Progressive Change’ the New Catchphrase in Online Learning Trends in 2013

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So, in the year 2012 the world did not end and we are all safe. Despite the unlucky stigma of the number ‘13’, the year 2013 holds new plans and surprises. While, there are strides of improvements and new dimensions in diverse sectors of the globe, the world of education is geared up to gifting the world new changes in this field.

The idea is to bring the world closer with a more simplified educational system through use of technical tools. As the world has shrunk to finger tip, there is no doubt to it that the combination of computer and internet has significant role to play in daily lives. Knowledge is just a click away making education accessible from almost anywhere and at anytime. The year 2013 witnesses top five major trends in education, where the computer and internet has major impact.

2013 to witness Major Trends in Education

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                      ·   Social Media is expected to play a huge role   

            

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Social Media is acting the benefactor of connecting people and bringing people together from round the world. Social media is now making its way from advertising, entertainment and sports. So, it is natural for social media to take up a domineering role in the world of education. In the past two years, social media has emerged in leaps and bounds but in 2013 it is expected to make an even bigger splash across the globe. From SMS marketing and students creating YouTube videos, Facebook pages and professors designing classroom focused blogs; it is expected that everyone will benefit a lot from social media.                                                                      

                                                                                                                  

•         College graduates to witness less stress for job hunts

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The year 2013 is expected to witness more number of college graduates. Besides, they are hopeful to feel less stressed in job hunts too. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conducted a survey in which it found that employers will be hiring 9.5% more graduates from class of 2012 than the previous year batch. Added to this, those students acquiring degrees in Engineering, Mathematics, Technology and Science are highly valuable to employers. So, the advice for the young generation of today is to upgrade their skills and update their LinkedIn profile to get maximum benefits from jobs.

                   ·         Game based Learning is the talk of town

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Ask anyone and you will get maximum votes for a good game. Today, the trend is to enjoy game-based learning (GBL), which is not just becoming popular within classroom walls, but also for teachers and students who can gain maximum from this mode of learning. Remember, game based learning comprise of anything ranging from serious games to video games and learning simulations and so on. The best part of GBL learning is that it is particularly designed to balance subject matter and game play. The ultimate objective is to enable students quickly learn and retain what they have picked through the games. Though already in practice, 2013 is yet to witness more such learning processes, which are regarded as highly imbibing.

·         MOOC trend is supposedly to bring on more Impact

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MOOC, which stands for Massive Open Online Courses has been a rage and is expected to become more popular in 2013. Though, the term was coined back in 2008, it will have its best and most useful implication in 2013. What is best is that MOOC is actually revolutionising and changing the way people think and learn. The courses available are free. You simply need a computer to learn. In 2013, it is expected that MOOC will gradually become a useful mechanism, which students will use to receive official college credit. Research says that MOOC reaches out to 200 countries in a variety of 44 languages. This mode of learning boasts of 4500 learning centres across the world.

·         More number of Universities will involve in offering Online Learning

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From online learning tutorials and free podcasts, distance learning is making it feasible to push the limits of educational boundaries to greater stretch for convenient accessibility of education from anywhere in the world. So far, people have been witness to paid degree programmes and online classes, but the current trend is to offer free courses. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hopkins University, University of California, Stanford University and Berkeley are offering free courses. Users now have access to online learning materials for free anytime and from anywhere. So, given the progress in online learning universities offering online learning are expected to multiply in number and more number of students are expected to enrol. Source

So, we can put it in this way that 2013 has already shown instances of progress in education but is yet to witness more with the coming of time. Today, as it seem the world of computer and internet has overwhelmed the world and everyone including students and professionals are taking advantage of it. Whether it is the use of social media tools or simply the internet, the idea of seeking online education has become quite in vogue.

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Naturally, changes are popping into this world with online learning coming to prominence with much more impact. But students have always been interested in enrolling with distance learning coursesassociated with world recognised universities. In this regard, UK universities deserve special mention which have world accredited qualifications. Thus, enrolment with such distance communities seems to be always in demand.

Turn Mondays into Fun Days with Online Education at your Behest

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The buzz goes round that online learning is the talk of town. Though, the concept has already started since a long time in the past there are few questions that hover over this very concept. Is the idea of online learning maturing? Perhaps. Is it improving? Always.

The sheer number of individuals drawn towards online learning is dramatically increasing and the preference for this advanced mode of learning remains high. The idea of converting traditional learning into virtual format has been in vogue and today it seems to be a very evolving subject, indeed. Today, the ‘online learning experience’ is rapidly replacing textbooks, so students are finding it easy to break free from the restraints of classroom learning confined within walls of time.

Rest assured, online learning is about following your own norms and rules without having to oblige with what has been designed for you.

The World is changing, so the World of Education

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Executive Director of Education Service Centre, Anne Poplin says, “If they’re sitting in a classroom with a textbook, that’s not the world anymore.” She further adds, “It’s not a textbook-driven environment. If it is, they are behind.” Source.

