Extraordinary Development of Online Education

Extraordinary Development of Online Education Source: Bloomberg Indonesia News, 24 June 2014, 10.30 am This is a conversation between a reporter and a commentator about a topic regarding the extraordinary development of online education. The commentator is predicting that the advance of internet technology over the next 5 years will influence significantly the shift in education systems, from the traditional education to online education. In my opinion, I still believe that traditional or in-class education is the best way to receive comprehensive knowledge from an interactive lesson between a lecturer and the students. I understand that full-time workers, hospitalized individuals, and others who are unable to attend traditional or in-class sessions can benefit greatly from the flexibility of online courses. In addition, to be successful in an online school, students must be able to work independently, or else they will fail. Consequently, the drop-out rates are higher for students enrolled in online courses than for students in traditional face-to-face courses. On the other hand, it is a fact that the quality of education one receives at an online school can be more mediocre in comparison to the quality of education one receives at a traditional school. Moreover, the majority of big companies or public sector institutions are more attracted to recruiting graduates from a formal university rather than one who has graduated from online education. Actually, in the next few years, I predict that a combination of face-to-face and online courses (especially e-mail based education) will be the most popular because students are expected to be more independent and responsible. LFN