Online Learning Rationale
Cost savings - if you are a student in Africa, India or China and wanted to attend a course like this in the UK, you should bear in mind the costs. Return flights, visas, travel/student insurance, accommodation/rent, food, local travel costs, and the expensive course fees which are commonplace in UK universities.
Now consider the cost of this Diploma course using home, online studies. You have just the course fee and the cost of your internet connection. You can also continue with your professional and personal life and schedule your studies around them.
Why are students so attracted to the online learning environment? With over 4 million students enrolled in online schools and universities (and that number is growing 30% per year), there are many compelling arguments for enrolling in the online classroom (Lewis, 2005).
Students can "attend" a course at anytime, from anywhere with internet accesss. Working students can attend classes no matter what their work or family schedule might be. Students that travel for business or pleasure can attend class from anywhere in the world.
Online learning enables student-centred teaching approaches. Every student has their own way of learning that works best for them. Some learn visually others do better when they "learn by doing."
Course material is accessible 24 hours a day and 7 days a week online. Students have the ability to read and reread materials, explanations and comments. Often spoken material in the classroom passes students by due to a number of distractions, missed classes or tiredness.
In an online environment, attendance to class is only evident if the student actually participates in classroom discussion. This increases student interaction and the diversity of opinion, because everyone gets a say, not just the most talkative.
Online instructors come with practical knowledge and may be from any location worldwide. This allows students exposure to knowledge that can't be learned in books as wells as see how class concepts are applied in real business situations.
Using the internet to attend class, research information and communicate with others teaches skills in using technologies that are essential to workers in the 21st century - across business communities and with colleagues globally and across time zones.
Participating online is much less intimidating than "in the classroom." Anonymity provides students a level playing field undisturbed by bias caused by seating arrangement, gender, race and age. Students can also think longer about what they want to study with online degrees as well respected as traditional degrees. (Lewis)
Students often comment that online learning lets them attend class when fully awake and attend at convenient times, rather than rigid 2 or 4 hour stretches once or twice a week.
Because there are no geographic barriers to online learning, students can find diversity of course material that may not be available to them where they live or work. This is especially true for professional training and for students in remote rural areas that cannot support college or vocational training centres.
While "brick and mortar" institutions will always be there, it's easy to see why a growing number of people are attending classes in the online world. Accessibility, flexibility and quality, are all compelling and contributing attributes to the attractiveness of this method of learning.
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The College of Public Speaking is committed to the development of effective communication throughout all strands of society, both within the UK and internationally. CoPS's trainers and lecturers devote a proportion of their time and expertise to a myriad of pro bono projects.