A turning point for acceptance of online degrees?
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There's always been a bit of a stigma attached to online degrees, but this BBC article here talks about how there's been an uptick in people opting for fully online programs and in the wake of the pandemic. So as people get more accustomed to online learning, the distinction between a virtual course and a traditional on campus one might become less pronounced and might even lead to better recognition and acceptance of such online degrees
Shammi Mohamed
@shammi · 4:55
One of my attractions to online courses was that it wasn't just online courses. I think it's the bigger picture. I like MOOCs in particular. And the reason I like MOOCs in particular is because of the cost of entry. It allows people to get into classes really with low barrier to entry and makes the decision to drop out a lot easier as a result. So essentially, what I like about MOOCs is that you can keep trying things that you're interested in
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
It is definitely cost effective, very flexible, and a great platform for supplemental learning. But would I personally pick something like this as a primary learning option when I'm looking at specializing in a specific area of interest? Perhaps not. But if I were a professional looking at closing a gap in my knowledge base or even considering switching careers at some point, MOOCs would absolutely be a blessing
Like you said, there was this flexibility there, but the human interaction component was minimal, and I felt overwhelmed at times when a particular concept eluded me because I feel there's only so much that can be learned or understood through videos and Google research. But had it been a regular course, I probably would have reached out to the professor or even a fellow student. And even if I did end up struggling with the concept, the collaborative experience would have been very much enriching
Shammi Mohamed
@shammi · 4:31
But then again, I would like to look at the classrooms and I'm just going to pull a number from the air. And I say, like 50% of the people get the subject matter and 50% don't understand or they just skate by or they flunk out, which I think is a big failure in the system, which is a good segue to my next point. But I'm going to continue that in another spell because I'm coming to the end
Shammi Mohamed
@shammi · 4:57
But the point I'm trying to make is that as we move ahead, we can just take a traditional setting and then bring it online and hope everything will be fine if you're going online. I think we need to go the whole nine yards and fine tune the curriculum and the course to be online
Just that my friends would just hang out in each other's places and pretend to study or work on something project or something like that. Then it made me realize that things haven't changed all that much, just that they've gone virtual. I guess so. That was really funny. Thanks for sharing that
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 1:26
That would have probably paved the way for one's dealings with the larger world outside may not come by. Although subtle nuances picked up through emotional intelligence or reading body language cannot be made. These will be huge misses. But if we speak of the acceptability of online degrees in the job market in the corporate world offering the possibility of employment, then it can be seen in a positive light. Of course. As Shami says, the quality of delivery of these programs is critical
Hey, Shijah, I love the point that you brought up about inclusivity. I agree that in a traditional classroom, the extroverts kind of tend to dominate the conversation and the self conscious and the not so articulate students end up not sharing their viewpoints. I've been one of those students myself, so I can totally understand the advantages that an online learning program would offer these less articulate students
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