There is no field that has not been touched by Internet.
It has altered the way business is conducted, broken down geographical barriers and created one global community and one market.
Some of the significant developments that have touched common man's life are a few things like online shopping, online banking and more importantly online education with online college degree programs.
Education traditionally has been class based.
While children enrolled into nearby colleges and universities, many had to leave the comforts of their home to join far way universities and stay at hostels in pursuit of an educational qualification. Education has been one of the major contributors to the international travel and foreign exchange earner in the US, Europe and Australia.
At this stage nobody ever thought of online college degree programs.
With advancement of the education sector coupled with the availability of satellites and print media, we saw the emergence of distance education.
This concept enabled students from across the country to apply to universities seeking admission for courses without having to be present at the classrooms.
The program involves course delivery by periodical mails to the students followed by assessments. Instructors would be available to students for any explanations or clarification and help out in case of a need.
Besides the instructors would also deliver lecture and participate in discussions over radio and television where sessions would be dedicated for distant education alone and students could call in with their questions. This mode of distant education was a precursor to online college degree programs.
The Internet opened up the sector further to bring the education to the homes of students online in a virtual environment. Instructor led training has been one of the methods of instruction that has been embraced by both the education sector and training sectors. This is being fast replaced with online training and learning programs. Online college degree programs are not different from a classroom based program.
What aids online college degree programs delivery is the Internet as well as multimedia and communication technology.
With the modern aids virtual classrooms are being held where real time interaction takes place between the instructor, student and the other classmates too.
Multimedia applications provide a sense of reality by allowing live interactions amongst the peer group.
The only difference in online college degree programs is that one is not physically available in the same classroom. Lessons, lectures and assignments are all available online for students to download.
Faculty is available on chat and one can contact them easily.
Online college degree programs carry the same value as a normal degree program.
Online education is here to stay. This revolutionary concept will help more and more people across the world to access education both for academic and professional educational upgrades. Knowledge dissemination can be widespread across cultures and societies bringing all countries to one global classroom.
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