My school friend Gopinath was very much frustrated when he was not getting the expected rise in his job . Actually he was a brilliant student in school, and he grabbed a good job in a respectable company after his Diploma in Mechanical Engg. But even after hands on experience of 10 years in the same field he was not getting the right kind of rise.
He tried to enhance his worth by changing the company, but in vain. An year back he met me being very much frustrated not knowing what should he do so as to get the most coveted rise in his salary. I suggested him to take up a course in his area of interest through distance. And he went ahead with that at MIT School of Distance Education, Pune and after successful completion of his PG Diploma in Piping he has got a new job with a bomb(huge salary) in his hand. Thus further education can act as a catalyst to one’s career.
Basically education is considered to be of prime importance globally. It improves the quality of life, opens up better job opportunities and thus raises the standard of living. It is now-a-days treated as an ’investment’ for bettering one’s life rather an ’expense’. Imparting of education has however gone through a sea change and various time tested ways have evolved for the same.
Present Trends in Education: Mass higher education is forcing to become more diverse, more global and much more competitive.
The quantum growth in mass higher education is mainly due to following reasons:
•Democratisation / Massification
•Rise in the knowledge economy. Knowledge is replacing physical resources as the main driver of economic growth
•Globalisation
•Competition
Rise of Distance Education
• Globalisation has led to increase in job opportunities in the last 12 years
• Employers prefer to employ educated individuals with related experience and skills
• Upgradation of knowledge and skills without leaving the jobs is a great challenge for working individuals
• To cope up with a job and at the same time upgrade one’s skills is a real challenge for these individuals
Concept of Distance Education
• The answer to this challenge is distance education, as it provides great opportunity of learning for working individuals
• The word ’Distance’ means non-traditional method of education
• The methodology of education is ’Student centric’, instead of ’Instructor centric’
• It is a revolutionary trend in the field of education as it benefits the working individual interested in further education
Traditional Learning & its Limitations
• Traditionally ’Instructor controlled’ method, which treats students as secondary
• Students involvement limited in the process of learning
• In spite of standardization of syllabus, it fails to maintain that standard, as the quality of the trainer differs
• Learning process goes in a linear form. Hence pace of learning cannot be increased
• Students from different backgrounds always find it difficult, as their training needs do not match
• Restricted for some departments or functions, hence not recommended for masses
• Requires large amount of resources like hard infrastructure, trainers, eventually making it expensive
Why Distance Education?
• Education is ’learner centric’, hence students get entire freedom and flexibility
• Professional education without any constraint, time and age
• Quality learning from a distance and opens prospects for career enhancement for working professionals
• Geographical limitations not applicable due to the blending of distance education with ’e-learning’ methodology
• ’E-learning’ groups can be formed by students community, leading to collaborative learning and ultimately resulting in knowledge sharing
• A degree without any interruption in career
*In short,
*• It is flexible, affordable and accessible
• It has a more practical approach than theoretical. This fits into the requirement of working professionals as it enhances their skills by way of case studies
• Various classroom oriented programmes are now being converted / offered in the distance education mode
• Various renowned educational institutions have started following this methodology world over. e.g. Phoenix of USA, Open University of UK
*Shortcomings of Distance Education
*• It calls for high level of self motivation
• Lack of campus environment
• Group study
• Distractions by surrounding forces
*How MITSDE has overcome these Shortcomings
*• Continuously monitors the progress of counselors and faculty
• Facilitates interaction with fellow students in chat room on internet and at designated study centres
• Students maintain weekly diary by log-in in the study hours, ensures self discipline thus avoids distractions
MIT School of Distance Education:
• MIT School of Distance Education (MITSDE) was established in 2005 with the sole objective of offering professional courses to meet the need of large number of aspiring students nationally and internationally
• MITSDE is fully equipped with Learning Management Software (LMS). This gives round-the-clock online access to distance education courses
And the courses are provided at a reasonable fees Rs.20, 000
...............Continued in comments (Also see the website https://mitsde.com)