Has Distance Learning Finally Arrived?

chillibreeze writer — Lalitha Balasubramanian

In a vast, rural-centric country like India, more than half the population find distance education a one point solution to fulfill their long cherished dream of higher education. But the question always seemed to arise, ‘Would an employer accord equal value to a distance learning course in comparison to a full-time campus course?’ A very pertinent question, as until about two decades ago, distance education was imparted predominantly by correspondence, using printed study materials in the form of books and test modules. Employers were definitely hesitant to give credence to distance education.

Currently however, the entire scenario has changed. Technological advances like the internet, the worldwide web, CD ROM, teleconferencing, audio and video conferencing, etc. have enhanced the quality of distance education programs. The increased affordability of electronic gadgets like computers, and access to internet have brought in the era of web-based tutoring, thereby making teaching much more effective.

Let us look at how these innovations are used by institutions imparting distance education.

The familiarity of the television medium has made both passive and interactive instructional television (ITV) very effective, because it can be integrated into the curriculum at the very basic school level.
An e-learning package through the CD-ROM enables the student to have an in-depth, flexible, personalized and convenient learning experience. For a student who is working, this could prove to be a boon, as it allows him to choose his hours of study.
Video conferencing brings the all important visual dimension to distance learning, as it is designed to support two-way communication between different locations, allowing the tutor and the student to pick up visual cues from each other. Students are also able to work collaboratively on graphics by inserting texts, spreadsheets, etc. through computer conferencing.
Access to internet, e-mail and internet chat rooms allow for the student-tutor contact to be easily established, enabling timely submission of assignments and tutor feedback.
Websites are hosted by almost every institute imparting distance learning. They upload all the information regarding prospectus, admission procedures, syllabi, examination dates and timetables, results, merit list etc. on their website making it very easy for the student to access the information relevant to him.
A student can access any information at any time from all over the world using web browsers which provide easy access to research articles by experts. The use of an online search engine to find relevant information within seconds instead of the tedious search through card catalogues and library stacks is another added advantage of the web.

It would be pertinent to note though, that there are some courses which can and some courses which cannot be pursued via distance. Courses like engineering, medicine, biosciences, pure sciences, pharmacology, pharmacy etc that require a student to have direct supervision of the teacher and involves laboratory work cannot be pursued by distance education. Accountancy, Mathematics, MBA, Information Technology, Social Sciences, Languages etc. are some of the subjects which can be studied via distance learning.

Many reputed Indian and foreign universities are offering Graduate, Post Graduate, Masters, and even Doctoral degrees in certain disciplines online. Moreover, it has been established by various research studies that there is no significant difference between distance learning and in-campus learning provided the instructional courseware design is of uncompromising quality. Thus, the employer is now more concerned with the recognition, accreditation or affiliations of the university where the prospective employee has undergone his education.

Apart from universities, we find that distance education is the preferred mode of study adopted by multinational corporate houses who want to give advanced training to their employees based all over the world. So, distance education certainly seems to have arrived in a big way.

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—About our writer:

Lalitha Balasubramanian says, "I am a freelance journalist/writer and a mother of two splendid children. I love life and writing about the various facets of living. Writing on any topic under the sun and for any age group, be it children, teenagers, youngsters, women, senior citizens, is my forte. My articles are regularly published in health, travel and womens magazines and in education related newspaper websites"

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