ICDC College has recently highlighted the ceaseless movement towards online education, amongst third level students.
According to a recent study, the number of students taking online courses grew for the 11th straight year in 2012. The growth was less exponential than years past, but about 7.1 million students tool at least one online course during fall 2012, a 6.1% increase over the previous year. This number of students taking an online course has grown significantly since 2002, when a reported 1.6 million students were taking at least one web based course.
The study, used data collected in partnership with The College Board and relied upon responses from representatives at over 2,800 online colleges and universities across the nation. For the purpose of the study, an online class was defined as a course in which more than 80% of the course content is delivered online.
The study found that while the rate of growth in online enrollments had moderated over the past several years, it still greatly exceeded the growth in overall higher education enrollments.
More and more schools, regardless of their distance to the student are now offering online courses. The study found that 33% of higher education students now take at least one course online and academic professionals expect that figure to rise.
In fact, 90% of academic leaders believe that it is either likely or very likely that the majority of all higher education students will be taking at least one online course in five years’ time.
The findings reinforced the first-hand experience of members, who continue to demonstrate that online learning has become a fundamental component of today's higher education environment.
The ever increasing enrollment figures make it difficult for some schools to stand out from the crowd. ICDC College offers many accredited programs across a broad variety of subjects to both on campus and online students.
Obviously, the growth in the popularity of online education should not come as a huge surprise. In a time when many companies offer eLearning software solutions to help train many new employees, web-based instruction provides many benefits that a regular on campus education cannot compete with.
The greatest benefit an online course is that your classroom and professor are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Students at colleges and universities now find themselves increasingly buried by other obligations beyond that of getting a degree. Jobs, children and other obligations create great demands on their time. Your only excuse for missing class is not logging in to your lecture. Otherwise, everything is readily available to you. You can access notes, review assignments, take practice tests, discuss questions, chat with fellow students and study any time you want. Other than certain due dates, you make your own schedule for completing the course requirements.
There are a variety of degree programs and single classes offered through online colleges. Being able to choose from many different programs allows prospective students to find a program that will suit their needs. Due to class size limitations, many institutions are unable to accommodate all those who want to take a particular class on campus, increasing the demand for online learning.
Online classes can offer more individual attention. As you have a direct method of communication with your instructor via e-mail, you can get your questions answered directly. Many students aren't comfortable asking questions in class for fear of looking stupid. The relative anonymity of an online class eliminates that fear. Often students think of a question after their class or while you studying. Rather than trying to remember to ask it or forgetting it, they can send an e-mail to the instructor.
It is not unusual for tuition at online schools to be lower than that of a traditional school, although this is not true of every case. In addition, the extra costs incurred with things like commuting or classroom supplies are not pertinent in an online learning environment, therefore, reducing overall costs.
Finally, lifelong learning is now a necessary part of everyone's career path. In today's cut-throat job market, taking online courses helps employees to remain competitive in their field. With an online course, they don't need to take time off from their jobs to do this.
Due to the continuing growth of the market, ICDC College believes that online courses are the future of third level education and their benefits can only make increase the growth.
This article is brought to you by the International Career Development Center, Inc.
