The Dark Side of Online Education - Essay Example

The OU of United Kingdom, Indhira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) of India etc are some famous open universities in which internet is the principal medium of delivering educational materials. Online education provides a capacious range of courses and learning centers for the students to choose from, which in turn provides them with the opportunity to learn according to their tastes and visions. The convenience of learning right from their homes is yet another feature of online education.

It provides an environment just congruous to that of a social networking website where they can discuss the stuff regarding their subject with peers from diverse regions. Students can fix the schedule and pace of their learning. This imparts a great liberty for professionals and people who have other commitments. It gives them an international exposure and connections with experts in the subjects of study from all over the globe. However, one cannot disregard the disadvantages of online education while planning to step into it.

The portal of the Montgomery College, Maryland which is a famous online education center describes the demerits of online education. According to them, online courses are more time-consuming than on-campus classes. Here the interaction with the instructor is virtual in the practical sense. The communication takes place either through fingers, that is, by typing or through webcams. Both increase the time required for learning procedures. There is a possibility for students to procrastinate learning if they are pursuing online courses because the schedules are flexible.

This puts the very concept of ‘proper learning’ at doubt. Such courses appeal for time-management skills of the students deeply and may invoke a sense of isolation in them. There are no restrictions posed on the learner, which in one sense may sound as a positive aspect, but it can eventually turn out to be an ill-effect because there is a chance that the learner drop off from the learning and concentrate on other activities which can adversely affect his/her results. The service that students receive from their instructors ends in gaining the subject knowledge wherein lack of guidance, methods of study, planning etc.

occur (Montgomery College). There are various technical requirements also that one has to consider while going for online education. The unavailability of any of these resources can badly affect the progress in learning. Gary W. James, a corporate trainer at Allen Communication describes this aspect. According to James, limited formatting of content in most of the browsers of today is a menace in online learning. Limitations in bandwidth, web browser and even the system configuration can inversely affect learning as graphics; videos, sounds etc form an important part of online learning.

Time required for downloading the course materials sometimes goes to large extents. Assessment and feedback regarding students take place rather rarely. According to James, most of the online courses of today are comparatively less interactive (2-3). Lisa Kirtman of California State University, Fullerton conducted a deep comparative study regarding the learning outcomes of online education as well as in campus education. She says that there had been a steadfast increment in the number of students