27
Mar, 2015
More than 9.1 mn students around the world are currently enrolled in an online course/program. This trend despite its recent massive popularity is not being given its due recognition by conventional educationists, who still believe that the most effective way of learning is the traditional face to face classroom environment. But recent studies carried out by eminent global research organizations and institutions reveal a startling fact, to the surprise of such academicians. The popularity of online courses has picked up substantially in the last 3 years mainly due to a number of merits (convenience, affordability, seamless, quality etc) over traditional education system, though it is highly unlikely that online education would be able to completely replace traditional system of learning. It is pertinent to note that online learning is a way to enhance one’s knowledge and can be utilized effectively to supplement formal traditional physical classroom based education.
“A number of well-known educators have said that there isn’t going to be much learning in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs),” said a professor at MIT. He added “if not, it is very helpful to already educated people, who want to learn but do not have time for it”.
Online courses are dependent on online libraries, real time teacher assistance, virtual classrooms and study groups.
Online libraries in contrast to traditional libraries are better suited to the needs of a modern day student who wants to refer from various sources. Very few online libraries offer high priced books at very affordable charges through an online subscription based model. A student can download as many eBooks as he/she wants and can make notes, create reports or read for pleasure.
But the real revolution in the field of education has to be virtual classrooms. It has replaced the old fashioned exchange programs run by schools and universities around the world. Now students can interact with teachers and professors in real time from the comfort of their homes.
Similarly, a student has the freedom to create study groups, exchange notes and interact with students from other parts of the world. Innovative platforms have been designed to make all this possible, all you need is a portable device and an internet connection.
Students from all over the world are finding these platforms extremely useful as it helps them in learning new concepts & network with people with similar interests. On the other hand, traditional education system is not as flexible as the online learning system.
Clearly, online education scores over traditional education on many fronts. Like any other system of education has its flaws too, but a blended system, where traditional education system is in sync with online learning is what is needed. Neither of the two can be ignored. Thus our education system should accommodate both.
It is known to everyone that India is the second most populated country in the world after China. However, very few people know that more than 50 % of Indian children in the age group of 6-17 years, about 200 million in total, do not attend any school. Sad but true. The present Indian education system does not encourage children, especially from semi-urban and rural background; to take up studies further our ambitious government policies reap no positive results either.
Let’s start
We know that these are mere facts and presenting it in a condescending tone alone won’t help the cause, but yes we can change the situation by taking certain steps at our end. We can and should change our outlook towards education and learning. MyEdge.in is doing just that. It allows you to gather knowledge from different sources at no extra cost, using technology and various ground breaking pedagogical techniques such as Virtual Classrooms & Virtual Library. If you think that there should be a change in the education system, you have to be the initiator of this change.
India is warming up and stretching its hamstring as it gets set to be the foremost global force. What amuses here is the fact that even the current global ringleaders, including USA, China and Russia have strong faith in India’s chances of emerging as a leading human capital force, having significant impact on the way the world functions at present.
We are destined to be the largest human capital provider in the world, it’s inevitable, says our government, but there’s a little catch. Even after having the largest pool of youngsters in the world, we are struggling or rather failing to produce manpower which is skilled enough to represent us on a global terrain. Out of a whopping lot of 150 million young guns, around 82% qualify to be called ‘literates’ and sorry to disappoint you but the literacy standards here are not at all at par with International norms.
India produces the largest faction of MBAs and engineers each year anywhere in the world but various studies have depicted that only 10% of our MBA and 17% of our engineering graduates are employable. Indian education system has often been criticized for not doing ‘enough’ to change the situation on the ground. It would be heart wrenching for all of you to find out that none of our higher education institutions including the elite IITs and IIMs figure in the list of Top 200 institutions in the world. Unbelievable, but true!
Further, what we fail to realize is that we only keep up with the blame game when things go off beam. Our point here is that yes, there might be some flaws in the current education system but that shouldn’t stop a student from attaining an optimum quality education. A student’s job is not merely to attend school/college/tuitions and leave everything to God. Need of the hour is to stop blaming institutions and start preparing yourself to face the world and stand tall as a ‘qualified’ candidate on the global turf.
