ONLINE EDUCATION

Online education: Is it credible? (Communication, Cooperation and Collaboration)

Online education: Is it credible? (Communication, Cooperation and Collaboration)

Introduction

Online education is a concept that emerged with the advent of the internet and has taken the world by storm. It provides students with feasible education and academic options. Especially for students from unstable or weak financial backgrounds can avail online education to pursue better academics and at the same time, keep their costs in check. However, when scholars speak about online education, the three main factors that they link to it are communication, collaboration and cooperation (James, 2009). Almost every religion of the world emphasizes on the importance of education and in every great society of the world, scholars and educated people are held with the highest regards and respect. E-learning is a comparatively newer phenomenon and includes the use of technology like the internet and computers. The most common synonyms of e-learning are: IBT (Internet Based Training), CBT (Computer Based Training) and WBT (Web Based Training).

The most prominent drawback of online education is that it is conducted mainly through the internet so there is little physical presence required and hardly any actual interaction between the teacher and the tutor. In this paper, we discuss how these three factors impact online education and its credibility (James, 2009).

Discussion

The most popular debate

Perhaps the most common and sought after debate in relation to online education is the question that: does 'online education' match the level of academics that physical classes can provide? It is a firm belief of many that students who study online and pursue degrees that are web-based face disadvantages as compared to students who study in universities or schools. Nowadays, the concept of online degrees has swept over the world and people are choosing to pursue higher education through the internet rather than attending colleges and universities which demand physical presence. The main reason for the shift in preference is because students with online enrolments can utilize their time to start and develop their professional careers. Additionally, online education is cheaper than the traditional education and it also saves additional costs such as accommodation, travelling, books, stationery and clothing. However, there are many organizations worldwide that give first preference to graduates from physical universities rather than virtual universities. This means that regardless of the quality of education that online classes provide, they are still unable to match the demand and preference of physical classes (Wolfe, 2001, 100).

Advantage of classrooms with regard to better communication

The first factor that critics consider when comparing online education to physical classes is the element of communication. Online classes have limited communication between the teacher and the student and obviously, the teacher-student trust that usually develops in physical classes is always missing (James, 2009). The biggest advantage of classrooms is that they help a student interact with other students and there is minimum chance of queries and ambiguity due to combined discussions in the presence of the teacher. Similarly, classrooms are considered safer as compared to online education because ...