Distance education has grown by leaps and bounds in the past couple of decades especially with the advent of technology and the internet. This has led to a soar in demand for distance education, especially among non-traditional learners. Universities and educational institutions from across the globe are responding to the higher demand for distance learning education degrees and certification among by introducing a range of distance courses starting from short-term upskilling courses to certificate and diploma courses to distance learning bachelor’s and master’s degrees across disciplines. There are several modes in which distance learning takes place starting from printed correspondence to online self-paced to blended mode learning to the more recent e-learning and m-learning.
Accessible Higher Education
While traditional modes of education, especially higher education, is still a distant dream for many, distance learning has reduced this gap and made education more accessible to everyone through the removal of physical classrooms and attendance, greater flexibility and inclusivity. You need not uproot yourself from your personal and professional commitments to take up education or learn a skill. With distance education, you can still study while you are employed or while managing your personal commitments. You can study at a place, time and pace of your choosing. Distance courses are relatively less expensive when compared to traditional courses making them accessible to a larger proportion of the population.
Great Opportunities for a Promising Future
Upskilling: Working professionals who wish to accelerate and elevate their careers find distance education to be a good avenue to upskill themselves. There is a wide array of specialized courses of varying lengths available in the distance and online modes for them to choose from. They can also continue their higher education and obtain their master’s degree or an additional degree. These additional degrees or specialized skills will definitely add weight to their CV. Working professionals can improve their scope of promotions and higher remunerative packages, all this while still being employed owing to the flexibility distance education offers.
Better job opportunities: It is true that the number of job opportunities available to freshers with a regular degree is higher but those with distance learning bachelor’s degrees too find a good number of job opportunities despite possible disparities in pay scale. Many who opt for distance learning even for their graduation do so because the only other option available to them is no higher education, which will reflect in the kind of jobs available to them (if at all) which are often pay a pittance and with very limited scope for career growth. Also, freshers can upskill themselves through short-term distance courses and improve their chance of being hired sooner and with better pay packages.
Better ROI: Though the pay scales for those with regular and distance degrees may differ vastly, the return on investment (ROI) for those with distance education is considered good. This is because the fees paid is lower and distance learning is inexpensive and affordable, so the pay packages the learners receive is a good return.
In conclusion, distance education is offering great opportunities for a promising future by making education accessible to all.