An article about the future of education is online
While there are many divergent opinions out there, the important point is: people are starting conversations around the efficacy of the conventional college education model.
Digital technology is advancing rapidly, and people are becoming increasingly familiar with services delivered online. Online education is part of this trend. Advances in technology and our increased reliance on all things digital mean more students than ever are turning to online learning instead of traditional campus-based education.
The US remains the biggest adopter of online learning with millions of students completing an online course each year. A study by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) in 2015 found that more than 6 million students in the US were taking at least one online course.
Online education in the UK grew out of the country’s long tradition of distance learning. One of the first universities to embrace online learning was the University of Liverpool, which launched its first wholly internet-based master’s degree programme (an MSc in Information Technology) in April 2000. Interest in online learning received a boost in 2011 when the UK government’s Online Learning Task Force recommended an investment of £100 million in online education.
In 2011, the UK government’s Online Learning Task Force recommended an investment of £100 million in online education, and in 2015 the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) found that more than 6 million students in the US were taking at least one online course.
Online education has many advantages. Online master’s degrees aimed at working professionals are designed to be flexible, allowing students to carry on working — and earning — while they study.
One of the first UK universities to embrace online learning was the University of Liverpool, which launched its first wholly internet-based master’s degree programme in April 2000. It now has online students from over 160 different countries studying for over 30 postgraduate programmes.
In many countries, online degrees are a way to gain an international education without the expense and disruption of moving overseas. Students who complete the University of Liverpool online programmes are often working in remote and developing areas of the world (such as those completing the MPH programmes, where they are often the only health care professional in their region.
This means that students studying online with the University of Liverpool have the opportunity to network with fellow students from all over the world, gaining a global outlook that can influence their careers. By collaborating with international students, they can develop inter-cultural communication skills that are highly valued by many global employers. And they can learn about how things are done in different countries, having conversations with people working in similar roles but in vastly different economic and social contexts. These are interactions that are not likely to happen in university campuses with more homogenous student bodies
Concern about the quality of some online degrees — as well as a desire to gain a more international perspective — has meant that many working professionals are looking beyond China for online education, choosing to earn reputable online degrees from accredited universities from around the world, including the UK.
In China, traditional distance education, delivered by television and radio, has been available since the early 1960s but in recent years there has been a rise in professionals turning to more modern forms of web-based online learning (ICEF Monitor — Market intelligence for international student recruitment).
With one million students, India ties with China as the biggest source of online learners after the US. Online learning provides professionals with the opportunity to continue to work while they study and part of the explosion of interest in India has stemmed from economic concerns, as many simply can’t afford to take time away from work to attend a campus classroom.
