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E-learning -A Distant Reality |
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June 2, 2005. E-learning has been touted as the "next generation" education. Courses in mundane subjects like plumbing and tilling to more esoteric ones like international relations and even degrees from prestigious institutes are being offered at the click of a mouse now But slowly over the years, the much promised e-learning sector is yet to rise to expectations. Though the market is slowly picking up, dotcom busts, poor connectivity and economic slowdown have added to its woes. "E-learning has not delivered as expected. Poor connectivity due to lack of bandwidth has hindered its growth. Moreover, it will take a lot of time for people's mindsets to change and accept online education, says M L Ravi, former chairman, Computer Society of India (CSI). Navin Rao, business manager of Gurukulonline, agrees: "As in the past, India has always followed what the West thought best. So invariably the concept being new, the slow process of growth is currently under way. But the Indian corporates have surprisingly taken the concept quite early and I believe it is going to pick up definitely." Stumbling blocks Before that can happen it has to overcome a few stumbling blocks, though. The tech slump may be one of them. "The tech slump has had an impact but not to the extent to which one would have imagined. Corporates are looking to having their online universities up but it is just a wait and watch scene, " says Navin Rao. Shabir, assistant manager of Aptech Online, is optimistic though. "Economic slowdown seems to have had a positive effect on Onlinevarsity as more companies are switching over to online training. The slump has helped us win more users as companies find it economical to train employees through the Net and also constantly monitor their performance," he says. Vikas S Vasan, the business development executive of egurucool, says, "The slump has not affected us as our customer base comprises school and college students. We have got more students this year as we started the courses well on time." Another issue is bandwidth. The bandwidth problem is of grave concern as downloading is time consuming and time bound tests can't be carried out. "Bandwidth does affect at times as tests are time bound and before the students are through, Net connection may go off," says Vikas. Web-based training has been targeting only the urban population and the corporates. "It can be called a success only if it can be accessed in the rural areas as well, " adds M L Ravi. "It is very difficult to do an online course as it's expensive since I live in a town where the surfing rates are Rs 60 per hour," laments Mallika, a student. But Navin Rao exudes confidence. "Broadband is round the corner; the issue will be sorted out, " he says. New ventures Meanwhile, new e-learning ventures are in the offing. Networking company Cisco has announced a $10 million investment to expand Internet education in India. This will fund 34 regional networking academies in all states in partnership with the government. Microuniv, an IT training company, is also working on building a major e-learning institution, to be launched in August this year. The company has already invested $2 million in the new project and further investment of $4 million will be pumped in for course material, content acquisition, infrastructure and building e-learning network. Edutech has launched purpletrain.com, which will be offering University courses through the Internet. Purpletrain.com is an e-learning portal from Informatics that offers a combination of business and IT education programs. Mass education With so many courses springing up, it's no surprise that it has got quite a few people interested. In the cities, people have already started taking to the new medium. There are many takers like Anandhi who after dropping her kid at school rushes back home, so that she does not miss the classes for the management course. This housewife who stays at Hebbal has enrolled herself for a course with the prestigious Regents College but attends her daily classes from home! "It is my dream come true. After completing my degree, I got married and could not pursue higher education, " she says proudly. But today, thanks to online education, she is able to pursue her cherished goal. The Net has also made an entry in some small towns and villages in South India. In Kerala, for instance in Panyam, a village in Malapuram district the Panchayat started an e- learning centre, by converting part of the reading room into a Net-centre. "We installed two computers with Internet access. The Panchayat president requested us to take classes on a weekly basis. The response was immense and today most of the students log on to the Net independently,'' said Mathew Paul, a counsellor. Long road It looks like everybody is eager to hop on to the e-learning band wagon. And why not? E-learning is poised to become a multi-million dollar industry with over 5,000 companies around the world tapping this educational market. While that may be the case, it is clear that numerous infrastructure problems have to be resolved before India can realise its full potential. In a land where education often comes at a price, e-learning is yet to turn out to be the mantra, Indian education system has been looking for. (Source: ITSpace.com) |
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