduate studies, but it is difficult to be adopted for graduate studies.
In my view it is not a good idea for postgraduate and graduate students. Such advanced courses should be carried out in the formal way. But I am not totally against the technology and the idea of distance learning. I think some (general) undergraduate courses can be taken virtually. Further more If easy access to technology (Internet, etc.) is provided and quality and credibility of such a media is improved then for some employees (those who are working and can not attend formal classes), people with disability, adults who want to continue their education, etc, it can be an attractive alternative
Dear Mohamed
There are about a decade emerged in Brazil higher education the distance courses, , coordinated mainly by public universities through consortia
There are consortia of some universities that offer courses in various areas monitoring via internet , classrooms, for video conferencing, etc.. Through these university courses, students who were previously unable to study because of distance or financial condition, now have access to a quality education. Its very important the presence of tutors.
Dear Nelson, Just to clarify my stand, as I said before ".I am not totally against the technology and the idea of distance learning..." for undergraduate students under certain conditions and circumstances. My refusal was for .postgraduate and graduate students.
It certainly broadens access to education.
However, it limits personal interaction and/or mentorship.
There are many who earnestly seek higher learning.. They can not afford full time education for various reasons. I am very sure, many of these stududets get benefitted from provision for such opportunities. But I do agree that the quality of such learning is far lower than learning in a class room. One tends to forget learning done through distance route. But in classroom learning, the possibility of remembering things, and recalling the analyses done in a classroom situation is higher.
At some point in the future the best researchers/teachers in the world will create a world university available to all and which will be the best in the world.
Perhaps learning efficiency of distance learning is also individual-student dependent? Perhaps some will learn more efficiently with distance learning than others, whatever the education level and whatever the discipline.
It is an interesting tool in a time when the number of students is increasing. However, it does not seem ideal as focus of activity.
Newer techniques in Education is welcome, However the input, process and evaluation should be common and equitable. Nowadays, technology is virtually facilitating all learning activities other than PRACTICALS...
People might also invent virtual PRACTICAL courses when visual or auditive aspects are involved (e.g. How to recognize a species using a photo or a virtual sound?)? Perhaps PRACTICAL courses will become more problematic when taste or smell is involved (e.g. How to learn to make a tasteful meal?)
Hi,
I think distance is suitable for training purposes .For those who work and want to master new techniques or upgrade their capabilities but they can not effort to leave their jobs.As stated in most of the remarks,it is not suitable for all disciplines.
Distant education as per my field should be discouraged in medicine. It can lead to some serious blunders.But i really like the idea of distant learing to gain some knowledge about the subject you like to know without giving the person any authority to practice on behalf of it.
Admissions to Distance Learning Programmes are open similar to that of other academic courses offered by the University. However, there are some universities which conduct a examination to ensure eligibility and preparedness of the student before offering admissions.
Distance learning is the good method of learning for people with disability to proceed as capable.
I support teaching and practical learning, but due to shortatge of time and pace of life activities and materialistic world - distant learning can also be useful to increase knowledge as well as qualifications, since it can also be done in extra time
In our Organization we are on the planning process of devising such distance learning facilitated Programme for our Operational level employees too...
http://www.b-u.ac.in/approved_institutions_status.html
I think that the rule "transfer information instead of humans" will prevail in the future, and this will be applied to all situations, not only in education. Thus "Distance Learning" presently if combined with some hour, of meeting with Teacher, will have a great future. As we go to the future, as machine tutoring becomes intelligent, then Distance Learning would be the main mode of learning.
See,
- Alan Feldman et al. “Network Science, A Decade Later The Internet and Classroom Learning”
- Ray Kurzweil The Age of Spiritual Machines
For countries such as India, where the population is so huge, new ways of taking the education to the people was necessitated. People were not in a position to continue their studies mainly due to the "PRESSURE OF MONEY". This demand made people to quickly seek a job in first place and then opt to continue their passion of studying. Today, many universities offer FLEXIBLE LEARNING PROGRAMMES various forms, one such is the distance learning mode.
Dear Mohamed,
I agree with our dear Behrouz in that it depends on the discipline. Additionally, what has hurt online univiersities in the U.S. are for-profit schools. For example, one nursing program at a for-profit online institution sent students to a Scientologist Museum on Psychiatry. Needless to say, the students suffered in their learning, and to add insult to injury, they realized that their nursing degree was worth nothing. Online learning is not in itself a bad thing, yet for-profit institutions have taken advantage of this situation and served students with bogus degrees and left them with insurmountable debt.
In recent years the distance learning has led to a huge growth in distantly delivered tuition and study. Even Harvard University offers more than 300 classes in several formats online to deliver convenient Harvard lectures to students` computers or mobile devices.
