ONLINE COURSES AND LEARNING

Abstract

The knumber kof konline kcourses kinkinstitutions kof khigher keducationkis kincreasingktokmeet kthe khigh kdemand kof keffective kstudents. kManykinstitutions koffer kgraduate kdegrees kand kcertificates kin konline kcourses. kTherefore, kmore konline kcourses kare koffered kin kaddition ktokthe ktraditional kmode kof kclassroomksetting. kThe kpurpose kof kthis kproject kis ktokpresent kthe kchallenges kassociated kwith kteaching kan konline kcourse, kand kdiscuss kapproaches kto kenhance klearning. kThe kneed kfor ka kmethodology kis kdiscussed kand kcomponents kof kthis kmethodology kare kidentified kfor kdesigning kand kdelivering kan keffective konline keducation. “Online courses have become a popular tool in addition to traditional course application methods. This study emphasizes on how assessment and teaching methods employed can influence the impact of online program, as well as the strengths and concerns experienced in e-learning. This project was written to investigate the opinions and experiences of faculty and students involved in online programs. Various factors that affect the effectiveness of online programs were studied in order to provide insights on the major challenges, benefits and limitations faced” (Ebojoh, 2007). Among the findings, major problem areas were identified and suggestions were proposed on how identified problems can be minimized. The study also raised the possible future direction for e-learning. The growth of technology has changed almost every aspect of our lives. Technology has also impacted the process of education. The face to face education has gone through a vast makeover over the previous decade. Although face to face education is still considered the norm, but acceptance of online courses is increasing in the field of management and engineering(Schrum, 2011). kSome kof kthe kreasons kfor kthe kexponential kgrowth kof konline keducation kis kthat kit kis kinstant, konline, kanywhere kaccessible, kselfdrivenkandkonkthe kgo. The major reason for the phenomenal growth in online education is MOOCs (Massive Open online courses). According to Kaplan, Andreas M.; Haenlein, Michael (2016), VI MOOCs are online courses which are aimed at unlimited participation and offer open access through the web. Since its development in the year 2008 MOOCs has gained lot of note and attention. Almost all major universities have launched MOOCs in the current decade. According to report by Class Central, there were 83 million students who had registered for MOOCs by December, 2017.The list of top five MOOC provider by registered users include Coursera, edX, XuetangX, Udacity and FutureLearn(Schrum, 2011) The government is supporting online education in India because of its potential to improve education quality and reach through the Digital India initiative; Government of India in Association with Ministry of HRD has initiated a programme named SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active –Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) that is designed to achieve the three fundamental objectives of Education Policy i.e., access, equity and quality(Schrum, 2011). The main objectives of this effort are to provide the quality teaching learning resources to all, including those who cannot afford(Schrum, 2011). This program SWAYAM seeks to provide education to those students who are not yet aware of the digital revolution taking place and are still not able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy(Schrum, 2011). Considering kthe krapid kchange kin ktechnology, kinevitable kchanges kin keducation ksector kare kgoingktokhappen kandklot kof kresearchkhas kbeenktakingkplace ktokunderstandkthe kpros kand kcons kof konline keducation kin kcomparison kto kface kto kface ktraditional keducation. kIn kIndia, kthere kare ka klot kof kchallenges kandkopportunities kfor konline keducations. kThere kare kcertain kfactors kwhich kare kcreating ka khindrance kin kthe kgrowth kwhich kinclude kinsufficient kdigital kinfrastructure, kcredibility kand klanguage kused kin konline keducation, kwithkthe kincrease kinknumber kof kinternet kusers kinkIndia, kthis kproject kalsoklooks kintokwhat kopportunities kare kthere kinkfuture kinkeducationksector.