Why Has Online Education Become So Popular So Quickly?

The Internet has been around for quite some time now. Yet, online education has really become popular only in the last few years. So, what has changed? Why has online education suddenly gained acceptance?

Many educational institutions, especially well known and old institutions, were not sure about use of Internet as a medium of teaching. Traditional classroom teaching and traditional education methods offered comfort and reliability. On the other hand, the Internet was too dynamic and radical. It was difficult to establish whether the process was yielding results.

Another reason why online education lagged behind was poor infrastructure. With text pages taking a lot of time to load and downloading speeds very low, there was no question of free exchange of information on the Internet. Middle aged and elderly teachers found it difficult to become computer friendly. They could not type out lessons for students on the Internet. However, the drastic improvement in infrastructure has changed everything.

Today, it is possible for a lecturer to add a web camera to the classroom and give the same lecture to hundreds and thousands of students situated all over the country. Today, it has become possible to record audio, video and instructions in different formats. The same can be uploaded to the web without any difficulty.

The impersonal and stagnant nature of virtual classroom has changed. Today, it is possible for a single lecturer to not just give a lecture but entertain questions and answer doubts over the Internet.

Reassurance that personal contact between the teacher and student will be retained has made a huge difference. This has reduced the fear that teachers had for computers and related technologies.

Today, online education is becoming the norm as the world is becoming more globalized and inclusive. There may come a time in the future when students may not need to travel to foreign countries to acquire quality education. It can simply be obtained online.