I am 63 years young. I have lived all over India with my Army officer husband. I was a ‘mere’ graduate when I got married in 1967. 14 years of marriage and two children later, I wanted to improve my qualifications. The children were growing up and they no longer needed me around them all the time. So I decided to study further. Where was my hubby posted at that time? Talbet. Where is that? No point Googling it; you most probably won’t find it anywhere on a map! It’s a small place near Jhansi in UP, India. I decided that I must start studying before my enthusiasm wore off. So I chose a distance-learning program: the PGDTE program offered by CIEFL.
Fast forward to the year 1998.The place is Dallas, Texas. I was there because I had to take care of my little granddaughter. The afternoons were long and boring and there was no social interaction like I was used to in India. What did I do? I opted for another distance learning program. Another 12 years passed by and now, I am a content writer in an e-learning company.
It is the dreaded appraisal time in my company. The manager is asking that routine question – how have you equipped yourself during the past year to take on additional KRAs? I answer –“Yes, I have joined a distance learning program in Instructional Design.” There is a ‘Wow!’ look on the manager’s face.
Why am I using the first person singular so much? Because no one knows the benefits of distance learning programs as I do. For any person who wants to improve his/her qualifications but cannot dream of attending classes, the only way out is distance education. At the workplace or in educational institutions, there is a constant requirement to upgrade yourself. Distance education allows you to fulfill your aspirations while liberating you from the constraints of time and space.
If you are a computer savvy, young individual, perhaps e-learning or online courses suit you. But if you are at places like Talbet, your connectivity with the Worldwide Web can be uncertain and extremely frustrating. Then it is better to opt for the old fashioned ‘Correspondence Courses’ from a reputed university.
What are the pitfalls of distance education? The printed page with paragraphs and paragraphs of information leaves you cold. It simply fails to motivate you. So what do you do? As you read, just imagine that you are presenting the content to someone. This trick always works because you also learn to think of the target audience. Distance education liberates you in many ways, but places a tremendous responsibility on you too. You have to discipline yourself to spend fixed hours at the study table and resist the temptation of watching the afternoon soaps. You wanted to be different right?
Come exam time, you pack your bags for the final contact program; it provides an excellent forum for meeting and interacting with people from various regions.
All in all, distant learning programs are a great way to further your education and make yourself more valuable in the eyes of employers.
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