The New Key: Online Education
Internet is the 21st-century mantra and everything is available online, including education. Even though there are apprehensions about courses, their credibility and structural discipline, this has not stopped more digital learning players to step into the field. To gauge this trend, we spoke to MN Rao, Chairman at Medisys Edutech, the brain behind their product SmarTeach on online courses for medical and dental education. Read what he had to say:
How is online education helping students?
Online education is expanding because its core value proposition (of flexibility, widespread access and low costs) is very strong.
It is cheaper, more abundantly available via telecom and smart devices at lower costs. There have been important strides in the construction and development of Learning Management Systems for online education with the blending of virtual/real classroom sessions and field/project activities. Longer duration courses leading to university diplomas and degrees require more intense monitoring from a BPO type set-up. A few universities have offered such courses in India successfully.
Which subjects are the best to study online?
Management and IT courses dominate online courses in their sheer number of offerings. At the undergraduate level, the older format ‘correspondence’ or ‘distance education’ programmes have always included liberal arts, law, languages and education. Medicine, healthcare, engineering are important possibilities in a blended mode. There are also top-up courses for personal development
How do you measure success in the online sphere?
The approach to assessment may have to change considerably for online education. An interim solution may be MCQs online and ‘pen and paper’ exams in a classroom.
What can one expect in terms of professional know-how?
Professional know-how (law, medicine, engineering, IT, accounting) is the real promise of ICT aided, online/blended education. There is a need for critical thinking in terms of how instruction design, lesson preparation, query resolution and practical work should be planned in order to realise the potential of ICT and technology aides in professional learning.
We also spoke to Aditi Avasthi, CEO and Founder of embibe.com, an online test preparation portal, providing JEE preparation to students. Calling Online Education in India, the next big thing after the e-commerce boom, she said, “A lot of students have accepted and appreciated technology’s advent into education, making learning more systematic and outcome oriented than it has ever been. Today, a single high-quality ed-tech product is improving learning outcomes for lakhs of students in the country, irrespective of their level of ability or access.” Excerpts:
Who benefits from online education?
Students in remote areas with lack of access to high-quality teachers get the best quality education at lower costs. Parents and teachers can encourage students to supplement their tuitions and studies with interactive and adaptive online learning as they see visible improvement in performance.
What is the spectrum of this mode?
Online education has a broad spectrum. Students of all age groups and even working professionals access online courses to supplement their knowledge. Young children use gamified ed-tech products to pick up basic Maths and Science. Start-ups like embibe.com cater to those preparing for massively competitive examinations. Simplilearn, on the other hand, offers courses for working professionals to enhance their skills. In my opinion, almost any subject can be taught and studied online.
Does this have the same professional gains as traditional education?
Self-paced online courses make it easy for one to acquire new skills both within and outside of their domain. To add to that, these courses are far less expensive and less time consuming. Getting accredited also means that one can add it to their resume.
What is the future of this model?
There are over 400 Ed tech/E-learning startups in India. With nearly half the population of India below the age of 25 years coupled with increasing penetration of internet and mobile devices in this region, the online medium will only continue to grow. There is an opportunity to make a huge impact on the two major deficiencies in education in India: access and personalised improvement in learning. Both the gaps have to be addressed together. We feel technology/data sciences and a scalable content strategy can bridge the personalisation gap in education and make a big difference to learning outcomes. India’s online education market size is predicted to grow to $40 billion by 2017 from the present $20 billion. The model is definitely working.
What students say:
Prerana, who is perusing her MBBS degree at a medical college in Hubli, Karnataka and is a subscriber to MediSys’s course, says, “From time to time, I found that classroom education or lectures to be complex to comprehend. In fact, there was a point in time when I even contemplated switching careers.”
So, she decided to opt for Elearning. “I enrolled in courses in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry as those were the courses in the first year of my MBBS. The videos aided in presenting the diagrams lucidly and were self-explanatory. Instructors are also more approachable in the online setting. I felt more comfortable talking openly with my teachers through online chats, emails, and newsgroup discussions rather than face-to-face. I can also revisit the lectures as per my convenience.” She recently completed her first year in college.
Janak Agrawal (AIR 2 IIT JEE 2015) used Embibe.com to prepare for his Engineering Entrance Examinations. He says, “Online preparation is helpful. Students get personalised attention and save on travel time. I used Embibe.com to prepare and it helped me improve my time management and refine my attempt strategy.”
Read the original publication here.
