I think it is the right time to ask this question because it seems that more and more people are taking interest in online learning. However, I don't think this will happen in the near future. First of all, depends on the subject that is being taught. Some subjects lend themselves to online teaching and learning. There are a great number of people who have some reservations about online learning, and there are those who hardly have essential computer skills to be used. Still another aspect of the issue is that hardware and software along with broadband internet connection significantly undermine widespread practice of online learning. I suppose, due to such reasons, in class learning will dominate the education of landscape around the world, at least for a few decades.

Dear Arif

Thank you for your keen insight!

Don

Yes because online learning is becoming popular this days due to its convenience. Distance is no more a barrier to education

Following

Dear Arif

Definitely yes.

Moreover, in the current Knowledge Society, the growing "nobility" of network access devices is evident.

Already books and print media are almost obsolete.

The classroom is almost obsolete because it works more with digital technology than with the teacher's word.

The classroom is justified, however, by its educational role that functions from the rich social interaction between classmates.

There are other considerations in:

Chapter Quality of life and education in the knowledge society

Dear Reinaldo

I see more and more students buy ebooks than hard copies because ebooks are cheaper. Definitely we live in the digital age.

I believe that online classes will be even more popular in the future than now. The only question is how to maintain the quality of online classes without face-to-face interaction between students and instructors.

Dear Don Soo Chon

It is a very important clarification that you do. There are changes, great changes with respect to the traditional concepts of the quality of education, more than anything in the transmission of human values.

However, the concepts of quality are receiving a drastic redefinition.

What do you understand by quality?

Now the important thing is that the student applies knowledge with quality.

How they learn to apply knowledge

Through the demonstration.

How is it demonstrated?

Watching a video on YouTube

It's that easy

There are more and more tutorial videos, even in 3D. There is no way to stop that.

On the one hand, information corporations restrict access to their intellectual property, but, on the other hand, the same blocked and restricted knowledge is out of control.

There is no possible way: the days of the group class are counted.

Hi!

Yes, the classroom is an old ICT - it regulates information flows by having physical walls that keep irrelevant information outside so a teacher can concentrate student attention on one item at a time. It no longer works like that when classroom walls now leak information to student devices so it becomes a relevant question if they are really "present" in the activities or not.

On the other hand, young people want to move away from home, search their identity and meet new young people. Campuses and classrooms are good for that. But education is not needed for only young people today, so it has to become more flexible over time and place. And all this in combination.

As an online k-12 teacher with a specialty in high school math intervention, I see online education from a different perspective. Online education serves students with different needs including:

• Unable to connect with people in real-time (face-to-face) situations
• Bullying in brick and mortar environments
• Inability to behave according to classroom norms for many reasons including ADHD, Autism, or other diagnosed and undiagnosed conditions
• Medical conditions that cause excessive absences resulting in truancy proceedings
• Commitments at home, often having to do with farming and sibling care
• Disagreement with current public-school curriculum and desire to pick and choose specific areas of K-12 curriculum
• Inability to travel to school consistently due to rural conditions, transportation, or other considerations of home or school location
• Performances, and rehearsals, and time on the road for performers (I have an up and coming rapper on my class list)
• And many more…

As much as higher education has blossomed in recent years, K-12 education will eclipse the numbers of post-secondary education soon.

Issues are similar between post-secondary students and grade-school virtual students. Isolation is a constant issue, and self-efficacy and self-regulation is an enormous problem for the younger students. Because parental supervision is a must in the K-12 age-group, parents must be actively engaged in their child’s education (or grandchild, niece, nephew, or another child that is important enough to them to take on this huge responsibility). Too often, the adult charged with this task believes the student is “adult enough” to take care of the assignments, live online classes, and projects. Students fail at an alarming rate, and we are doing little to identify the causes of failure and how to turn these young people into success stories. I have mentioned a few, and I know them because I work with these students every day. They deserve an education. They are being offered a GREAT education, but they are teenagers, and a teenager’s number one job is to test limits and see what they can get away with not doing!

Dear Barbara,

Definitley, I agree that a sudent’s self-regulation and adults’ assistance is necessary for a succeful online education. Instructors have more control of their students in a classroom than under online learning environment. I do not have statistics but I believe that failure rates for online classes are much higher than those for face-to-face classes.

Like you said, self-regulation may be more challenging for high school students and for college students.

Barbara, you added a new dimension of the issue with online education, and I appreacite your input.

Don

On-line learning is a question of convenience and access. As Obed pointed out distance is no longer a barrier to obtaining an education. At my university, many traditional students take some on-line classes for convenience due to scheduling conflicts. Working students find this an attractive option as well. However, I do not feel that on-line education will ever totally replace face to face classes. It is just another tool to facilitate learning for our students.