Of course, the distance learning depends of the discipline or specialization. Therefore, it can be accepted for studying Marketing or Psychology for example.
Distance learning can be adopted depending on the disciplinary. For example, it works with theoretical science studies, such as Marketing, Economy, Management, languages... etc. but it can't work with the applied science studies, such as Architecture, Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Art...etc.
For working professionals, LPU offers a distance learning MBA programs. Distance education has become a preferred choice for ambitious students and aspiring professionals of today. Counted amongst the top most Universities for Distance Education, LPU has been highly appreciated and acknowledged for the remarkable quality study material and course content that is provided to the students pursuing learning from long distance. Recognizing the University's commitment to foster high standards of education for nurturing job-ready individuals, Lovely Professional University has been ranked 7th in the list of top 10 institutes for distance learning.
http://www.lpu.in/result.php?cx=partner-pub-016589675364233558975%3Agl7zrlhae3u&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=distance+learning&sa.x=0&sa.y=0
There are advantages and disadvantages of distance learning depending on individual needs. Most answers previously talked about it.
A great idea for economic and/or social sciences!
A definite no for the the practical architectural, engineering, medical and/or scientific sciences!
Period!
Distance learning could be helpful in reducing the expensive and lead to massive program adoption. Yet it is difficult to be adopted in some disciplines and practical ones e.g. sugery
How to define distance learning? When you are in a teaching room (Aula) with >400 students, and the student watches the professor at a distance without professor-student interactions because of logistic or time-constraints, is this distance learning?
Dear Marcel,
Your definition of distance learning is appreciated. My question is, should the teaching room in distance learning be with over than 400 students?
Both classical teaching and distance learning should run side by side because- both of them are very much needed for a growing modern population. While the former is fruitful for pre-service trainees, the latter is also helpful for in-service people. Hence, I support both of these.
Dear Mahfuz,
Distance learning will ultimately be determined by the behavior of the teacher willing or not willing to interact with the students in a class room, whatever the room's size?
Degree through correspondence course is not inferior: court
The UGC regulations made it clear that a person without any academic record should be eligible for admission to a degree course under the distance education mode, if he was successful in university’s entrance examination. Thus, the petitioners obtained B.Lit. degree as per UGC regulations. The judge directed the authorities to promote the petitioners from the date on which their immediate juniors were elevated with all monetary benefits, within eight weeks.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/degree-through-correspondence-course-is-not-inferior-court/article6565571.ece
I prefer classical teaching than distance learning for scientific courses. for the humanities course might be okay. and it depends on the legislation of the higher education in each country.
The most important is that what is educated is indeed learned (and eventually used) by students, whatever the education tools used? The education tools from a century ago probably substantially differ from those currently used, so there is also substantial evolution in education (methods), as you all know...
You are repeating an earlier question formulated differently using e-learning and chalk-talk learning and teaching. My answer is the same. Of course, distance learning is self-motivated learning but it cannot fulfill the objectives of education. The learner will need help to understand some concepts, ideas, formulas which in spite of books, the student cannot understand. It was suggested that in an e-learning interactive session, the student can get clarifications from the teachers. In a time-bound interaction one cannot get removed all of the doubts. Other suggestion was that in e-learning interactive session, the student can take help of classmates. Do the classmates can replace a teachers. In distance learning there is no interactive session and do not know where another student is enrolled in the same course, if the student does, can meet only in leaning centre.In a way, the students are left with the books or notes provided by the university. If books and learning material are enough for learning, then libraries and computers could have replaced classroom interactive, face to face learning and teachers.
An online or distance education course is conducted entirely and exclusively via the course management system accessible from the Internet.
Online courses physically distance students from the university community. This distance often times affect students' experiences and success.
Online instruction may not provide sufficient student support. In face-to-face classes, students have their classmates, professors' office hours, tutors, and teaching assistants to support and help them with their various learning needs. Student and teacher interaction is primarily text-based.
Perhaps, blended or hybrid courses are a better option than online courses.