The topic ‘online learning’ is indeed a very hot topic now. It has flavours to make it most engaging and interesting for learners. While you learn you can be engaged in other activities and beat boredom of only studying. A classroom serves as serious venues for imbibing lessons from professors, who can make it really disinteresting for you to understand a subject and take note of the interesting facts of that subject. Sometimes, sitting at the back of the hall might pose as great barriers in realising what your professor is saying and not having personal conversations with your professor can prove it highly non-interactive.

Whereas, Online Learning is Fun

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Using videos and networking possibilities help create personal interaction between students and teachers. Remember, education is fun only when it is served for both educational and entertainment purposes. Educationalists or professors can chalk out courses in a completely different fashion by lending scopes of quizzes or objectives question that have to be answered by students. In this way, students’ minds can be sharply focused on areas of subjects that they have their eyes upon.  

Here, we dissect in few points how and why online learning is fun

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  Learning is made fun by creating videos. Videos should be dealing with the topic but in an interesting manner.

·         Your next step is to create short quizzes so that students find it engaging even if not surrounded by college walls or other students.

·         Add humour to training as provided to students. Just like adding cough syrup with old sugar is quite a trick of making a smoother, you can implement the same process of creating messages for students to aid them study in an interesting manner.

·         Teachers or professors engaged in designing training websites should incorporate online forums. This will help students navigate courses and visit forums and post their queries.

·         Networking is another major technique of bringing students together on the same platform and creating connection between them so that they find the entire learning session as most interactive and also productive.

In a way, online education can be far more interesting than traditional learning, even though accessed from home. The idea of travelling long distances and attending colleges or universities consume a lot of energy, leaving behind what it will turn out to be when you travel. Imagine, sitting in a cosy sofa and finishing your studies. Besides, how does it sound when every single day turns out to be Sunday? Amazing. Especially when it comes to traditional learning, attending colleges after Sunday break is the most exhaustive thought that engulfs anyone in a grim mood. After all, Mondays are the most depressing days in a year and having to initiate an entire week on grumpy mood can be quite challenging.

So, to beat Monday blues take up online learning and bring upon the fun of studying online. After all, study should be interesting with no ideas of Monday blues clogging your mind. In fact, there is an interesting saga about Monday blues and what students do to fight it. Read on.

Combating Monday Blues

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Blue Monday is synonymously recognised as “the most depressing day of the year”. As if, the first day of the week heralds an entire week of exams, boring lectures, heavy tuition fees and all kinds of thoughts associated with traditional colleges. But online education makes it seem that Monday blue is just media hype than nothing else. This is the most advanced learning mode and helps students balance between work and family. Precisely, traffic jams and overcrowded libraries are not impediment to studies any longer. Enrol your name with any distance learning community tied with world recognised University and you gain a qualification having global accreditation.

Remember, choosing online learning is a getaway to potential future. Especially, if you earn degree from a world recognised UK University, your qualification will have great credibility in the job market. Make sure that that you enrol your name with a reputable online provider offering best features and charging most affordable fees.

After all getting scope to create a career at one's own pace is an advantage and provides an individual to evade boredom and monotony while studying.

Importance of an Online Degree in Improving the Skills of the Learner

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Online learning is gaining popularity day by day. The Babson Survey Research Group presented a report in 2012 which made the fact quite clear that more than 6.7 million high school pass outs were enrolled in one online course in the year 2011. As compared to 2002 when the number was only 1.6 million, the online education system has proved itself efficient. (Source)

The higher education colleges and universities are constantly striving to refine and modernise their online core curriculum. In 2002, only 72% of educational institutions offered their courses online and now it has risen up to 87% by the year 2012. The colleges also now emphasise on the formation of online degree courses and almost 63% of the schools are now surveyed to have interest in awarding their degrees exclusively through the distance mode. (Source)

Online learning is known for its global reach

When MOOCs were first started by Coursera, then EdX, they did not know that their courses will be available for the students living abroad as well. However, with time, online learning has proved its global reach to all. Almost all the topmost UK Universities now offer their courses online following trend of US based MOOC Coursera. Also, not only a few of the courses but they now have a host of online courses to choose from. And the best part of it is that anyone, from any part of the globe.

The most reputed UK Universities that provide online courses now have learners from the various parts of the country. Africa, where there are no good educational institutions and students are in lack of gaining knowledge, there online courses are coming for their rescue. Now all they need is a laptop or a computer with an internet connection, and they can get hold of the most updated knowledge.

Online courses will now have invigilated examinations

There are people who believe that online learning is easy and also one can simply pass the examinations by cheating on the online examinations. However, this doesn’t hold any good these days. One of the major MOOC suppliers, EdX, now provides their examinations fully invigilated by educators. The students can be at any part of the world but when they will sign in for the exams, if they want to cheat, it will be marked by the course providers with the help of software.

