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Learning the 'E' way

Pooja Bhula finds out how e-learning is changing the face of education by navigating the newly popular learnsocial.org with e-learning expert, Yuvraj K Sharma

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“In just ten months, learnsocial.com has made it to the list of India’s top 5,000 e-learning sites, which is “no mean feat,” says Yuvraj K Sharma, an e-learning expert. He finds that “the website matches up to what’s available and its low bounce-off rate indicates that people are finding it useful”.

At present, the top e-learning portals include: khanacademy.org for school students; coursera.org and edx.org that offer a wide and eclectic range of courses for students as well as professionals; lynda.com and udacity.com that are focused on career upgradation.

What's Working
Broad appeal:
With 291 IT courses, 213 business-related, 47 academic, 22 focused on languages (ranging from English, German and Russian to Arabic, Mandarin and Japanese), 71 on arts and creativity, 47 dedicated to exam preparations (GMAT, SAT, GRE, IELTS, CMA, CFA, etc.) and about 144 courses offering diverse options ranging from neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and health to communication and disaster management, learnsocial.com has lots to offer.

Live and self-paced learning options: These allow both interaction and peer-to-peer learning with the live option, and convenience with the self-paced option. Live classes can be problematic if the numbers are great and if there are technology lapses, but learnsocial’s average batch size of 15 students (max. 25) seems reasonable. Both options permit life-long access to the course videos and material.

Well planned course objectives and curriculum: These let you whet the course well before you decide. The curriculum also mentions tests or project reports to be done at the end of each module and/or course.

User-friendly: The website is not only easy to navigate, but also has a live chat for queries. In addition, there are user reviews of each course by students. These  facilities provided by learnsocail, are typical of some of the best sites in the business.

Refund in seven days: If you don’t like the course, the instructor, or you simply can’t attend the course, all you have to do is write an email and request for a refund, which is processed immediately. edx.org also has a refund policy.

 

What's Not Working
Expensive courses:
Like several top websites, learnsocial offers both free and inexpensive courses. But there are expensive ones too. Given the Indian market, highly priced courses can be a problem, especially considering that a large bulk of courses on other websites are free, unless one opts for a certification.

Lack of academic support: The absence of tie-ups with colleges and universities of repute may deter those looking for courses or educational brands to boast of, on their resume.

No demos and inadequate instructor information: Students would want to see videos of testimonials by students, as well as demo lessons by instructors, to get a feel of online learning. User reviews are not enough; it is also crucial to have space for thriving discussion forums. The site is not consistent with regard to the type and amount of detail it gives out about each instructor.

Founder of learnsocial.com, Raju Vanapala says, “We will soon provide learners with course ratings, the number of dropouts from a particular course, details of instructors (not only in terms of their experience, but also how well they engage with students, whether they complete courses on time, etc.), and the kind of infrastructure available. We’re also trying to bring some colleges onboard.” While convenience has always drawn people to e-learning, the opportunity to learn from top-notch universities worldwide (which one may be unable to attend) could turn out to be a greater draw. The question is, will these courses remain mere tutorials or will they be able to provide professional qualifications?

“The knowledge you can get is of the same level or better than that in traditional education systems. Online courses have much more acceptance in the West, but are gaining acceptance here too, as employers realise their value and accept the fact that given our fast-paced lives, not everyone can take a break to pursue offline courses,” says Yuvraj.

Tips: Right Course, Right E-destination

Define your purpose: Are you pursuing a hobby or trying  to advance your career? Is the online course going to play the role of tuitions, which you would otherwise take up in addition to school or college classes? Defining your purpose will help you decide how reputable the source of knowledge must be, whether a certificate matters and so on.

Compare courses
With several websites offering the same or similar courses, as well as the availability of offline education, it is essential to evaluate the content and curriculum to ensure you pick the course that best suits your needs.

Verify information
Check the reputation of the portal by reading user reviews and articles as well as various rankings. Also read up about the instructor’s background, with reference to skills, popularity, education and online teaching experience—as mentioned on the course website as well as by looking up other work (research papers, authored books, educational videos, etc.) by him or her.

Consider duration, flexibility and cost
Before investing in a course, you must make sure that you’re getting value for your money and also that you have chosen the right format (live, fixed or self-paced sessions) as well as the right duration (based on the amount of time you can spare).

Do a test run
Before paying for a course from an unknown or less-recognised website, first try a free course to whet the teaching style, delivery as per promise, etc.

Don’t go by appearance
Avoid judging e-learning as a medium or even a web portal merely on the basis of appearance. Some really good content may not be packaged well and some really well-packaged courses may not have good content.

 

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