Online learning has lost its image of being low-cost and low-quality mainly because universities and other providers have worked hard to replicate, as far as possible, the traditional experience of being part of a student group. In the UK, even FutureLearn, the frontrunner of Massive Open Online Courses, which has generated hundreds of free courses, has designed features on its website that let students discuss work with each other and academics.

Professor Mike Sharples, on secondment to FutureLearn from the Open University, is convinced that the “water cooler” discussions that take place online between students is proving successful. They watch a video and then comment on or question the material online. For each module, there is a lead academic online to answer queries.
FutureLearn, a partnership of 37 British universities plus the British Council and the British Library, cannot provide individual tutors for students. The courses last six weeks, and so far the numbers suggest 22 per cent finish a sufficient majority of their course&’s steps, as well as all their assessments, to be eligible for a Statement of Participation. The OU, which has more than 200,000 students, is the model for excellence in online courses. As well as summer schools, each student gets a dedicated tutor to help them. Modules cost £1,300.
Other institutions, such as the University of Derby Online, also give students dedicated tutors they can contact online. Administrators arrange for students to meet up at the university. But even with such support, distance learners have to be highly motivated. Jo Purslow, a 44-year-old single mother, completed a Masters in health ergonomics at Derby Online. “You can study at the times that fit around work and family, but I would sit down to study at 11 pm and work until 2 am,” she said. “There is lots of support. You can call your tutor in a crisis. There are two study days a year when you can go to the university and meet the other students on your course. The library will search out papers for you. There is an online forum, which is wonderful. You realise other students are struggling with the same problems as you and they can help you with solutions.”

Purslow studied for three and a half years at Derby Online to get her qualification. With it she was able to apply for jobs as a consultant ergonomist — jobs that offered her more than her previous employment.

Julie Stone, deputy director of University of Derby Online, said students were given personal support as well as academic help. “There is online assistance for students who have financial problems, workload problems or their IT systems are not working. Our students are introduced to their tutor. They get to know them online and through video and blogs.”

Most online providers in the UK include activities in their courses that will encourage a community among users. Loqui.tv, a subscription service for schools, encourages teachers that sign up to discuss ways they can improve classroom planning and teaching. They watch videos of education experts and can then submit questions to the experts, or use an online forum to discuss with teachers in other schools what information has been the most useful.

Among universities, Liverpool is one that has invested heavily in the online market. It operates through a commercial company, Laureate Education, which has offices in the Netherlands. The university offers 29 courses that include postgraduate certificates, Masters’ and doctoral degrees. Fees range from £5,000 for a postgraduate certificate to £49,000 for a doctoral degree.

Class sizes are small, between 15-20 students in each module, which means the class gets to know each other and their tutor through online forums. Professor Helen O’Sullivan, academic lead for online learning at Liverpool, was confident students got the advice they need. “They benefit from being part of a global classroom and from an international network of knowledge, experience and expertise,” she said. “Our students are required to work together on assignments and critique one another”s work. For each module, there is a dedicated instructor who guides the class week by week. We also have a fully trained support team who are on hand to support students throughout their programme and will respond to student enquiries within 24 hours, and round the clock technical support. Our students are also assigned a personal dissertation advisor as well as the general dissertation instructor to help them structure research.”

The problem for potential online students is working out the level of support and guidance that is likely to be available. There is no industry-wide evaluation of the way in which courses are run. Hannah Morton-Hedges, an independent careers advisor, believes online students require more support than classroom students. “The quality of support can differ a great deal,” she said. “Online students want access to tutors, but they also want access to the other students on their course. There is a problem of isolation when you are studying at home. Students need to feel connected. They also need feedback from their tutors. The companies are self-regulating and, for that reason, students need to be confident about what they are likely to get before signing up.”

Of course, choosing to further your education isn’t always an easy decision to make. Especially if you’re working on an oil rig off the coast of Abu Dhabi. This was the case for Ehimare Josiah, an assistant driller based in the United Arab Emirates who spends alternate fortnights drilling into the ocean on board a rig. Now working towards an online MBA, he is one of many studying online in far-flung corners of the world.

“I decided to develop myself in my area of specialisation to aid my fast progression,” he said. “I needed an academic opportunity to help formalise my years of technical experience into a managerial role for operations.”
Having applied to Aberdeen Business School at Robert Gordon University, Josiah is an MBA oil and management student studying online while offshore on an oilrig. “I have enough comfort and convenience to participate fully in all classroom activities, and I grow on the job while studying. It&’s not always wise to leave your job to go back to the classroom. The ABS online school grants us the opportunity to have the best of both career and education at the same time.”

For Josiah, who has spent a career at sea on semi-submersible ships to drilling rigs, an online business education was the perfect option. He was able to continue his work offshore and gain a formal management qualification at the same time. One particular advantage of working offshore and online for him was that he was away from the distractions of family life.

But Debi Stephens’ reason for studying online was so she didn’t have to leave her seven children at home. She is a student at Robert J Trulaske Sr College of Business at the University of Missouri on the executive MBA, three-quarters of which is studied online. “The thought of going back to school after nearly 20 years was overwhelming,” she said. “But my course format allowed the flexibility I need in both scheduling and working at my own pace. The idea of giving up most of my family time on weekends was simply not an option I was willing to put on the table.”
Stephens found that an important advantage over the classroom setting was the chance to refer back or watch again should a concept pose a challenge. “The online blackboard allowed each student to access lectures, videos, reading material and discussion assignments at their leisure,” she said. “Group discussions and professor questions were available for everyone to see, allowing for students to learn from one another. The options were extensive.”

For Howard Marsden, it was because of options like these that he chose to study for an online MBA with Warwick Business School while working at the Ghaghoo diamond mine in Botswana. “I am not a techno junkie so I didn’t use as much as was available,” he said. “I tried every now and then to attend online seminars, but poor local connectivity made that difficult.”

Marsden, who was getting power from a diesel generator and Internet from a third-party satellite connection, was 200 km from the nearest power grid. He chose the online course with Warwick as it was practical and fitted around his work commitments, though he often had to rely on hard copy files and feedback from assignments. He was studying towards his online MBA for 15 hours a week, on top of working a 60-hour week as a mining executive in some of the world&’s largest diamond mines. “This wasn’t ideal for family life, but luckily time in the desert on the mine allowed me some free evening time, without other distractions,” Marsden said. “It was a great broadening of learning and exposure, removed from typical industry and purely engineering-related topics.” He also found that studying online — rather than in a physical classroom — enabled him to work at his own pace.

While distance learning means that networking can be hard, given that fellow students may not meet face-to-face, there are advantages to those in far-flung locations studying off campus. Professor Thierry Picq, associate dean for pedagogical innovation at Emlyon Business School, has been heavily involved in the development of the school&’s own online programmes. He said the best practice for those studying online in distant locations was to develop a strong personal discipline. “Be sure to work on a regular basis following a strict plan, with timing and structured activities, just like you would be subjected to in a traditional classroom. The only difference with distance learning is that you’re the one who gets to define that structure and pace,” he said.

Learning in such unusual locations is more than possible — education isn’t restricted to the classroom — but there are additional considerations to be made. Said Picq, “Remember that though teaching can be digitised, learning remains a social activity. We learn with others and through others.”

Close home, premier institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management are contemplating going the Moocs way in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi&’s ambitious Swayam Bharat programme. While IIT, Bombay, and IIM, Bangalore, have already announced the launch of Moocs with overseas partners, IIM, Calcutta, could be next in line, having submitted a proposal to the Union human resource development ministry. IIT, Kanpur, is developing its own Mooc platform called Mookit, which might soon start competing with popular international platforms.