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Distance Education

October 28, 2011 By 249 Comments

Education is very important for an individual. In recent times, government has raised the banner high to spread education, even to remotest areas of the county. There are many educational books and magazines, which discuss various courses available for the youth and prospective career options. Even the internet is full of education articles and news regarding various courses available and the esteemed colleges that provide these courses. With the change in educational structure, new methods of imparting education have barged in. it had been noticed that students who are financially unstable or have prior things to complete cannot attend regular classes and therefore miss on receiving education. Government has started distance-learning programmes for such students making their life easier.

Our government is very supportive in spreading awareness regarding education and conducting various seminars and meetings which discuss the use of education.

In these seminars, professionals of different fields read out education articles and how best education can be received. There are so many career counselors and institutes, which guide the students regarding career options to opt for that there, is no scope for students to go wrong. Education has spread out from the four -wall classrooms and has become a much bigger and dynamic structure. The days of rote learning are long gone. These are days of smart classes where students are taught through computerized mediums and are open and friendly with their teachers. Even in school level, students are taught about education news and achievements in the field of education so that they find it easier to choose a career later in life.

One of the major achievements in the education system is the introduction of distance learning courses. Distance learning courses are a blessing for all those who had to give up education to fulfill prior commitments. Many students have to do jobs in order to support their families others have some other problem and they cannot attend regular classes. Due to distance learning courses, they can now, enroll themselves in courses of their choice and attend weekend classes or just appear for the exams.

One needs to have the habit of reading articles about distance education or listening to education news in order to be updated with the educational field. One cannot achieve anything without efforts, even a student studying a distance-learning course has to put in same efforts as the student attending regular classes. There is no short cut to success.

If you want to know about distance education then read education news and education articles on jagranjosh.com

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Distance Education Is Changing The Shape Of Our Education System

October 28, 2011 By 3 Comments

Distance education is a medium of education in which the tutors and the students are located geographically apart. There are many motivations for creating a distance education program. First and foremost is the credibility and stature of the faculty available locally. This is the bottomline reason for creating such a program. If a student or a group of students increasingly feel that the intelligentsia available in their country or region does not satisfy their benchmarks for quality education, then, they start looking for a finer, exceptional and acceptable faculty outside their own living place without leaving their own geographical region physically. This has the added benefit of a low cost as compared to moving out physically to acquire education. Such a system is increasingly being aided by modern era technologies which enable constant communication between the teaching parties and the candidates being taught.

The pioneer of this kind of education system was the University of London, which started its External Degree Programs in 1858, now known as the University of London International Programs. In this program, students register for a course of their choice and are sent the guides or course outline to be followed every year as long as they enroll for a course. The candidates are then tested for their competence once a year with examinations being conducted by the British Council.

Since technology is extensively being used for distance learning, this concept is now taking a new turn: E-Learning. In this mode, students take their lectures online via multimedia devices and submit their assignments accordingly.

There are two types of technologies being used for distance learning. One is known as synchronous and the other, asynchronous. In synchronous technology, the presence of all participants during the learning session is mandatory. An example would be video conferencing. On the other hand, in asynchronous technology, the presence of all participants at the same time is not required. Examples would be email, audiocassette and message board forums.

Distance education is sprouting due to the extensive availability of technology and the demand for low-cost, high-quality education.

Even if you are a college graduate, you can still improve yourself by distance learning in many areas including business, finance and so on.

Written by Nail Yener

The 10 guiding principles of Instrauctional Technology and distance education
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Pros and Cons of Distance Education!

October 28, 2011 By 210 Comments

Pros and cons of distance education

Education makes a man complete and perfect. It helps him to update his knowledge and keeps him abreast of the current trends of the world.

Education is a systematic process of learning and a methodical way of imparting knowledge among human beings. As civilization advanced, the methods and the modes of learning, the teaching aids and tools for imparting education have also got multiplied by leaps and bounds.

When we consider the ways or modes of learning, generally we follow these methods:-

1) We join an educational institution in a particular course or study, listening to the periodic lectures given by the faculty members and take up the examination at the end of the prescribed study period. We pursue the course either as a resident student or a day scholar.

2) We join an educational institution on a distance education mode, study their lessons dispatched to us by post, complete their assignments and tests and send them for correction by the faculty members through post. We also attend seminars conducted periodically by such institutions in the course of our study.

3) Of late, we have also online educational programmes with a prescribed study material and period of study and western countries in particular offer a lot of on line study programmes.

Now we have to confine ourselves in this essay about the pros and cons of distance education programmes. The distance education programmes though are considered inferior when we compare them with regular course of study, still they have their own advantages and disadvantages as follows:-

Pros:-

1)The distance education programme is more convenient to an employed person, who can spare his own available time for reading the study materials supplied to him. Again, depending upon his mood he can choose and fix his own hours of study and either study or simply skip his study materials and there is no compulsion on him to do a particular work of study within a prescribed time limit.

2)In a distance mode of education, the rules and regulations of joining a course are somewhat very liberal comparing with a regular course of study. For example to pursue a masters programme in law in a regular law college or University, minimum qualifying percentage of marks is fixed at 50 %.Whereas, in a distance learning programme, the minimum percentage of marks to pursue a masters degree in law has been fixed as ‘a pass in the basic law degree course’ irrespective of the percentage of marks he has scored in his graduation. While there is a minimum age qualification to join a particular course, there is no maximum age limit to pursue your studies on a distance mode. Even an octogenarian who still have some knowledge thirst left within him or her can fulfill her desire only through a distance mode of education.

3)In distance mode of education, they offer variety of educational programmes than the regular colleges.

4)Regular attendance to colleges is not necessary in a distance education programme.

5)If a person is unable to complete his particular course of study due to his family circumstances, distance education programmes offer a remedy of pursuing and completing the same course.

6)Persons who have a particular liking for an educational institution, say for Delhi University or Madras University but they are residing in a remote corner of the country far away from the concerned institution, still there is no problem at all. Various universities situated in different parts of a country have their own study centers in various parts of the country, to help and co-ordinate the educational activities of distance learners. Candidates can avail the help of these study centers to fulfill their wishes.

7)Employees can increase their prospects of promotional avenues only by pursuing distance education programmes, without losing their job and salary.

However, distance education has got its own demerits also.

Cons:-

1) Professional courses like Law,(Practiceable), engineering and medicine etc are not available in distance education programme.

2)Enforcement of discipline is a must in an educational institution, which is not available in a distance learning programme.

3)There is no systematic method of learning involved in a distance education. For example regular colleges are following semester pattern covering a period of say 6 months within which a specific number of papers should be read and then write the examination on those papers. Again, in a regular college, the students are submitting periodic assignments, taking regular weekly and monthly and even model tests, before appearing in the concerned semester examination. Whereas, in a distance education mode, the student being the master as well, there is no scope for systematic learning, discipline and in the result mostly default in learning occurs.

4)In a distance mode, there is no scope for getting your doubts cleared then and there from the faculty members. Therefore personal contact with the faculty members becomes a casualty.

5)In a distance mode education, library and reference books are not available to consult them then and there or immediately.

6)The seminars held in a distance learning programme only for three or four days will in no way be helpful to a student, since they offer only an outline of the course study. Such seminars are actually rushed through offering little help to the distant learners.

7) Employment opportunities are not available in plenty for those who pursue distance education programmes. Employers always prefer graduates who complete their degree courses in a regular college.

Despite of having many drawbacks, the distance education programme is the only panacea to many of us, who want to quench their thirst for education.

Written by rlingam

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