With the arrival of the internet, online education has become quite popular among students of different age groups around the world. Many of the top universities and educational institutions are offering online courses on a wide range of interesting topics. Alongside, there are several e-learning platforms that are changing the teaching as well as learning styles with help of digital technology. Online courses are now widely accepted by many students as they find e-learning much more convenient than classroom learning.
What makes online courses so popular among students?
- Easily accessible: The foremost advantage of online courses is that students can access them from any part of the world. Overcoming geographical disparity, students can now enrol themselves into courses, programs and universities of their choice and desire, even though being located in faraway or remote places. They can identify courses according to the skills and knowledge that they wish to acquire and pursue relevant courses from distant far-flung places around the world.
- Offer flexibility to learn: Online courses provide huge flexibility with time, which makes it highly convenient for students to manage their routines efficiently. Students generally have various activities scheduled according to the school timetable as well as co-curricular activities. At times, it is a challenge to maintain a balance with the routine. Online courses offer much-needed flexibility to learn at a time convenient for students. Moreover, through recorded sessions and course materials shared, students can revisit the discussions and explanations of points that they might have missed during the session.
- Make learning an engaging and exciting experience: The learning style in online courses is supported with innovative tools and resources such as videos, audios, PDFs, 3D images, PowerPoint presentations, etc that make the sessions highly interactive. Students are motivated to participate actively and take interest in interacting with teachers and other students.
- Cover a wide range of topics: Online courses offer a variety of topics to learn at varying educational levels. They offer a range of skills-based programs in which students learn valued and relevant skills that are important to build a successful career. A diverse range of online courses includes coding and programming, app development, artificial intelligence, robotics, product design, website design, 3D printing, bioinformatics, etc. Most of these courses are available at 3 stages – beginner, intermediate and advanced, appropriately matching the individual needs of the students. Students learn at their own pace, without any pressure to match the speed of other students.
- Offer financial benefits: Online courses are relatively less costly than enrolling in full-time courses. Through e-learning, the costs such as travelling to the school or the campus, books, course materials, etc are heavily reduced. The course content is made available to students in electronic form. The savings help to ease the economic pressure on the students and their parents.
- Help in networking and connecting with people: Through online programs, students get an opportunity to make contacts and connections with teachers and students from different parts of the world. Through interactions, students build awareness about each other’s ideas, backgrounds, cultures, eventually building their own community and long-lasting relationships.
- Provide a life-long learning opportunity: Online education defies many myths, the most common being that learning is age-bound. E-learning respects and values the spark in interest and curiosity to learn without setting boundaries for age limit. You can become a student at any point in your life, with learning being the utmost suitable way to address your new interests.
Online courses are a gateway to real-world skills. The premise of e-learning is versatile and unique, making it very convenient for students to synthesize their interests and curiosities. With the advent of Covid, online learning has emerged as a ‘new normal’, offering bountiful and endless possibilities to the world of education.