Cyber Reality
E-student profiles often differ from those of students who choose traditional classrooms. More than half of online learners are over 30 years old, hold down a full-time job and already have a degree. Distance education provides adults with knowledge - the food of the modern workplace.
Paper-based distance learning enabled the individuals to study in their own time at home using material that was as good as any in conventional universities. What it couldn’t do, however, was to help students in ways that only a teacher in a conventional classroom can do. Teaching isn't just disseminating information. It involves assessing how much the student gets it, questioning. Dialogue is indispensable. The new tools of e-learning have the potential to engage the students in the same way as an inspiring teacher, albeit in a virtual classroom, providing the mechanism to address any questions that spontaneously spring to viewer’s mind. Internet delivery shifts focus from teaching to learning. The traditionally passive lecture hall with a one-size-fits-all approach has been transformed by making learners active participants with customized content. This is education tailored to the needs of the students.
It would be naive to assume that everybody will be excited by e-learning. That is not just a generation issue – people have different preferences. Neither age nor family responsibility should preclude anyone from seeking a traditional degree. Conventional, campus-based courses are becoming more and more flexible. The division between them and distance education is breaking down. Technological change and university reforms are narrowing the difference between distance- and campus-based higher education. The move towards flexible learning has been driven by the growth of the Internet. Allowing the students to fulfil their course requirements in different ways has obvious benefits. A student in any country can study on the same course as a campus-based student or the one who commutes and only attends lectures intermittently. Universities try to provide learning environment using the latest technology for the students to take advantage of the benefits of any time, learning anywhere to be better prepared for the future.
Exercises
Explain the meanings and give examples of usage of the following words from the text above. Use the chart below.
|
# |
Word |
Meaning(s) |
Example of usage other than in the text |
forefront, application, counterpart, dimension, online, update, alumnus, duplicate (v), disseminate,feedback, download, facility, hold down, paper, conventional, customize, tailor (v)
Translate the sentences below incorporating vocabulary from the previous exercise.
1. Навчання з допомогою комп'ютера надає учню можливість звертатися до підключеного словника, бібліотечних ресурсів та різноманітних сторінок в Інтернеті. 2. Вчені не змогли повторно отримати очікуваний результат в умовах лабораторії. 3. Студенти дистантного навчання отримують доступ до баз даних з можливістю завантажувати інформацію на свій комп'ютер. 4. Спочатку треба буде приладити обладнання лінгафонного кабінету до наших конкретних вимог. 5. Інститут Пастера стоїть на передньому краї досліджень вірусу СНІД. 6. Протягом декількох місяців значна частина інформації застаріває і потребує оновлення. 7. Серед отриманої тим часом інформації від користувачів більшість відгуків схвальні. 8. Він ще ні разу не протримався на одній роботі довше, а ніж декілька тижнів. 9. Коли пішов останній студент, вчитель лишився з кипою письмових робіт для перевірки. 10. Джон зі своїми традиційними кулінарними вподобаннями був готовий замовляти їжу як тільки-но нам запропонували столик. 11. Зустрітися зі своїми в минулому університетськими товаришами після закінчення можна під час щорічно влаштовуваного дня зустрічі випускників. 12. Діюча програма була розроблена в співпраці з колегами з закордону.
Match the words in the left and right columns to restore the collocations from the text. Give the context where they are used.
face-to-face
programme
direct
content
real-time
break
peer
information
classroom
of contacts
physical part
facilities
medium
learning environment
communication
courses
long-range
to the timetable
hold down
feedback
integrated
of commitment
paper
to mind
large scale
sessions
conventional
to the needs
daunting level
instruction
disseminating
a full-time job
career
of instruction
spring
intermittently
at a fraction
chat
customised
of the course
study
facility
tailored
group
network
of a cost
campus-based
-based
full-time
commuting
attends lectures
universities
Correct or explain the following statements about distant learning as far as the texts above are concerned.
Web-based courses are too costly for professionals who do not earn fortunes in their jobs.
Distant-learning courses require every learner to keep pace with the rest of the virtual class.
The learner's telephone bill goes considerably up.
But they spare a lot on transportation and earn themselves family weekends.
The education sector does not keep pace with technological change.
Distant education is essentially reduced to e-mail correspondence and exchange of text materials.
Considerable frustration comes from the technical impossibility to create peer group communication within cyber groups.
The MBA course does not lend itself to distant learning.
After the initial boom the number of distant learners gradually reduced.
Despite the obvious benefits of distant learning through the computer, part of the learning time is spent in classroom sessions in a hothouse.
Distant-learning graduates are issued an expensive address book for future contacts.
Distance courses are often signed up for to obtain additional knowledge and training rather than the first degree.
E-learning is doomed to become the major medium of instruction and supersede the traditional forms in the near future.
Conventional universities are making their full-time programmes more rigid to distance themselves from the lay experiments.
