Distance education or distance learning courses allow students to complete their educational qualification without any need to attend the regular classes at the institution. With the rise of social media and virtual classrooms, distance education is seeing a rise in popularity.
While traditionally, distance education entailed correspondence courses where the student interacted with the school via post, today, distance education involves a much more technology-oriented approach.
A student has the option to choose between distance learning or a combination of distance and traditional education. Recent educational modes in the distance education system include massive open online courses or MOOCs where students participate and interact on a large scale via the world wide web or network technologies.
Some common terms that are used synonymously with distance learning include e-learning, virtual classrooms, or distributed education.
The coronavirus pandemic of 2019-20 has led to the closure of many educational institutions worldwide. This has resulted in an increase in schools shifting to remote learning environments and distance education through virtual classrooms.
Although distance learning has its own set of concerns and challenges, it is overall proving to be successful. This can mean that the online form of learning is here to stay.
Rabindranath Tagore University is a reputed university that offers distance education in Bhopal and the admission for the same is opened twice every year for two separate batches, that is, one in January and one in July.
The admission form needs to be submitted along with documentation and fees in the form of a demand draft. In case the payment is being made online, credit card, debit card, or online banking can be used.
A student can only enroll in one course at a time. For more information regarding enrollment, do visit the website www.rntu.ac.in
The option for distance education is provided for all the major courses like MBA, Arts, Commerce, B.Sc, and Journalism. Some of the most popular courses that students opt for online include BBA and MBA.
Examinations for distance education are held at centers that are predetermined by the university itself.
Distance education has a lot of benefits and here are some of them.
- Technology has made education more relevant and readily available.
- The student has the option to go back to sections of the lesson he or she is not clear on, giving ample space for revisions.
- Students have the opportunity to learn at their own pace, as every student has different learning styles and capacities, a factor that is largely ignored in classroom settings.
Nevertheless, attending a regular course has some benefits of its own. Physical classrooms provide students with a structured learning environment, whereas, at home, they can ignore structure.
This can hamper a student’s professional development. Moreover, students without access to proper internet connections can miss out on learning opportunities if the world decides to adopt distance education over traditional methods of learning.
Keeping both the advantages and disadvantages in mind, a mix of both forms of education seems like the best way to move forward after the pandemic is over.