From the beginning of time, the common man encountered many problems in his day to day life. The methods of solving these solutions have been passed down, generation to generation, usually by word of mouth or some written documentation. As citizens of the 21st century, we have had the luxury of accessing the largest database in the world on the tips of our fingers – the internet. From online tutorials to e-books, the internet has all the information any person would need. The fact that you’re probably reading this article off the internet exemplifies this fact.

The internet has become indispensable to us. Bunked today’s class to catch the latest 3D movie? Worried that your nasty professor is going to quiz you next lecture? No problem, most of just ask our friends to whatsapp the whiteboard picture. Cross platform softwares like Whatsapp have not only helped in bridging the gap between different forms of technologies but have also helped revolutionize the way in which we share content, be it audio, video or information such as GPS positions while videoconferencing enables us to interact with people all across the globe. 

One of the ideal and most sought after examples for Online Learning is Khan Academy which takes care of all the basic concepts in the field of Maths, Science, Economics, Computer Science and various Test Preparations like GMAT, SAT, etc. It would be stupid to keep ranting about the various things the Internet has to offer as I’m sure all of us would be pretty well versed with all its facets. An inherent characteristic of the human being is to crave for more information. That explains why keep checking our Facebook or Twitter. 

Although it fails as a substitute to classroom teaching, online learning is starting to gain preference over live classroom sessions as many professionals do not have the time or the patience to sit through a lecture. It would be difficult for a 20-something individual to sit still in a classroom. Online learning is very professional and there is absolutely no room for rascality.  One can get the best of education while one sits at home in the comfort of his knickers. Pre-recorded MIT lectures are easily accessible on YouTube wherein the best of the best enlighten interested students in their field of expertise. 

Education has slowly and gradually become a business. Online learning is no different. Various institutes have come up with correspondence degrees to suit people who want to obtain a degree in a considerably short span of time. It is worth noting that many of these ‘Degree programs’ are simply certificate courses and seldom hold any value in the industry. And there are many career consultancies luring students to take up educational opportunities abroad at ridiculously low prices compared to other institutes overseas, in addition to offering mouth-watering offers like green card benefits (A permit allowing a foreign national to live and work permanently in US/Canada) and attractive salaries. Legitimacy isn’t the issue here. One has to understand that the whole point of distance education is to aid knowledge-hungry human beings in their endeavour to gather as much as possible.

So, the best we can do as the citizens of a developing country is to learn from the outside world and make our country a better place to live.