Friday, March 25, 2011

Virtual Education

Virtual education: Is it possible?

Are common questions such as virtual education is possible?, Can learn a science, art or craft by internet, is it true the title?

All these questions have something in common: their answer is clearly yes. But why?

Define education. According to the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia is "the process by which multi-transmit knowledge, values, customs and ways of acting."

In making this definition we find that the transmission of knowledge, values, customs, and ways of acting can be transmitted in a manner both classroom and virtual. Surely, then from this point of view, education can not only be one way.

Consider now the actors. In the classroom education is relying primarily on three parties: the teacher transmitting knowledge, the student who receives it and the transmission medium. These, too, are present in virtual education, but this is where the main differences begin to emerge is that in virtual environments can not speak of the traditional teacher and student.

In virtual education, the teacher's role should be reconsidered. The Northern Catholic University Foundation, the first virtual educational institution in Colombia, defines a teacher as a facilitator, as a companion of the process of the student, who in turn must transform the way they learn to become a research-oriented be and self-taught, who is accompanied by his guide (Facilitator) on the subject under study.

Similarly, differences in the means by which the student receives knowledge. Education classroom, the teacher interacts with students in vivo, by explaining a particular topic and then continuing with a series of questions to demonstrate understanding of a subject. Da instantly share very few students, while the virtuality is given the explanation but left the approaches to a longer time period, allowing the student to think much more about themselves and better prepare its response.

This gives the possibility to involve all students in a time period determinado.Es clear, then, that differences exist, but so is that both the face and virtual education are valid means for acquiring knowledge.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Pros Cons of Online Education

The Internet has provided an incredible opportunity for education easy through online programs, but not a real alternative to the traditional academic environment.

There is growing interest in the field of online education, as it has some obvious advantages, but also has some serious disadvantages, which are usually ignored. In fact, online education is an opportunity for some people who have some limitations, but generally can not replace traditional education, in all circumstances.

The advantages of online education 
Flexibility: The first interesting feature of online education is its flexibility. "And very ideal for workers who have limited time for study, and you can easily manage your program.

Cost: With the cost of education is an important issue for most students. Thus, low-cost training online is a great advantage over traditional training.  ( Debate on Universities act )

Accessibility: online training is, in fact, a part of globalization, and offers educational opportunities without geographic boundaries and distance. This represents a real opportunity for everyone to participate in online classes from anywhere in the world. This is a golden opportunity for students from developing countries wishing to study in universities in developed countries.

The disadvantages of online education
Cost: Yes, even if the cost is considered as an advantage to online training, is also a disadvantage for the following reasons:

Most students get a classical education system support the various funds from different sources (eg, scholarships, university, government, etc), but there are only a few sources of online students.
A significant portion of the costs of education are related to the classical student life (housing, for example) and online students can pay some extra charges (which are not part of the study or daily life), and high-speed Internet speed, software, postage, etc.

Campus Life: Another objective of higher education is to live in an academic environment, and this helps students to experience new life in polite society (and education dedicated to the study.) In fact, students do not participate in technique classes, but also actively participate in social activities in the community. Even from the technical point of view of education, informal discussions outside the classroom contribute significantly to improving their ability to solve problems. ( Online Education Guide )

Social Issues: By online education, people need to spend much time on the computer and have less to do with the company (not only academic society, but also the public company).

Controversial issues in an online degree
There are also some controversial opinions about online education. For example, accreditation of academic online degree is an important issue in the subject, and indeed the main obstacle to the development of online education. Contrary to common belief that accreditation is an ongoing problem related to the nature of online education, many problems are due to the fact that online universities are very young. Several older universities have launched the Online Campus can offer according to their accreditation as traditional degrees.

On the other hand, the implementation of an online campus is not difficult and expensive: therefore, many online universities without qualified education systems were established in recent years. In addition, some of them, this is a type of business to make money and not for purposes of education. The existence of examples of this type had a bad reputation in the public sector (as some employers do not accept online degrees.)

The main objective of this paper is to stress that online education is not to replace the classical education, in all circumstances, as traditional universities have some essential services that can not fail in the areas of education. Moreover, some serious limitations of online learning, can not be used for all disciplines.

Ideally, online education is an opportunity for those who need that service, especially to get a degree. If someone wants to learn a discipline or to enjoy all aspects of education, there is an appropriate way. When someone is working, do not have enough time to attend traditional classes, and the need for a degree with a general knowledge of the regulation, then online education can be a perfect solution.