Virtual learning: room for all
Snehesh Alex Philip

With increased competition for jobs and the trend now being on continuous learning, more and more people are boosting their educational qualifications online.

“The electronic learning market is estimated to touch $ 21 billion by the year 2008. According to our own market research and analysis, the e-learning market in India is over $ 200 million, most of which comes from in-house development. As the market matures, outsourcing of e-learning will also gain a strong hold,” says Karthik K.S. of 24x7 Learning Solutions.

It recently launched Referenceware, claiming that it is the largest online book resource offering unobstructed access to thousands of the latest business and technical books. 
“Currently, industries across verticals are adapting to e-learning in a big way and the market is expected to grow to $ 1 billion in three years,” he says.

The advent of satellite technology and Internet has changed the way people live and learn.

From shopping to sending mails and making new friends, technology has now started to play a crucial role in our everyday life.

In 2004, India launched EDUSAT, a dedicated satellite for education and hence opened up a new resource to spread education.

According to sources in IGNOU, which conducts satellite-based education, the satellite was a major step taken to spread education. Through the satellite it is possible to view and study from centres that are located hundreds of kilometres apart. 

IGNOU, on its website, says it has already established 134 interactive terminals across the country with a two- way interactive facility. The teleconferencing sessions on GD-2 are simulated on the EDUSAT network. The facility is expected to enhance the capacity of the learners to access the resources as per the schedule, it says. 

Online lessons

Another player in satellite education is Everonn System, which has tied up with a number of institutes offering courses ranging from MBAs to school-level coaching for different subjects. All one needs are a computer and a dish antenna to receive the content.

Everonn, which has tied up with IIM-Bangalore, has a special studio on the B-school campus, from where the recording is done and is simultaneously aired to the client’s computer. It also has a studio in Chennai from which it airs other courses. 

As satellite education spreads its footprint, mobile-based learning is also expanding. Experts add that e-learning is better than correspondence learning. 

Customised courses

“Traditional correspondence learning delivers the same lessons to everybody. However, e-learning can provide individualised, adaptive lessons. The feedback loop is greatly shortened (to a few minutes), instead of the few days or weeks of correspondence learning. Higher interactivity and better measurement of students is another important differentiator,” says Anand Kannan, MD, Valued Epistemics, which is promoting wizdom.in, a mobile-based content provider.

Wizdom.in provides coaching materials to students for exams like GRE, SAT, GMAT and aptitude tests on their mobile. “What's more, one can study anytime, anywhere, not when a class or batch is scheduled in some corner of your city. Besides, they also receive scientific feedback and individual attention,” he adds.

Sonia Chhabra, British Council, which provides online English education, says, “Electronic technology is an important medium for imparting education. Though a majority of our students still sign up for our usual classes, online programmes are now gaining importance.”Amity University, the largest private university in the country provides both correspondence and e-learning, besides regular classes.

Corporate students

“With e-learning, one can study from their home through a computer and Internet. It is more interactive as one can communicate with the teachers instantly, unlike through correspondence, where one has wait for the weekends for the classes,” says Savita Mehta, Amity University.

According to specialists in the field, e-learning is spreading because of the interest shown by the corporates who want their employees to stay updated all the time, besides students from far-flung areas and government initiatives.

“The employers now want to keep their employees updated about the latest studies. Moreover, one has to constantly sharpen his skills to keep ahead,” says an official from an e-learning institute.

“All estimates indicate that e-learning can be delivered at one-third the cost of traditional assisted learning in a sustainable manner. With careful service, the quality can well exceed almost any form of learning.

This makes e-learning very important and perhaps the most dominant form of learning in future. The decreasing cost of computing and communications, wide availability of computers, mobiles and Internet and wireless networks and the development of new technologies which enable personalised lessons and training will certainly pave the way for this evolution,” says Kannan. — PTI