Learning the 'E' way

In just a little ten months learnsocial.com has made it to the list of India's top 5,000 e-learning sites, which is "no mean feat," tells us e-learning expert, Yuvraj K Sharma. He finds that "the website is matching up to what's available and its low bounce-off rate indicates that people are finding it useful". At present, the top e-learning portals include: khanacademy.org for school students; coursera.org and edx.org that offer a wide and eclectic range of courses for students as well as professionals; lynda.com and udacity.com that have a focused-approach for career upgradation.

What's Working

Broad Appeal: With 291 IT courses, 213 business-related, 47 academic, 22 focused on languages (ranging from English, Arabic and Russian to German, Mandarin, Japanese), 71 on arts and creativity, 47 dedicated to exams preparations (GMAT, SAT, GRE, IELTS, CMA, CFA, etc.) and about 144 courses offering diverse options ranging from neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and health to communication and disaster management, the site has a lot to offer.

Live and self-paced learning options: These allow both interaction and peer-to-peer learning with the former, and convenience with the latter. Live classes can be problematic if the numbers are great and if there are technology lapses, but learnsocial's average batch size of 15 students (max. 25) seems reasonable. Either option permits life-long access to the course videos and material.

Well laid-out course objectives and curriculum: These let you whet the course well before you decide. The curriculum also mentions tests or project reports to be done at the end of each module and/or course.

User-friendly website: The interface is not only easy to navigate, but also has a live chat for queries. In addition, there are user reviews of each course by students. These are the kind of facilities provided by some of the best sites in the business.

Refund in seven days: If you don't like the course, the instructor, or simply can't attend it, all you have to do is write an email and request for a refund, which is processed immediately. A refund policy is also found on Edx.org.

What's Not Working

Expensive courses: Like several top websites, Learnsocial offers, some free and some inexpensive courses. But there are expensive ones too. Given the Indian market, highly-priced courses can be a problem, especially considering that a large bulk of courses on other websites are free, unless one opts for a certification.

Lack of academic support: The absence of tie-ups with colleges and universities of repute may deter those looking for courses or educational brands to boast of, on their resume.

No video and inadequate instructor information: Students would want to see videos of testimonials by students, as well as of demo lessons by instructors, to get a feel for the online learning experience. User reviews are not enough; space for thriving discussion forums is crucial. The site is not consistent with regard to the type and amount of detail it gives out about each instructor.

Founder of learnsocial.org, Raju Vanapal, says, "We will soon provide learners with course ratings, the number of dropouts a particular course sees, details of instructors (not only in terms of their experience, but also how well they engage with students, whether they complete courses on time, etc.) and the kind of infrastructure available. We're also trying to bring some colleges onboard."

The allure of e-learning, which has always been the convenience factor, is increasingly becoming about being able to learn from top-notch universities worldwide, which one may be unable to attend. The question is, will these courses remain mere tutorials or will they be able to provide professional qualifications? "The knowledge you can get is of same level or better than that in traditional education systems. Online courses have much more acceptance in the west, but are gaining acceptance here too, as employers realize their value and accept the fact that given our fast-paced lives, not everyone can take a break to pursue offline ones," says Yuvraj.

Tips: Right Course, Right E-destination

Define your purpose: Are you pursuing a hobby? Is it knowledge for the sake of knowledge, or to develop an edge in your career? Is it going to play the role of tuitions, which you would otherwise take up in addition to your school or college classes? Defining your purpose will help you decide how reputable the source of knowledge must be, whether a certificate matters, etc.

Compare courses: With several websites offering the same or similar courses, as well as the availability of offline education, it become essential to evaluate the content and curriculum to see which one suits you best and ensure that you're getting the best.

Verify information: Check the reputation of the portal by reading user reviews and articles as well as various rankings. Also read up about the background of the instructor with reference to skills, popularity, education and online teaching experience—as mentioned on the course website as well as by looking up other work done by him or her, possibly research papers, authored books, educational videos, etc.

Consider duration, flexibility and cost: Before investing in a course, you must make sure that you're getting value for your money and also that you have chosen the right format (live, fixed or self-paced sessions) as well as the right duration (based on the amount of time you can spare).

Beware Pitfalls: such as taking a paid course from an unknown or less-recognised website, by first taking a free course to whet the teaching style, delivery as per promise, etc. Another pitfall to avoid is judging e-learning as medium and the web portal merely on the basis of one course experience. (Some really good content may not be packaged well and some really good packages may not have good content.)

Source | Daily News Analysis | 7 July 2015