While online education on the Internet is a relatively new development, the concept of distance education is actually older than most people think. By the mid-1800s, some colleges were offering distance education opportunities to students through correspondence courses. It has provided teachers, lawyers, doctors and ministers on the western border of the United States with a way to keep up with recent developments and earn advanced degrees. At the end of World War I, soldiers returning from the war had the opportunity to practice different classes through correspondence courses and take classes via two-way radios. Two-way radios had also been used in densely populated areas such as Alaska. In fact, in Alaska and Siberia, two-way radios and educational materials for primary and secondary school classes were frequently used. It declined over time and was replaced by close-circuit television, but with the birth of the Internet, distance education actually began. For the first time, almost anyone can log in while working from home, download course materials and communicate in real time with classmates and instructors. Today, millions of people around the world are pursuing degrees online.
Online education is a new social learning process that has begun to serve as a complete alternative to distance education and traditional face-to-face classes. This is because it is also a process of infiltrating the classroom and changing the look that is generally considered to be the college curriculum.
Interview courses, usually combined with online learning technologies and methodology, are generally expected by students to be a significant improvement over traditional interview (only) classrooms.
The main drive behind the development of online education is its non-traditional student organization. The Internet allows students with families, full-time jobs, or other responsibilities to earn college degrees without sacrificing time or money.
Online education allows working adults to hone their professional skills without leaving their current jobs. A large number of corporations are looking to the web to meet basic employee-training needs.
Education is what you do before you take your first full-time job, but in the new economy, learning is a lifelong venture. Whether you want to enhance your knowledge on a topic or learn a completely new skill, there is no shortage of online courses to help you along the way.
Online Education Programs
- 100% Online Education – Fully-online degrees are earned from the comfort of your own home with no required visits to your college or university campus.
- Hybrid Education – Hybrid education allows students to pursue a combination of online and on-campus courses.
- Online Courses – While online courses may be part of a degree program, they can also be taken on their own in order to master a certain subject or learn a specific skill.
- MOOCs – MOOCs, or massive open online courses, are usually delivered in lecture form to online “classrooms” with as many as 10,000 people.
Studying online is not that easy! Online companies must meet the same quality requirements as brick and mortar companies. With the development of online learning technologies, virtual organizations have improved automated processes to prevent fraud and / or exploitation
Many online organizations partner with universities on campus to develop and distribute online programs. It launches an online service, offers course studies certified by the brick and Mortar Company, and benefits from the advanced expertise and technology offered by the online provider.
Online education has reached a new level in education. Gone are the days when you had to bring students to class from all over the world so that you could impart knowledge to them. Until now, it was only necessary to find an online learning platform that would allow tutors from different fields to conduct online education.
The growing popularity of the Internet in many parts of the world is a major factor in market growth. Adoption of cloud-based solutions is increasing its acceptance among end-users, along with huge investment by key market players towards enhancing the security and credibility of cloud-based educational platforms.
Flexibility in teaching and the growing impact of animated learning are other factors that contribute to the development of online education through educational institutions. The lack of competent staff in various schools and colleges in developing countries is also due to students adopting online education. Assistance and funding from governments is another major driver for the growth of industries.
By type, the global online education market is divided into educational institutions and the corporate sector as online education. As the growing number of students in academia and the need to provide and streamline industry-related training for employees, academia and corporate individuals need to come up with options that allow them to learn from anywhere, anytime
The following guide provides some important information about the world’s top online learning websites, their traffic, popularity and the courses they offer. It helps those who want to learn new skills, advance their careers and learn anything online!
Udemy is a worldwide leading market for teaching and learning, connecting millions of students with the skills needed to succeed. It operates on a platform where individuals or businesses can create their own courses and market them on the Udemy platform. Popular topics include development, business, IT, personal development, design, marketing, music, health and more.
