Sunday, June 27, 2010

Distance learning can be defined as an education program imparted by an university beyond the barriers of its campus and taken by a student outside the walls of an university. Distance learnrng program is a medium that connects students to the universities of the world.

Distance learning programs are becoming the most popular and viable way of teaching and learning. More and more people are registering for distance learning programs of different universities. Distance learning program gives freedom to a student to learn at his own pace, his own schedule and at his own convenience.

Distance learning is imparted through the electronic media and study materials supplied by the university for a particular course. It helps people to upgrade their educational qualification even when they are tied up in their working schedule. Some business houses also use distance learning to train their employees as it is less time consuming, less expensive and adds to the human resource enrichment of the business house.

To enroll for a distance learning course one must be sure as to what kind of specialization one is looking for. An extensive study must then be done to find out in details about the universities that offer the course wanted. The time duration of the course, the fees, the software needed and the time of exam must also be checked. The most important factor that should be checked is that whether the school or university is accredited or not, one should not register in a university which is not accredited.

Every coin has two sides and distance learning program is not an exception to the rule. While distance learning program is advantageous as it helps people to continue with their education despite of their demanding schedule it also has some disadvantages. It may fail to motivate a student to study resulting in no good for the candidate, this shows registering yourself is not sufficient, you must also have a drive in yourself to continue with the study. The success of distance education also depends on the success of the technology. And without a good support system and infrastructure the distance learning may be a failure.

Thus we can say that distance learning is a boon for today’s busy and demanding world but it also demands a significant level of maturity from its students.