What is so special about online education?

 

Technological progress feeds on itself. Think about it; it took man ages to move from a wheelchair to a car, but only a few decades to go from a car to space. This exponential growth has ensured that no aspect of our lives remains untouched by technology. And so it is with education. Today's advent of online education has made all information available with a single click.

 

Online Education: The Path from Caterpillar to Butterfly

What started as a handful of institutes or classes uploading some of their study material or tests to the web has now culminated into websites offering a plethora of courses covering almost every subject under the sun. However, it is a shame that many do not realize the potential of online education and write it off as another of those technological inventions that provided the initial spark but not the final "bang". Is that really the case? Let's dive into online education a little more.

 

Advantages of online education

Online education, like any technology, has its share of advantages. There is something uniquely compelling about it that attracts more and more people from all over the world. Without a doubt, the best feature of online education is the ability to control the pace of your learning. Clearly, the learning ability of individual children has not been "normalized" across generations of children and then redistributed to them. Some of them are slow learners, others learn things too fast. Unfortunately, most schools in our country do not recognize this and end up giving children inferiority or superiority complexes.

 

 

Freedom and independence

Online education allows you to take things at your own leisurely pace and 'learn' things rather than cramming them. In addition, you are free to choose the timing of your studies. If your favorite movie is coming on sometime in the afternoon, you can always do tutorials in the morning or the next day. Also, no ironclad rules: pauses are allowed, as are rewinds and replays. If you don't understand something once, you can always go back and watch the same thing twice or several times until you get it right. There is no fear associated with a hot-tempered and impatient teacher/professor or a bunch of giggling classmates who will shoot you disdainful looks for trying to repeat a particular concept in class. So just sit back and immerse yourself in a truly unique learning experience.

 

A better learning experience

Next comes the use of animation. When used correctly, it plays a huge role in speeding up and improving the learning process. Animation can develop your 3D imagination very easily. And in no case can a drawing in a textbook or a diagram on a blackboard be as understandable as a simple animation. If you can imagine things, animation will give wings to your thought process. All this and more is a part of online education today. This enriches your learning experience and lures you into the intricate details of the subject rather than bluntly providing you with raw facts and superficial knowledge.

 

Saves travel time

Online education does not involve any travel. You can just sit at home and study. When you have the ability to study when you want, you are bound to take your productivity to a higher level. There is also none of the fatigue and stress that travel brings. In many cases, students have to leave home and move to other cities to study. Online education ensures that you get a similar quality of study right in the comfort zone of your home. No need to chase the big names in education halfway across the country; they reach you through online education!

 

Removes doubts immediately!

Suppose you are preparing for a competitive exam. You get stuck in the middle of the night with a problem that twists and turns in on itself, causing you to tear your hair out in frustration. What are you doing now? The answer is just a chat away. Startups and online education based companies these days are hiring IITians and MBBS students for doubt clearing at any level. Working with it is quite easy: you go online on the chat interface, ask your doubts and the other party will answer them on the chat almost immediately. Simple, right? IITians, being nocturnal creatures, will be available for assistance most of the day and throughout the night. It is imperative that doubts are suppressed as soon as they arise. Otherwise, they will remain in your brain, mixing with other doubts and causing confusion in your concepts. Oh and yes: This is NOT just for those preparing for competitive exams. Similar interfaces are also available to all students taking exams from standard 4th to board exams to JEE and NEET. These chat-a-doubt things will ensure that your questions are answered in the best possible way, and perhaps by those whose ranks you're dying to join.

 

Easy on the pocket!

Finally, a bit of a practical point: online education is also cheaper compared to other forms of education. While wastefulness in education seems downright criminal, it doesn't hurt if what's offered on the cheaper range is of the best possible quality. And with the most sought after schools, colleges and coaching courses using the internet to expand their reach, quality hardly remains an issue.

 

Online education is alive and growing in the ever-warm embrace our country offers technology. For all we know, it could become the next big thing in the rapidly growing field of education! The current facts and figures certainly suggest that this is happening somewhere along the line.

 

So guys, open your mind to different possibilities and don't brush aside unique ideas like gnats. Rather explore, seek and try them; who knows what great idea you might come up with the most clever?