Online education is a form of education that is carried out over the internet – bridging the gap of barriers associated with the traditional mode of learning through the provision of online educational materials, online connections with instructors, and the provision of online job opportunities to the recipients through the enablement of digitalization.
It is cogent to acknowledge that the possibility of online education through digitalization has been made most possible with the advancement of the usage of the internet.
Meanwhile, in line with online education, internet specialists argued that the internet in this notion is the international network of networks that made the global world an easily accessible global village, helping people to complete their years of coursework remotely via the internet, not minding the location of the instructors and students.
Due to the rise in digital technology and globalization, online education has gained more prominence in recent times than ever before, providing flexibility in learning, easy accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to reach out to people widely.
THE EVOLUTION OF LEARNING FROM TRADITIONAL CLASSROOMS TO VIRTUAL
ENVIRONMENT
The mode of learning and educational delivery have experienced a remarkable transformation and transition from the traditional classroom face-to-face impartation of knowledge to the widely accessible and flexible mode of learning in a controlled virtual environment that accommodates learners from far and wide.
The traditional mode of learning which is entirely rigid in nature, is done in physical locations with specified structured curricula and schedule once defined what education is all about.
But in recent times, at the outbreak of the use of the internet and the use of digital technologies in learning, the learning pendulum swung from the traditional mode of learning to online education.
The flexible nature of online education and citizenship education has inspired many to learn via available digital technologies.
Notwithstanding, the prevalence of adult education and lifelong learning can be accredited to online education to some extent as a result of its flexible nature in the acquisition of knowledge.
In addition, the accessible nature of distance learning has made individuals of interest enroll in the acquisition of knowledge in the comfort of their domain not minding their distance as distance is not a barrier to learning when online education is brought to the table.
As the wave of technological advancement flutters the modern world, distance learning will continue to gain more stamina in the education system and the educational system in particular.
Now, even the educational stakeholders and parastatals have started embracing and implementing into the curricula the acquisition of digital skills in teaching and learning processes to facilitate distance learning
Learning in a virtual environment has made education possibly accessible anywhere and anytime, making learning more flexible in nature and more personalized.
Some digital technologies that facilitate online education, bringing about a great shift and evolution from the traditional mode of learning to distance learning the following based on functionalities:
• Forums for real-life online discussions: There are video conferencing tools or applications like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.
• Forums for managing, delivering, and tracking educational content and students’ progress: There are Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle, Canvas, Google Classroom, etc.
• Tools for interactive learning experiences: There are educational apps like Khan Academy, Email, Duolingo (for languages), and Coursera.
• Tools for brainstorming and collaborative note-taking: There are digital boards and interactive whiteboards like Miro and Jamboard.
• Applications for evaluating and testing students online: There are assessment and quiz tools like Quizlet, Kahoots!, and Google Forms.
• Platforms that provide access to a wide range of academic materials: There are digital libraries and e-books like Project Gutenberg, Kindle, YouTube, and JSTOR.
• Tools for immersive learning experiences: There are Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) which are useful for history, science, and laboratory education.
• Tools for storing and sharing educational materials: There are devices like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. They keep educational materials safe and secure.
• Personalized learning applications that adapt to learner’s time and pace: There are artificial intelligence (AI) tools like Carnegie Learning and ScribeSence. Email, personalized feedback, and direct and asynchronous communication which are vital in online education are also provided.
• Tools that can foster peer-to-peer discussion and learning: There are social media forums like WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, Reddit, webinars on LinkedIn and Telegram, Discord discussion groups, etc.
With the above-highlighted digital platforms, the mode of learning has transformed from the traditional form of learning to online education.
This great shift has not only improved the accessibility of education but has facilitated self-paced learning and skill-based learning that focuses on the individual’s needs at the individual’s convenience.
ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN RESHAPING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
The impact of technology in reshaping the standard and accessibility of education cannot be overemphasized. Technology has reshaped the method of learning in various ways. Some of the roles of technology in reshaping access to education include:
Accessibility and Flexibility: Online education has made learning more accessible and flexible through the use of technological devices. Learning through the enablement of the internet has made learning more accessible than before.
The mode of teaching, learning, accessing, and evaluating the performance of students has been made accessible and flexible in recent times.
Distance and time are no longer barriers to the medium of online education. People now learn at their own pace
and style as online education does not follow a laydown pattern, rather it is
accommodating.
Innovation in Teaching Methods: Innovation has to do with experimenting with new things creatively. It also embraces the introduction of new things into the existing ones to serve the pressing needs of those concerned.
Due to the current wave of technology in recent times, the use of technological devices has been infiltrated
into the education system.
