Believe it or not, online education is gaining momentum and will soon be a fully acceptable and valued path to a good career. According to a recent YouGov poll conducted in the UK of people aged between 25 and 44 without degrees, a huge number of them - 48% - wish they had earned a degree. Of the results, some are especially worth noting:
• 59% of those currently working want courses that don’t involve compulsory on-site attendance
• 45% say they would consider a degree if they could study online.

Only 3% of those polled said that the best option for adult wishing to continue their education would be to go to a local university with 18-21 year olds, suggesting that the society is ready for a new approach to education provision not involving compulsory classroom attendance.

It seems that students often find themselves battling with work and family commitments coupled with the pressures of continuing their education. Online learning provision addresses the needs of this group.
Pascal Wattiaux, of Disruptive Play and P W Sport Ltd, who is advising the International Olympic Committee and the organisers of the London Olympics of 2012 said during his speech in the 'Training in Action' conference hosted by Giunti Labs in Italy this year that "E-learning, and particularly the use of serious games and simulations, is an exceptionally efficient and cost-effective way of giving people the knowledge and skills they need," he said. "And it is only now that the technologies exist to deliver this sort of learning. Innovations in learning such as these should help European organisations to remain competitive in the world economy, despite increasing competition from elsewhere in the world."
The debate rages on in this month’s Economist Debate Series where the the editors of The Economist invited readers to contribute to the topic “Effectiveness of Technology - Does new technology add to the quality of education?” This debate, hosted online, engages such authorities in the field as Sir John Daniel, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Commonwealth of Learning and Dr Robert Kozma, Emeritus Director and Principal Scientist at SRI International.
It is only understandable that in this climate the majority of UK universities and colleges offer online courses these days. Or do they?

As I attempted to find an accurate picture of the student experience of obtaining information about the available online education, I found that many of the so called “online” courses are only delivered as part of the university’s ‘normal’ classes, and are not available to out-of-campus students, whereas other courses offer only a single component delivered online and the school hastily tags it as an online course... Read more on our website.



####