E-learning = Easy Learning

E-learning was considered a downmarket alternative to the conventional learning till a few years ago. Academicians believed that software engineers and those well-versed with technology have brought down the level of education and provided a cheap option of earning a degree without gaining any knowledge. 

The introduction of broadband Internet connections and the availability of economic tablets have changed the facade of digital education in India. E-learning is gaining popularity because it breaks the barriers of geography and time. Tech-savvy academicians have made the gadgets of students their teachers.

Many universities abroad are providing their students with e-learning courses and those are not providing courses upload the videos of lectures and discussions on video-sharing websites such as YouTube, Daily Motion, Vimeo and others. You can find the channels of universities on these sites. Anyone can subscribe to them and get updates of the lectures of world-class professors associated with these world-class universities. 

E-learning is not only limited to availability of content in the form of video or text. Students can attend online classes, ask questions to instructors and engage in student communities that are monitored by academicians.

Students can hone their English speaking and writing skills, learn the intricacies of photography, cooking, etc. They can also access world-class academic content on subject from medieval Indian history to globalisation and from animation to mass communication. And all this is available to them 24x7 everywhere.

There are websites such as Piazza where students can discuss difficult topics with their classmates under the guidance of instructors. Students from more than 250 US universities and many Indian engineering colleges including IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur are on it. This site is developed by an Indian student Pooja Nath.

Another e-learning site udemy.com has been developed by an America-based Indian student Gagan Biyani. The website offers hundreds of courses on a variety of subjects. Students from across the world can register. There are several paid courses such as web-designing, social media management, crash course for Photoshop CS6, etc. Apart from the paid courses, students can attend many free courses.

Many universities such as Symbiosis and Indira Gandhi National Open University are providing web-learning options but these universities are still to make the learning engaging, interesting and effective. Academicians believe that content and quality in education will rule the roost even in the online world. And, if it picks up in India, students irrespective of their geographical location will be able to get the benefits of quality education. However, fast Internet connections and non-availability of laptops and tablets to students remain a big constraint for the spread of e-learning in India.