Online education today, has become the growing face of the education system. Especially amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian Education system has been swift in adopting the new method of teaching. When the schools and college campuses had to be shut down, locking millions of students and teachers across the entire nation, out of the classroom, the popularity of online teaching rose by leaps and bounds. In fact, the increase in adoption of online teaching is the most important factor behind the seamless functioning of the education system through the entire lockdown period and even today. However, such a stupendous rise in popularity of online education begs the question; Is the growth achieved by e-learning sustainable?
In order to answer that question, we need to ascertain what exactly it is that makes online teaching such a popular mode of education? Certainly, the necessity of remote learning is a contributing factor, but it would be unwise to think that alone is a factor critical enough to warrant this level of attention to online teaching. Apart from that online teaching also provides several other benefits such as the flexibility to learn and teach from anywhere at any time, much larger class size than traditional classes, better quality of education, digitalized and up-to-date course content, the ability to design interactive courses, improved student engagement by using futuristic technologies such as AR/VR/MR and likewise. Some great teaching platforms further simplify the role of online teachers by providing features like digital whiteboards, online teaching through mobile, automated attendance, automated fee collection system, online teaching in low-data consumption mode, and likewise. However, the factor which stands out among all the aforementioned ones is the affordability of e-learning. Online teaching trumps traditional education due to its much lower overall cost compared to the latter. Here are a few points comparing costs of online teaching with traditional education….
Cost of Tuition-
The rising tuition costs in traditional educational institutions are a cause of concern for many parents and students across the world. Especially in private educational institutions, the cost of tuition today will make anyone’s head spin. Afterall, the costs of maintenance of school building, grounds, facilities and working staff have to be borne out. If we talk about online classes, they require no brick-and-mortar building which needs maintenance nor do they require any additional facilities. A smartphone and an internet connection are all one requires for the most part. Therefore, tuition costs in online teaching are way less when compared to traditional education.
Cost of Study Material and Course content-
Most traditional institutions demand extra fee from their students. Apart from the tuition fee, the additional fee paid is for the administration and delivery of courses and infrastructure. However, online teaching requires no special infrastructure or physical presence of the educator and students. This invariably leads to a reduction in overall costs of the program.
Cost of Conveyance and Accommodation-
Conveyance costs can be a big dent on one’s pocket especially in India, where most colleges are generally located on the outskirts of big cities and in non-residential areas. Moreover, all parents want what’s best for their children. In this bid, they often send them off to metro cities for quality education. However, the cost of accommodation in a metro city especially in areas dedicated to coaching classes is so much so that sometimes it can surpass the cost of school fees of the students. With e-learning, quality teaching from all across the world comes to your doorstep. This has led to the rise of some giant ed-tech platforms in the Indian market space. For instance, Old Rajendra Nagar in New Delhi was once considered the Mecca for Civil Services Exam preparation or Kota in Rajasthan was considered the first-choice among engineering and medical aspirants. Needless to say, the accommodation costs at these places were off the charts just a few years ago. However, slowly but surely, online teaching has been successful in breaking the hegemony of these coaching hotspots, so to say. Therefore, online teaching is a cost-efficient alternative to traditional offline education when it comes to conveyance and accommodation.
Therefore, it is evident why online teaching is cheaper than traditional education. The myriad benefits which online teaching provides surely point towards it being a mode of education whose growth is sustainable and that it will continue to remain a popular choice among teachers and students alike in days to come.