Personal development is dependent on a person’s skill level. While there are vocational skills that may require little to no education, most other skills are acquired through education. Education can make a person self-reliant and help him/her to be a contributing member of the economy.
Recession and other financial crisis have strengthened the need for education. Moreover, in today’s scenario when technology is changing the way work happens, people need to keep upskilling to stay relevant to their jobs. Thus, the need for education is a constant one and hence, distance or online education has taken off really fast. Here are a few benefits of completing an online learning program:
- Greater accessibility for everyone: Distance education has dissolved geographical barriers and now anyone from anywhere across the globe has access to the same education online. Several of the online degrees and courses are free of cost and hence, it is easy for anyone with internet access to enroll. Also, the variety of courses offered is great and hence, anyone can learn almost anything they desire to learn. Obviously, this has led to debates in the academic circles where the efficacy and authenticity of online education has been questioned. However, this has not stopped even the top universities and colleges from joining the online learning bandwagon.
- Complete flexibility for the learner: One of the key reasons for people to turn to online programs is the paucity of time. This can be attributed to the fact that many such people are already working professionals with very little time. Another group of people looking for online courses are young or middle aged mothers, who quit work to raise a family. Though they may still not be able to leave their family, they have the option to upskill themselves. Online education does not just offer all these people the flexibility to set their own schedule but also helps them to do the course from any place of their choice. This place could be their home, office or an internet cafe. Such flexibility is not possible in a traditional campus-based course.
- A global melting pot: Online education is provided by universities and colleges to students from all over the world. Thus, the online classroom is a global melting pot in the true sense. Students from different countries often collaborate on different assignments and hence, form peers for a lifetime. The courses are accredited and have global credibility which brings such diverse students together. This helps students to not just help each other but also to learn from each other. Since there are cultural differences, students learn about different cultures as well as different ways of solving the same problem.
- Improves one’s time management skills: Online education eggs on the students to take their destiny completely into their hands by becoming the master’s of their schedule. Students learn the crucial skill of time management as most online programs have deadline based graded assignments which have to completed to get the degree or certificate. Thus, students learn to manage their time, fix their own work and study schedules and stay self-motivated. They are able to fix exact schedules for reading and other coursework and the successful online graduates achieve their success by sticking to these schedules.
- High quality instructors: The quality of instructors in online education is at par with the traditional courses. In fact, some of the premier professors conduct their university’s flagship online programs to provide the benefit of good education to students all over the world. Latest technology and tools are used to deliver online education programs to the students. Instructors make sure that the students receive all the learning material. They also conduct face-to-face chats using online chat tools to solve personal queries of the students. They keep a tab on the students’ performance in their assignments and projects. Instructors also contact such students, via email or phone, who may not have submitted an assignment by the given date. Thus, they ensure that their students are able to make full use of their online program.
With all these benefits, distance learning courses have proved to be a boon for students worldwide, especially in countries like India. It has brought down the cost burden and financial stress of the students and enables them to pursue education with a free mind. They can now improve their skills and gain knowledge without any excuses. Also, distance learning courses in India and elsewhere are available without any barriers of age, gender, social or religious origin, marital status or nationality. Hence, it is a truly global way of learning. It is thus advisable for anyone looking to upskill themselves or enhancing their knowledge to go for an online distance learning course from any of the online learning platforms.