"Hybrid" or "Blended" are names commonly used to describe courses in which some traditional face-to-face "seat time" has been replaced by online learning activities. The purpose of a hybrid course is to take advantage of the best features of both face-to-face and online learning. A hybrid course is designed to integrate face-to-face and online activities so that they reinforce, complement, and elaborate one another, instead of treating the online component as an add-on or duplicate of what is taught in the classroom.
http://www4.uwm.edu/ltc/hybrid/about_hybrid/index.cfm
Access to Higher Education:
The present scenario of higher education in the country is not very encouraging to achieve the goal of a knowledge economy with abundance of skilled and trained manpower. During the time of independence and as the latest data available, the number of universities has increased from 20 to 504, colleges from about 500 to 25,951 colleges including 2,565 women’s colleges, teachers from about 15,000 to nearly 5.22 lakhs and student enrolment from mere one lakh to over 150 lakhs. Presently, there are 258 State Universities, 40 Central Universities, 130 Deemed to be Universities, 53 Private Universities, 33 Institutions of national importance established under Central legislation and 5 Institutions established under State legislation (Narendra Jadhav, 2010). Over and above, there are 13 State Open Universities, one National Open University and about 200 Directorates of distance education in dual mode conventional Universities to cater the need of the knowledge economy. The access to higher education to a large section of population in the relevant age-group is denied not only due to limited seats in the conventional education system, but also due to increasing cost of education, particularly in the private sector – that is virtually unaffordable beyond the reach of a very large deserving section of Indian society.
http://www.kkhsou.in/main/Education%20Beyond%20Barriers.html
Education till college level must be mandatorily classroom based learning. Certification course might be left in the domain of distance learning.
Education in certain discipline require e.g that needs practical must be classroom based learning. Otherwise some one might be left for distance learning
Benefits Distance Education are:
- Affordable Fee Structure
- Provision of Lateral Entry
- Comprehensive Evaluation System
- Provision of Student Career Support
With the fast pace of life and the need for up gradation of knowledge, the present generation needs are to access learning from sources which are separated by time and distance. To match the above and to keep pace with the growing global trend of extending conventional University instructional mode to online, self learning and distance education methodology, Universities have started to create the Directorate of Distance Education, with the approval of the Distance Education Council.
Cannot see how it will work with laboratory fields - engineering science!
Endorse it for the other fields!
Period!
In spite of all the advantages of distance learning, it has many disadvantages. The disadvantages may include that it does not offer immediate feedback, and also it does not give students the opportunity to work on oral communication skills.
@ Tobias
For Engineering, there are part time courses conducted by Universities, where the contact classes and practicals are carried out as weekend classes. The input qualification for Under Graduate level is Diploma in relevant field of engineering with minimum 2 years experience.
I support distance learning in theoretical fields but partially in practical fields.
Distance learning, tutoring systems, etc. have very interesting properties, that we do not find, in the teacher-classroom case. Khan Academy is a very interesting case, that can be extended to undergraduate and Postgraduate studies.
It is very important to watch Khan in his TED lecture:
Khan Academy
http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education
Khan academy is a very successful experiment, that should examine carefully.
Yes, the students need this type of learning.
For certain disciplines, Distance learning, tutoring systems are very interesting.
Yes, the students need this type of learning.
For certain disciplines, Distance learning, tutoring systems are very interesting.
Distance education play a very important part for the student who wish to acquire the knowledge ,study for the career development .
The study material with the important reference are not only an useful hints but to turn out to be a very useful guideline .
Quite good numbers of student acquiring the post graduation have been benefit by receiving a good job opportunities .
Graduate students adopted by many universities they are in very favorable conditions & such students for progressive career development if they take their advantage of their study they can play quite useful part in their career both the steams play an useful part but graduate students adopted by many universities are in favorable terms .
The traditional/classical method of teaching-learning is the ideal way of transmitting and receiving knowledge, it is live, education with a personal touch. However the e-learning or the distance learning in the contrary lacks liveliness, but meets the minimal requirements of completing courses to gain skills and knowledge in order to be able to lead a lively and vibrant life to those who otherwise can not achieve what they need because of inability to be in class due to different circumstances.
But currently we have created On-line Educational Platform -Manual + Video Presentation on each topic+ MCQs . Could you please have a look on it ( it's free of charge) www.TEST.AECP.AM
Although sometimes considered to be the poorer cousin of regular college programmes, distance learning comes as a blessing to students who want to study further while continuing with jobs or who might not be able to attend a full-time course for various reasons.
The most frequent query from students is related to the confusion over the value of a distance learning programme. The answer to this totally depends on the student. Some students can make the most out of a distance learning programme, but there are also others who are not comfortable with this pattern. Here we will discuss the pros and cons of distance learning/ distance education programmes and help you decide if you should go for it:
Disadvantages of Studying through Distance Learning:
1.No Direct Contact with faculty
2.Over dependence on Technology
3.Lack of Discipline
4.It can get Lonely
5.Not All Courses are Available/ Taught
6.Not Valued by all Employers
Advantages of Studying through Distance Learning:
1.It's Flexible
2.Saves Time & Energy
3.Study at your own Pace
4. Saves Money
5.Convenient
6. 24X7 Access to Study Material & fellow Students
7.Study any Topic You Want
http://www.htcampus.com/article/advantages-disadvantages-distance-learning-612/
Thank you very much all of you for valuable comments
I think there is a need for the hybrid of the two types of education in the disciplines that could not be applied fully
I support distance learning and agree with its benefits and challenges discussed so far. Some disciplines are more suited for it than others.
