E-student profiles often differ from those of students who choose traditional classrooms. More than half of online learners are over 30 years old, hold down a full-time job and already have a degree. Distance education provides adults with knowledge - the food of the modern workplace.
Paper-based distance learning enabled the individuals to study in their own time at home using material that was as good as any in conventional universities. What it couldn’t do, however, was to help students in ways that only a teacher in a conventional classroom can do. Teaching isn't just disseminating information. It involves assessing how much the student gets it, questioning. Dialogue is indispensable. The new tools of e-learning have the potential to engage the students in the same way as an inspiring teacher, albeit in a virtual classroom, providing the mechanism to address any questions that spontaneously spring to viewer’s mind. Internet delivery shifts focus from teaching to learning. The traditionally passive lecture hall with a one-size-fits-all approach has been transformed by making learners active participants with customized content. This is education tailored to the needs of the students.
It would be naive to assume that everybody will be excited by e-learning. That is not just a generation issue – people have different preferences. Neither age nor family responsibility should preclude anyone from seeking a traditional degree. Conventional, campus-based courses are becoming more and more flexible. The division between them and distance education is breaking down. Technological change and university reforms are narrowing the difference between distance- and campus-based higher education. The move towards flexible learning has been driven by the growth of the Internet. Allowing the students to fulfil their course requirements in different ways has obvious benefits. A student in any country can study on the same course as a campus-based student or the one who commutes and only attends lectures intermittently. Universities try to provide learning environment using the latest technology for the students to take advantage of the benefits of any time, learning anywhere to be better prepared for the future.
