Online Courses And Technology Of E Education example essay topic

949 words
So many things around us have been changed by development of technology of which education can! t help being an exception. Some kinds of technology have applied to education and one of products is the E-education which makes us be able to get education wherever and whenever we want to. This feature of E-education has given us many advantages. However, there is debate between online education and ordinary education due to some of concern such as technology of E-education and students! responsibility for learning.

Also, some people have asked if E-education can be the way to supplement ordinary education. Even though some problems have been found in E-education, it could be one of best way to get good quality education and supplement ordinary education because technology which supports online education keeps developing and there are a lot of good online course which offer good quality education. People who have question about E-education argue that online education is not good enough to provide high-quality materials by internet smoothly and it is sometimes hard to connect to internet (Plunkett and Hutchison qtd. in Loftus). For instance, a lot of graphic images and sound effects are needed to educate students effectively in online education; however, many people still use modem which does not provide high-speed internet. As a result, technology of online education might be a problem.

The other argument against E-education is if students can complete online education successfully without teachers! care and attention. Don lake who is board member of the Unite States Distance Learning Association and a director for California!'s unified school district points out, ! ^0 about 20% to 30% of students who try online courses fail to complete them! +/- (qtd. in Thomas). In addition, E-education requires students to be independent in their learning, so some of them feel more difficult than ordinary education (Lake qtd in Thomas). These tell us that students could not become accustomed to online education and teachers are needed for students. It is true that technology of online education might be one of problems, but problems of technology for E-education can be solved and already solved in some parts.

For example, even though some people have concern about technology of E-education, that is not problem any more because ADSL and Cable Internet which are technologies for internet have been developing so fast and companies which are using these technologies such as Road Runner and Direct TV have become very popular; the internet service is fast enough to support streaming motion picture and students can even see each other on internet by web-cam now. As a result, students! learning is not interrupted by cutting internet connection or slow internet service (Rausch kolb and De Rossi qtd. in Loftus). The argument that students could not complete online course successfully is understandable, but there are many students who have done online courses very well without teachers! attention. Students in E-education can participate in online discussion and communicate with teachers, so they might feel as if they are taking ordinary class. Also, Shea and Bose r emphasize, ! ^0 Arizona State University compared test results of its online M.B.A. students with those enrolled in the traditional program and found that the online students scored higher!

+/- (64). Even though students need a lot of responsibility for learning, many students have done online courses very well. The argument of supporters of E-education is that E-education is efficient than ordinary education. With technology, online education has been able to provide efficient education and is not restricted by time and place (Harasim qtd. in Ahern). Since we don! t have to worry about time and place conflict, we can save time and money which are extremely important now. For example, online courses usually don! t require particular text books because it can provide many sorts of visual materials by itself.

In fact, text books are very expensive for students, so taking online courses might be more efficient than taking conventional courses. Furthermore, online education gives great opportunity those who can not attend ordinary classes because of physical problems (Goral 1). Consequently, cost-effectiveness of online education could be important reason why we choose online course rather than ordinary courses. Supporters of online education also argue that online education is as effective as ordinary education or even better.

The reason why online education can be effective is that E-education has not only visual effect but also audio effect which makes instruction more effective. Online education has started providing face-to-face interaction which makes interaction between students and teachers more effective by computer communication technology (Harasim qtd. in Ahern). In my case, when I learn something with visual and audio effects, I remember for long time and understand easily than when I use only text. Moreover, online education is more effective when class is large. In large class, interaction between students and teachers is really rare; however, number of students is not problem at all in online education. Thus, it is sure that online education can provide effective instruction to students.

In conclusion, E-education has to be kept going although some people have concern about it. The reason for support of E-education is that there are many good universities and companies that provide high-quality online courses and technology of E-education becomes good enough to support those courses, so students in online course are able to learn effectively as well as students in ordinary class. E-education is one of good way to supplement ordinary education.