I agree with so many here. I see at our University students who reside here at the institution enrolling in online courses rather than the traditional classroom courses for the believed convenience. The institution appears to encourage this decision. It will be very interesting to see where the trend moves in the future. Will we eventually make traditional campuses obsolete?

Dear David,

I see the same trend in my University and quite a few students on campus take online classes because of their convenience. It is pretty interesting.

Traditionally, online classes for those who are away from a univeisity campus. But now those students who live in campus dorms take many online classes.

Hi Don,

I believe online programs will grow and tap into new markets, but I don't believe they will replace completely B&M programs. I don't foresee online classes completely replacing certain areas of study, such as medicine, chiropractic, petroleum engineering, nuclear engineering, and so forth. I believe online learning is better suited for some subjects, but not universal for all disciplines. I know of one B&M institution that limits the number of online classes its students can take each semester because it desires to maintain its reputation as a traditional institution. I believe it also realizes that, if given a choice, its students would opt primarily for the online experience.

--Adrian

Dear Adrian,

I agree that there should be some kinds of control of online classes. If given a choice, students would opt for online classes regardless of appropriateness of them. As you mentioned, certain subjects are not quite appropriate for online classes.

Thanks.

Don

Most of the on line programs are being studied for upgradation of knowledge and skills by the working professionals also by others.

Due to fast paced advancement in technology, need for new expertise are likely to grow in future. On line education provides easily accessible knowledge and develop skills.

However face to face classes will also continue to grow since more and more people would like to have in-depth education and develop skills.

With the improvement in the income of the people, more and more students will go for face to face education to build their career.

II recently heard about advanced online learning through neuroships.

I have not found the original source.

Please, if someone has it, help me

I think nano learning is a bit anticipated, that is to say learning facilitated by neuroships that interact with our brain cells, producing new cognitive connections, that would be the definitive death of the frontal classroom and even of the learning in lines in the primitive conception that today we have.

I am not ruling out the futuristic vision of similar forms of learning, I only say that today they seem to me anticipated.

If humanity were to develop such implants: Why would the classroom be needed?

The teaching process has long been a human based undertaking whereby a teacher and a group of learners interact for attaining educational goals. However, dramatic advances have resulted in drastic changes in the educational scene. The thing is that on line technologies can certainly lead to what is called serendipity learning helping and guiding learners towards self learning. The truth, however, is that a totally dehumanized learning atmosphere where the teacher has no role to play has been criticized in different quarters.. These days, the presence of flipped classrooms and blended learning methods whereby teachers have a facilitative role indicate that human to human interaction is still the best method of education.

Hi Don,

Absolutely -- one of the issues we've faced is one of resource management. We've had students who would live in the dorms during the regular semester, but would attempt to enroll completely in online classes. That brought up an interesting issue -- should a full-time student who takes primarily online classes be permitted dorm space?

Have a great day!

--Adrian

The future of online programmes is bright but as many have said, the traditional classroom is not about to die yet. However, more technological advances would impact and make both methods easier.

Dear Reza,

It may depend on how an insructor sets up his or her online class. In gneral, however, I also believe that a direct interaction between an instructor and his or her students in a classroom is the best method for education.

Thnaks you.

Don

It seems that On-line courses are gaining popularity; however, face to face education has it own place. E-learning will never replace face to face education.

I think this comes down to two things:

• Quality
• Cost

If the online education is of a high quality and inexpensive its an option.

If the quality is poor or perceived quality is poor, even if it is inexpensive, is it worth it? I would probably say no.

If the quality and perceived quality is good but it is of comparable expense to going to University. Then I would still consider University because not only do you benefit in gaining knowledge but you get to network, develop and build relationships. As well as all the other advantages that come with going to University.

All that said, we all know knowledge is power. If due to expense you can not afford University. Any source of quality knowledge, whether that is an online education, becomes a great option to learn and prove competence.

Dear Martin,

I agree that quality of online education is important.

Thanks.

Don

May be the number of students who take face-to-face classes be get reduced in the future, but class teaching and discussion can never be ignored.

As we evolve, convenience would be the most marketable thing.

I don't believe that online education will ever totally replace traditional face to face but it is certainly going to change tertiary education going forward. Online education will certainly open up competition to Universities in a way that has never been seen before as students will increasingly enrol in online courses from international providers. One of the important factors here is that of course quality and in particular how providers adapt to the unique attributes of e-learning vs face to face. As providers begin to change and refine teaching and assessment methods to ensure that online learning achieves similar retention and graduation performance to face to face delivery, then we will really see this method of learning take off. Another factor will be that education providers will need to keep ensuring that the qualifications they offer are still seen by employers as relevant and useful. Whether students will indeed need to complete an entire degree in some fields as opposed to perhaps task orientated highly specific modules of learning. It is going to be interesting days over the next few years for sure and we are going to see some casualties along the way in the form of bricks and mortar education providers who fail to grasp some of the challenges in this space.