I have been teaching hybrid courses to my doctoral students in clinical psychology for a few years now and they like them.
Nowadays distance education is supported by technology and innovative coordination. There are online facilitations, video lectures, multiple choice questions aiding learning and sufficient number of contact classes to clarify doubts etc., unlike a learning material being sent by post and the candidate has to learn everything by themselves.
Despite the number of disadvantages enumerated in the earlier answers I have the following submissions to make.
Distance learning (correspondence courses specifically) is quite useful in social sciences and humanities in general and specific circumstances. Some of my experiences are as follows (it can be termed as experience in developing world):
- While invigilating and conducting University examinations I have seen a large number of girls / women come out of their houses to enhance their educational qualifications and status to gain employment. These are the girls who are either not allowed to study due to social reasons or are married and the responsibilities associated make it impossible for them to attend formal system.
- I have also noticed men and women adding to their educational qualifications - while having full time jobs - by adopting the distance learning measures.
- Sometimes there is a change in the stream of education due to some personal reasons again distance learning is very helpful. Earlier at graduates level science then change of stream to the social sciences .....
- Transfers and displacement from one place to the other place. continuity can be maintained in that respect.
Perhaps we can consider Blended learning as the best of two worlds (online and traditional).
Blended instruction is reportedly more effective than purely face-to-face or purely online classes.Blended learning methods can also result in high levels of student achievement more effective than face-to-face learning.
Blended courses (also known as hybrid or mixed-mode courses) are classes where a portion of the traditional face-to-face instruction is replaced by web-based online learning.
Benefits of blended learning
Blended learning acknowledges that we now live in a digital age and the ways in which we work, socialize and learn are changing. People are now used to receiving a continuous stream of digital information at a fast pace and incorporating it into their daily working and social lives – so why should the classroom be any different?
It is best to think of blended learning as an additional element to the classroom and one which supports existing teaching practices. It combines many of the best elements of face-to-face teaching (personalized learning, social interaction and direct contact with the language) while allowing greater variety and flexibility than a traditional classroom set up, responding to the needs of the modern learner. Using a blended learning approach means that teachers can access online content directly into their classrooms but integrate it so that it forms a cohesive part of a lesson or syllabus, rather than existing separately from what they are teaching.
The flexibility within blended learning comes from the varied ways that online resources can be used. Macmillan English Campus fits perfectly into this flexible philosophy by providing content that is adaptable to any part of a lesson and works alongside existing syllabuses or courses. Macmillan English Campus provides a database of over 5,000 ready-made resources that are easily searchable and can be used whenever you need them. And if you want Macmillan English Campus to provide more structured practice, there are pre-built courses which cover general, business and academic English as well as authentic exam practice material. You can also adapt and personalize these courses to suit your learners’ needs.
The variety and flexibility of blended learning is not confined to the content. It also provides the opportunity for students to learn independently from their teacher and can allow teachers to monitor their students’ progress more closely than traditional methods.
Independent learning is a key ingredient of blended learning, giving learners an added incentive to study remotely and allowing language learning to fit more easily into people’s everyday lives. Macmillan English Campus supports this drive towards independent learning by providing instant feedback to its resources and allowing learners to monitor their own progress remotely. In addition, the varied search options encourage learners to explore and practice resources on their own.
Teachers also have the convenience of a dedicated markbook that makes it quick and easy to monitor their students’ progress – they can check how individual learners or whole classes are performing. This flexible approach allows teachers to analyze more easily where further explanation or practice of a topic area or language point may be required.
Macmillan English Campus allows teachers to integrate online content quickly and easily into their classrooms, providing a highly flexible solution to teachers and students, and gives outstanding customer support and training to get the best out of any blended learning path.
http://www.macmillanenglishcampus.com/about-us/pedagogy/benefits-of-blended-learning/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_learning
https://blended.online.ucf.edu/about/what-is-blended-learning/
Blended learning is the answer.
The distance learning - correspondence - I am talking about has both the aspects they have Personal Contact Programmes through which periodically personal contact is maintained with both the classroom learning of the concepts for a few days in every semester and links through the assignments given to the students.
University School of Open Learning of the Panjab University for instance through which the students opt for Correspondence courses works through the academic year and the students are free to contact the teachers for clarifications and personal contact.
Yes, it can work out in many fields like an MBA, but not in fields with lab component generally - although even this can be overcome with portable XRF/XRD equipment as an example.
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