Literature Review On Effectiveness Of Online Education

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Literature Review On Effectiveness Of Online Education

History of Online Education

In the last five years, the nature and dynamics of education has changed significantly at all level of educational opportunities from kindergarten to university level. The change is attributed to changing technology, and it has transformed the thinking pattern of our learning and makes the educators to rethink of the traditional method of education. The change in technology and its assimilation with education compel others to make educational budget more cost efficient and more productive (Moore, 2011).

Online education or online learning is a wide term which encompasses all the learning setup that can be electronically supported. In online education, some of the processes and applications involves internet based learning, digital collaboration, computer based learning and opportunities of virtual classrooms.

The origin of online education can be traced back to the time when computers became common for personal use, but at time the availability of the degree program and course program was not that much common and the idea of learning and gaining degree were novel. In results, number of educational institutions and different educators started different programs of offering online education. Some of the basic online education courses were offered by British Open University, University of British Columbia and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. By the time, the online education system developed, and many important and interactive features became part of online education. Such a development and improvement in online education increase the number of online student significantly (Weller, 2013).

Factors Affecting Online Education

When online education is compared with the conventional method of education that is face to face learning (FTF), the advantages offered by online education are numerous. First of all, online educational environment provides an instructional and institutional area which user can have access at any time because learning and development can occur anywhere outside the formal class rooms. In addition to this, distance education increases the perspective of traditional learning. The prerequisite of the environment of open learning is the learning autonomy and self-directed learning to sort out the real world problem (Collison et al., 2000).

Second the most important factor that contributes to the effectiveness of online learning is the quality of online education to absorb the heterogeneity of the user. The user having different skill, prior experience and attitudinal difference can also prosper and keep pace in the online education.

The third factor that positively contributes to the effectiveness of online education is the embedded quality of online education to develop among the student problem solving techniques and critical thinking in a given online environment. The online discussion which is of the asynchronous nature which has been considered a substitute to the traditional method of discussion, such method compels the student to put additional reflection and posting of reviews and revisions, which encourage critical thinking and reflective analysis, because of the permanent nature of postings. Some scholars have proved the development of critical and analytical thinking ...