A high percentage of scholars from across the world agree that the prime reason why Indian youth lack’s the spark, required to succeed in the international market, is that they don’t indulge themselves in reading. Reading is a habit which is extremely vital for an individual’s intellectual and holistic growth. As per a recent survey conducted by the National Book Trust (NBT), about three fourths of the total literate youth in India do not read books, be it classics or best sellers, except for their textbooks. It is absolutely unfortunate for a person who is literate but won’t read on a regularly basis to enhance his/her knowledge.
Earlier, due to exorbitant prices of quality international books people were a little reluctant to purchase such books for general purpose reading. But, now innovative use of technology has led to an extremely cost effective solution. MyEdge in its endeavor of spreading knowledge and literacy across the world has launched ‘LIVErary’, a first of its kind online subscription based virtual library that lets you access more than 1,20,000+ eBooks on thousands of subjects. This service has been launched in partnership with Ebrary.com – world’s largest ebook aggregator at an unbelievably nominal price. Subscription of 7 days just costs INR 60.
Students who face time, money and other kind of constraints can now access world’s best eBooks 24×7 from anywhere be it school, college, university, railway station, airport etc! All you need is a desktop/laptop/tablet/phone with an internet connection and a MyEdge account for accessing LIVErary. The best part about the LIVErary is that you can find eBooks on a wide array of topics, ranging from academia (from school to doctorate studies), leadership, fiction, arts & crafts, journals, periodicals, test preparation and many more.
Check out this link to Register & Experience LIVErary: http://myedge.in/
We end this article with a hope of witnessing a tomorrow where Indian youngsters proudly introduce themselves as ardent readers, which is now possible at a click of a button!
The recent tragedy that occurred at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, has again brought in focus the age-old clash between the two fundamental rights of every human being – The Freedom of Expression / Speech and The Freedom of Belief & Religion. It is indeed a condemnable atrocity that was carried out in France in a span of three days, which ended with the lives of 17 people.
The relationship between freedom of expression, freedom of religion & belief and religious intolerance is politically replete and legally complex.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) defines freedom of expression as ‘the right of every individual to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’ Further, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states in its Article 19 – ‘Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.’ In addition, Article 18 of IICPR states – ‘Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.’
So, on the face of it, things look pretty straight forward that people should be free to speak and believe as they wish, RIGHT? No. This is where all the political and legal muck starts to coalesce into an incoherent jumble of individual point of views. Add to that the prevailing social, moral and even economic conditions and you get a perfect recipe for brewing a societal friction between two fundamental rights of human beings.
One may ask – How can Free speech be Free if it has restrictions?
Article 20 of the ICCPR lays out – ‘Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.’
Freedom of expression as set out in Article 19 of the ICCPR and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) expressly states that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities. For this reason, specific limitations are permitted, including when necessary for the protection of the fundamental rights of others.
At the point where the freedom of expression is in conflict with an individual’s freedom of religion, we are faced with the dilemma of picking between the two. The exact limitations and privileges of both the rights, are extremely difficult to differentiate and comprehend. While freedom of expression is far from being an absolute right, its limitations are disputable.
Although the freedom of religion is a globally secured human right, there is no worldwide agreement which addresses the substance and degree of the privilege of freedom of religion. Thus it is unverifiable whether it involves the privilege to have one’s religious faith and symbols shielded from insult.
The unsettled limits of debate emerging from the conflict between two key rights have given rise to a never ending debate between freedom of expression and concerns to protect religious sentiments. Religious groups feel insulted that their religious beliefs and symbols are taunted, offended, assaulted or vilified. On the other hand, the creators and authors of these controversial works contend that any law seeking to confine their works adds up to an infringement of the hallowed right of freedom of expression, which is the bedrock of any democratic society.
In this fight between the free speakers and the religious groups, we are confronted with a difficult choice, not just of picking between two good’s but with figuring out which of these is the greater good in a pluralistic society. As the right to speak freely is a condition for democratic government, religious freedom is core to one’s identity and important for one’s sense of equality, dignity and individual autonomy. An antagonistic environment would smother the enjoyment of this right and would repudiate the standards of a genuine democracy.
The task of striking a balance in every individual case is a gigantic one, yet until we begin moving the beach one grain of sand at a time, the tweaking of any judicious and rational guideline won’t be in sight.