Online courses are accredited

A few years back, it was believed that the distance degrees are for those who are not good enough in their studies. Also, whenever there appeared a student who takes his/her courses online, he/she was soon declared as someone who is a school or college dropout. However, times have now changed. Not only the fresh graduates but now even the various working professionals are applying for the online courses. For them, the only thing which matters is the fact that online learning is flexible and they will not have to compromise with their current responsibilities.

No matter which course you are interested in and which degree you want to get hold of, the universities will offer you with the same. Also, these degrees are accredited by the university grants and as soon as you complete your course, you will go ahead with your career plans. Getting hold of an accredited online university is what is needed for you to move ahead with your future goals.

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All the MOOCs, in UK, US or in other part of the world is the example of universities going online. They now truly believes in the fact that learning is no more subjected to time, place or money and now anybody can get a degree of their choice from the most reputed universities.

Debate over Online Learning Is Mere Noise with No Logic

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Online education is not just a phrase to linger without significance, it is here to stay and rule. So, do many students and working professionals believe it to be so. But what can possibly cease the ongoing debate between online education and traditional learning? Possibly, it is a never-ending controversy that clouds the minds, but is there a conclusion to be derived? Let’s have a look. 

Traditional v/s Online Learning 

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If you are asked to sit in a classroom, jot down notes from the blackboard at hours stretch and wrap off school assignments within strict deadlines, would you still believe that you are receiving quality education? In a short while, you are bound to get bored and lose interest. Traditional brick and motor institutions prefer to use these strategies for enlightening students and so it is one of the reasons why a deluge of new age learners are more inclined towards online learning. Survey reveals that about 72% of students from across the world prefer to study through administering blogging sites and social networking sites. Besides, a lot of educational blogs get published on a daily basis with the intention to keep career professionals and students updated on an array of subjects. (Source)

To enhance your knowledge more on online learning, we list down a few advantages why you should opt for this particular mode of learning and how it will benefit you.

·        You can study from anywhere. No matter, which part of the world you belong from, you can pursue a course from start till end at your own flexibility without attending classrooms. You enjoy the advantage of learning right from home.

·        You bring significant potential to your career by studying a validated course, the skills and expertise of which you can implement in various fields.

·        You enjoy flexibility of pursuing courses that can be adjusted between family life and work as you feel.

·        Besides, you can interact with other students on the same online radar through social networking sites.

Thus, you gain accredited qualification from a State University, which is globally recognised and is validated. You save time and energy for other commitments, apart from enhancing academic credence. Hence, so far you have been informed about how online education is effectively impacting students and working professionals at large, then why there is so much controversy over online education. Let’s have a look. 

Debate over Online Education- Is it worth it?

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The debate goes on, is online education worth it? There are apprehensions about online education since it is a virtual learning mode where students cannot have face to face interactions with teachers or will not have to attend on-campus training. But online supports features like enabling students have access to online tutorials and have interactions with other students through networking sites and have access to course materials. Read on to know how validated reports show inclination of students towards traditional learning, which is already and is yet to redirect towards online learning in the nearest future. So, the time has set in where online learning is emerging with prominence. 

The University of Nottingham held the Open Education Resource conference on the 26th of March revealing how students are defending the need of traditional learning. Students will only delve deep into world of online education only if they are instructed so by teachers. “Students are actually quite conservative in their use of open education resources (OERs). The students in our samples were clear while many made use of them in their own learning, they were much more likely to do so when it was part of their course and it has been suggested to them by their lecturer.” 

Nonetheless, there was a recent finding as unveiled by the Institute of Public Policy Research report, which stated in ‘An Avalanche is Coming: higher education and the revolution ahead’ that established Universities might counter menace if it fails to react to the progress of online education. (Source)

Thus, the same report as above states how students are still inclined towards traditional learning but they cannot deny the importance of online education. 

1.      It is believed that UK Universities will cease to run in the coming 10 years, unless they adapt initiatives driven by technology, globalisation, and competition for funding and rising students’ expectations. There needs to be urgent and radical transformation in higher education and so institutions have to adapt to those changes. Universities are supposedly to face an avalanche of risks from more specialised institutions, privately funded research centres and online learning providers. (Source)

Thus, the above is clearly evident of the fact that traditional Universities need to adapt new techniques of learning and new modules that could keep pace with this technically advanced world. Traditional learning is effective, but it time consuming and non flexible. Hence students are reluctant to sit in classes for hours and block two to three years of their lives into a course. Have a look at this videoto know how education is being redirected from conventional to online mode.       

So, in this regard it can be said that online providers collaborated with State Universities are working towards a bright future for professionals and students. Today, the trend is to access long distance study from UK, since UK Universities have major associations with many distance providers. They are focused towards catering online tutorial support to help you achieve goals. Besides, most of these providers offer 60% less of course fees than what is directly offered by UK Universities. 

Therefore, it is concluded that the debate over online education is not worth it. It is just a noise created with no logic. Though, there are reports (as mentioned above) where students are still inclined to traditional learning that have vented debate over online learning, this mode of education can never fade. In fact, it will loom large to prominence where a time will come when all educational institutions will use online education as a strong force for enlightening the globe.