Recent researches show that the majority of the population is now online. By 2007, that 61.7% of households uses the internet. Internet access took only 7 years to reach 25% of US households, compared with 35 years for the television and 46 for household electricity. Around the world, the increasing number of households utilizing the internet is growing as well, including the Philippines.

Higher education needs to move to where the people are if it wants to expand its user base. Traditional campuses are having trouble maintaining facilities that meet the growing college population’s needs.  While the cost savings of running an online degree program are not that huge (or at least are not a driving concern for university officials), it is generally easier for colleges to move programs online than it is for them to build extensions to their campuses.

The sagging economy has also been good for online education.  One research revealed that many institutions expect more working adults to turn to continuing education to build new skills or enhance existing ones to better their chances in the job marketplace, and also to avoid paying higher fuel costs as commuter students. 

This is probably a safe guess: nearly 90 million adults participate in some form of continuing education every year even during good times, according to Census data. The convenience of being able to complete a degree without giving up employment makes online education attractive to working adults. As those adults strive to continue earning, they’ll want to continue learning.

This is a very good option for teachers who wanted to pursue higher learning but refrain due to the already busy life they run with their teaching careers. Distance learning or online education can provide them with the many available options to develop their skills and their careers.

 

By: Grace M. Ruiz | Teacher III | Balut Elementary School | Orion, Bataan