A student in a remote Orissa village taking his MBA examination from a Mumbai university using broadband network; American students taking mathematics lessons from teachers sitting in New Delhi or people from across the globe doing a crash course on disaster management from Honolulu University.
The power of information technology is using learning tools to make learning happen anywhere and any time.
Called e-learning, it uses multimedia and the Internet to enable learning process. While the West, especially the European Union has embarked on e-learning bandwagon to realise the dream of making Europe a knowledge based economy by 2010, in countries like India, it is only the private initiatives which have started though the concept is catching on, say experts.
"E-learning is an established concept in the West. But in India, while decision makers are convinced of its benefits, there is no single experience yet to say it is successful," says Nicholas George, sr vice president, NIIT.
However, he says private initiatives -- both at university level and in the corporate world have started which are showing good results.
"But one thing is for sure, e-learning is bound to happen. There is no other way to succeed in making ours a knowledge-based society. The infrastructure needs to be developed at the grass roots level and things will then get going," says George.
A big challenge in e-learning is the low retention rate. While in the West the dropout rate is above 70 per cent even today, compared to 20 per cent in physical learning, in countries like India, it is likely to be above 85 per cent, he says citing "language skills and financial constraint as the main reason for high drop-out rate.
However, Sarup Chowdhury, CEO, Reliance Webworld, a staunch supporter of e-learning says, "There are no constraints of brick and mortar and it can be put to very wide use -- not just regular graduation courses, but also professional courses like MBA (Master if Business Administration) and engineering."
The retention and success rate to a large extent depends on the model of e-learning being used, he says.
"Interactive, classroom based learning can ensure greater success. A virtual classroom is an accepted model all over the world."
Citing his own experience, he says they have launched the first ever PG Certificate Programme in Business Management in collaboration with a technical institute. "The methodology, though involving e-learning would be as good as physical, as the broadband infrastructure being used would be as close to real classroom learning as it can get."
"A typical programme would have 240 hours of virtual classroom teaching and interaction using the broadband network and 60 hours on campus. It is a major breakthrough in distance learning in India, as it will make available high-quality vocational courses to millions of aspiring students and working executives in hundreds of small towns lacking educational infrastructure," says Chowdhary.
"Such tie-ups between service providers and technical institutes will close the educational gap that exists between metros and the hinterland," he says many earlier initiatives in e-learning by various private players have not been very successful due to the models adopted -- they were not very interactive.
Agrees George, "If we have the infrastructure in place, there is no reason why even IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) or other technical courses cannot be offered through e-learning."
