The evolution of education: Will e-learning replace traditional university?
These days the word “e-learning“ is a well-known term and over the past few years it has risen in popularity. Under this term, we can understand using the Internet for learning. This includes online courses, virtual classrooms, or digital resources that allow people to access educational content.
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, it changed a lot of things. One of them is the way of learning. People discovered the magic of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). As it is mentioned in this article from Arda Helvacılar, in April 2020 there were 3 times more visitors on MOOC websites than in February 2020.
As the world is becoming more interconnected, it is okay to ask the question: will e-learning replace traditional universities?
Let’s first talk about some advantages of e-learning:
- Accessibility, flexibility, and convenience:
One of the key advantages of e-learning is its potential to make education more accessible and flexible for a wider range of learners. People can study virtually basically from anywhere, breaking down geographical barriers. The ability to watch a recorded class later is a big advantage for those balancing work, family, or other responsibilities. It is also beneficial for people with disabilities, who may find it challenging to attend traditional university classes.
- Affordance:
In some countries, students must pay a lot of money to study at universities, and not everyone can afford it. Here we are coming to the other advantage. Many online courses are much cheaper than university fees or are even free. So, it is more affordable for a bigger range of people.
- Individualized learning paths:
At traditional universities, there is usually one learning pace for everyone. However, each student has its own tempo and way of learning. E-learning can offer tailored content to match student’s learning styles, personalized content, or self-paced learning when students can spend as much time on the topic as they need.
Despite all these advantages that e-learning provides, there are still students who would rather attend universities, whether due to past negative experiences or a preference for offline studying. As the research showed, most of the students would like to keep certain aspects of online classes during their university studies. So, the answer if e-learning will replace traditional universities is “MAYBE”. As education keeps changing, finding a way for both e-learning and traditional universities to work together might be the best way to make everyone happy and meet different students’ needs.
