Nowadays, when people have to work a lot to support themselves from a very young age, and still have to acquire education distance learning became very popular all around the world. However, along with its numerous proponents there exist a significant number of opponents who argue that distance education is connected to a row of dangerous and problematic issues. Generally, distance education can be evaluated as a binary prospect: on one hand, it presents a row of advantages for the people who are busy with their work and family duties, and on the other hand, it is connected to a row of problems related to the quality of the received training especially for the occupations requiring particular practical skills such as medical professions, linguistic ones, technological engineering specializations and so on.
Speaking about the position of the proponents of distance education, it should be stated that it is based on numerous arguments supporting the benefits of such type of education. To begin with, such an education strategy is a solution for people who are busy working to support themselves but still want to strive for a better life, and thus, aim to acquire an education. Secondly, distance education can be mentioned as a wise solution for people from the most varied countries who dream about studying abroad but on the reason of their life circumstances are not able to go to another country to study. Such people are presented with a high-quality service of e-learning providing an educational experience that very often exceeds the level of quality of education in the person’s motherland. Thirdly, as distance education nowadays is mainly an online education, it presents many more advantages including the opportunity to be a part of the issues of gender, religion and race discrimination. Online education can be applied as a successful tool for overcoming social injustices such as discrimination and racial or gender prejudice presented by the process of globalization and the other development in the modern-day global society (Vander Valk, 2008). Virtual environments provide a healthy atmosphere for teacher/student interaction inspired by the highest academic values. In addition, the success that was achieved in the area of applying online technologies in distance education can be also mentioned among the arguments of proponents of online education. Online tutorial is a sure way to succeed in the development of education in the twenty-first century.
In contrast, the opponents of distance education argue that concealing one’s true identity while online studying is related to serious problems. For example, whoever knows who will be the student choosing to study the course of physics online; this person may well appear to be an Islamic terrorist aiming to learn how to make bombs or similar items threatening the peace in the world. Of course, this is a serious fact that should be taken into consideration. However, the developers of e-learning programs may consider this fact and harden the safety measures including identity checks for a row of special courses related to the knowledge that can be applied against people. For example, in the case of courses such as physical specializations, the set of requirements should feature the application of identity cards and the other important documents confirming the personality. The opponents also discuss the issues of cultural assimilation and language barrier which can be raised in the area of e-learning. According to Dillon, the Internet is dominated by the social and cultural exchange of the English language and Western cultural values (2007). In this vein, distance education is seen by its opponents as threatening to the local cultures.
. Finally, the position of opponents of distance education is mainly developed around the idea that such type of education can hardly help a person to qualify as a successful specialist in a row of spheres requiring practical skills such as medical specializations, linguistic ones, technological and engineering specializations. They argue that distance education lacks the opportunities which are rife with regards to the development of practical skills and abilities. This can be evaluated as a weighty augment; however, not every specialization requires significant practical abilities. The opponents of e-learning also address the practices common for the educational process which were created centuries ago and continue as a maxim in this area. Among such maxims is a healthy interaction between students and teachers from eye to eye. This live association is very important for training qualified and authoritative professionals. Furthermore, live student/teacher interaction serves for such important and traditional goals of the educational process as instructional and regulatory ones. These goals and their achievement are crucially important for raising deserving citizens which might become a successful part of society in the future. In distance education, the instructional and regulatory goals can be hardly achieved. The virtual conditions of such educational experience simply lack opportunities for a teacher to watch one’s student, and to exercise possible corrections based on such observations.
As a final point, distance education can be evaluated as a twofold opportunity: on one hand, it presents a row of opportunities for the people who are preoccupied with their work and family duties, and on the other hand, it is connected to a row of problems related to the quality of the received training especially for the occupations requiring particular practical skills. Still, a row of advantages cannot be overestimated with its numerous chances of overcoming numerous problems existing in the system of education today including discrimination, violence and gender issues. Thus, in the case of each particular occupation, the decision is to be made is based on all the advantages and disadvantages of distance education. Online education presents both a list of univocal benefits along with particular dangers and difficulties connected to cultural assimilation and an individual’s identity. Despite certain obstacles presented by the issues of cultural assimilation and identity authentication in online education, I believe the tendency to acquire education online will only continue in the future helping humanity to get to unlimited horizons of progress.
Works Cited
- Dillon, Patrick et al. 2007. Pedagogy, Culture & Society. 2007. Web.
- Vander Valk, Frank. “Identity, Power, and Representation in Virtual Environments”. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 4.2(2008): 205-210. Print.