Udemy is known as a price discounter and while courses are listed in the $100-$2000 range they almost always 90% off. The quality of courses on Udemy varies significantly, as most of the teachers are making courses as a hobby
Being a non-profit organization, Khan Academy aims to provide the free and best education to anyone and anywhere in the world. It was founded by Salman Khan in 2006 and the company produces the text in the form of YouTube videos. Subjects include Mathematics, Science, Computing, Arts, Economics, Test Prep, and University Lessons. The site offers micro-lectures, instructional videos, and practice assignments to help you develop and sharpen your skills. They partner with other post-secondary schools and provide a streamlined interface. Since Khan Academy is free to use for anyone, it is a great way to get a passion for a subject before going for a more sophisticated course elsewhere. This learning platform provides you with a personalized learning dashboard that enables learners to study at their own pace in and out of the classroom
Coursera is one of the leading providers of massive open online courses. It has partnered with universities and organizations all over the world to offer universal access to the world’s best education. Some of them include the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University and University of Michigan etc.
Coursera has a wide range of topics, from data science to music theory. Most of the Coursera education is free, but students pay for certificates and degrees, which can cost up to $ 25,000. After completing some courses, you will be given a certificate of completion
edX is a large open online course (MOOC) provider created by Harvard and MIT. It offers online university level courses in a variety of disciplines for the student body worldwide, some of which are free of charge. It does research on learning based on how people use their platform. edX is a non-profit organization and runs on the free open edX open-source software platform.
More than 150 schools, nonprofits and corporations are planning to offer or plan courses on the eXX website. As of 20 July 2020, edX has approximately 32 million students taking more than 3,000 courses online. With a presence in 196 countries around the world, edX has over 6,000 trainers on the platform
edX courses include weekly practice sequences. Each learning sequence is designed with short videos of interactive learning exercises where students can immediately practice concepts from the video. The course often includes tutorial videos similar to campus discussion groups, an online textbook, and an online forum, where students can post and review questions and comments for each other and teaching assistants. Where applicable, online labs are included in the syllabus. For example, the first MOOC of edX – in the circuit and electronics course – students built virtual circuits in an online lab.
Udacity is a cheaper e-learning platform than your traditional school. Entrepreneurs have dedicated themselves to bringing higher education into accessible, affordable, and effective ways. It provides online and credentials that put you ahead of the competition when applying for jobs.Their well-designed, selected courses focus on technology. If you are thinking of working in technology, Udacity is the right platform.
With many courses on Data Science, iOS, Android, Web Development, and Software Engineering, you should definitely get more education.
As of June 2020, Udacity has 11.50 million users taking more than 299 courses. Udacity Nanodegree programs are designed to build its workforce quickly and efficiently with the knowledge and skills needed to make the new digital revolution a success.
Linda is very useful for those who want to learn skills related to technology, business, and creativity. Founded in 1995, Linda.com is a pioneer in the e-learning industry. It is now owned by LinkedIn. Linda.com has tutorials in five languages.
Linda offers a subscription-based video tutorial library. Users can subscribe for free and have access to the membership library for 30 days from signing up. The courses offered by the website are in Business, Design, Photography, Software Development, Marketing, and more. If you want visual learning, this platform is the right choice for you.
After signing up with Linda.com, you can access up to 6,000 courses, including personal recommendations
Future Learn is a part of the Open University which is offering course programs from leading educational institutions and organization partners. For a more comprehensive study, they can choose their entire program with several courses
There are various free courses on subjects like business, law, literature, art, history, study skills, teaching and media and so on. You can learn the course at your own pace from a desktop or mobile device. One of the benefits of Future Learn is the social learning involved in their programs. It gives the students the opportunity to engage in discussions with others throughout their course.
As of June 2020, FutureLearn has around 12.50 million users taking more than 1,549 courses online.
The topic of traditional education has changed a lot over the last few years. Being physical in the classroom is no longer the only learning option – at least not with the internet and the development of new technologies. These days, whenever you want to access a computer or laptop, quality education is available to you. We are now entering a new era – the uprising of online education.
