Some universities now offer their
courses on the Internet so that people can study online. Is this a positive or
negative development?
Ever
since certain varsities started offering courses online, they have been in the
eye of storm: many are quite enthusiastic about this, they consider it to be
quite favorable, while there are others who see an adverse impact of this.
Rendering online courses to knowledge seekers is undoubtedly
laden with numerous positives: more and more students can now take up courses
offered at universities – there is no restriction on number of seats offered in
any typical course unlike in the past when many had to forego the idea of
seeking admissions in universities which could only offer limited places in
study programs due to space and resource constraint.
Furthermore, an increasing number of learners formerly dissuaded
from the idea of joining higher education, due to distances and costs involved,
can now study in a varsity. Pursuing academics is not difficult now, as students
can remain in their home towns, where they enjoy emotional and moral support of
their friends and families, and study from their comfort zones. Moreover, pursuing online academic courses also
help make things affordable; pursuing a study on internet sans costs involved on
travelling, accommodation and food in an alien environment.
However, a cynical view suggests that everything is not rosy
with the online courses: it is leading to deterioration in the quality of
skills being generated. Students find it hard to bridge the gaps in their
knowledge since they do not enjoy a real time interaction with their tutors;
thus preventing them from seeking clarifications on their weak areas. These
gaps tend to widen with every passing day; thus affecting capabilities of
learners.
In a nutshell, I consider university internet courses to be
an unfavorable trend that will eventually have an amplified effect on working
abilities of future generations.