Some of these technological approaches are video lectures, gamification, and even simulation.
Expanding Global Knowledge Networks: The Internet has been defined as the international network of networks. Education has been made to gain a universal outlook and approach.
With the use of the internet facilities, online education connects learners and instructors worldwide. This mode of learning enhances diversity and cultural exchange between the learner and the instructor, thus, creating a good global sociological impact in both parties.
CHALLENGES OF ONLINE EDUCATION
Through systematic painstaking research, scholars have discovered that despite the accommodating nature of online education and the satisfaction it has given to many from far and wide, there are a number of hitches that affect online education. These problems are:
1. Digital Divide And Accessibility Issues: The digital divide is the gap that exists amongst individuals, households, and communities from accessing Information Communication Technologies (ICT) like the internet, smartphones, and even computers.
The unavailability of these resources has caused a series of problems with online education but when individuals or communities are endowed with these facilities, online education will be entirely hitch-free.
2. Ensuring Quality And Credibility Of Online Education: Most times online instructors are not guided and supervised to ensure that they deliver their lectures efficiently. It is also important to know that not all online education is credible and worthwhile.
Many people venture into online education with the sole aim of making money and are not driven by a passion to impact wealth of knowledge on the recipient. It ought not to be so.
The purpose of education should be to bring about a permanent change in the learner be it online or physical. It has been discovered that the lack of quality and credibility associated with online education is quite alarming.
These issues of credibility and quality should be addressed by educational stakeholders and parastatals to ensure a streamlined and impactful learning experience through online education.
3. Poor Interconnectivity of Networks: Online education can only be possible with proper connectivity of networks between the instructor and the learner.
Without proper connections, online education cannot take place. One of the factors that can contribute to poor interconnectivity of networks is the lack of power supply.
When individuals lack a power supply, they cannot have access to online education. This has been a major challenge to those living in remote and undeveloped regions of the world.
Another pressing factor is the lack of internet service. When there is poor service distribution in an area, connection to the internet is marred and online education will not work.
THE FUTURE OUTLOOK OF ONLINE EDUCATION
As digitalization increases, online education will continually evolve from one degree of prominence to another. Here are some of the possible predictions for how online education will evolve in the future:
1. AI-Driven Personalization: Online learning platforms will increasingly make use of artificial intelligence (AI) to render academic content and feedback at an accommodating pace to students’ immediate needs without unnecessary complications and verbosity, helping students to master, stay engaged, and have the learning outcomes in their fingertips.
2. Emergence of Modular Courses And Micro-Learning: With predictions of the future of online education, some analytics contended that abridged, focused, and concise courses that can be easily adapted to busy lifestyles will gradually dominate the education system, facilitating adult education and lifelong learning.
3. The Use of Immersive Technologies Like AR and VR: The use of Augmented Reality (AR) and also Virtual Reality (VR) will gain more prominence and acceptance in the educational system, encouraging students to engage in experimental simulations from the virtual science labs to the aspect of historical reenactments.
These highlight how virtual environments can enhance teaching and learning processes as never before through immersion in the future.
4. Multilingual Platforms And Global Access: Considering the future of online education, education will assume a more universal outlook as the access to internet will expand, helping those in remote regions of the world to engage in online education.
Additionally, digital platforms will provide multilingual assistance to future diverse learners from different regions of the world to make online education more homemade, efficient, and culturally relevant to their diverse needs.
5. Career-Oriented Learning And Skill-based: As online education evolves, education will increasingly tailored down to the immediate needs of society which most times can be solved by talented skillful individuals.
Courses will increasingly nurture and produce individuals who are skillful in putting up with basic real-life problems that need to be addressed in society.
6. Hybrid Learning Models: The evolution of online education will bring about hybrid learning models where even the well-known traditional institutions will blend their learning contents and processes by adopting online education to maximize accessibility and flexibility as well as cut the cost of resources involved in engaging in traditional education.
CONCLUSION
Online education is a significant mode of learning that the current world needs in order to reshape knowledge and provide better grounds for discovery and exploration for future generations.
The transformative power of online education in reshaping the knowledge of future generations cannot be overemphasized as education can be easily obtained by just having access to the international network of networks with the use of available technological devices and digital platforms for learning not minding the distance between the instructor and learner.
With online education, distance is no longer a barrier, and access to world-class education is assured with proper connection and guidance.
Since online education has achieved many feats currently, there is no doubt that online education will help immensely to reshape knowledge for future generations with enviable approaches.
By embracing and acknowledging online education now, the future generations stand a higher chance of acquiring more knowledge than the prior generations, helping to make their world a better experience.
