Growth of Online Education

Online education is a rapidly growing phenomenon on the Web, and the technology of the internet is reshaping schools and universities worldwide (Volery and Lord 216). It was originally designed to cater to students disadvantaged by their geographical remoteness from university campuses. Distance learning existed before the advent of the internet, and replaced the face-to-face necessity of teacher and student. The internet has extended this concept technologically. It was originally limited to technological fields such as mathematics, engineering, and design, but now covers everything from linguistics to geography, history, and business. Online learning allows students to become active learners rather than passive recipients of teaching. Delivering learning via the internet allows states to expand access to education to meet new educational and training demands, and alleviates capacity restraints as schools and universities become more crowded. It allows profit-making institutions to capitalize on an emerging markets and serves as a catalyst for institutional transformation.

Online education has skyrocketed in popularity as a new form of education in the last few years and it is expected that more than a million students will take advantage of "virtual schools" this year (Online). The market has been predicted to grow more than 38 percent this year by Eduventures, a research firm. The vice president of technology issues at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities re

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Category: Science - G