Why distance learning is becoming increasingly popular?

Distance learning is experiencing a boom in the whole world, especially after the rise of COVID-19. Millions of students were counted (in the USA alone) of distance learning universities. The other reasons are varied and quite surprising. Even the medicine interview course is available online at https://www.medicmind.co.uk/interview-online-course/. Let’s dig out from the past to the current situation

In 2010, 90,000 students were still enrolled in distance learning universities, and in 2016 there were already 160,000 students. Distance learning is becoming increasingly popular. According to a study by the International University of Applied Science (IUBH), the distance learning sector, with an annual growth of almost seven percent, is one of the fastest growing sectors in the education market. There are many reasons. On the one hand, life is getting faster and faster and lifelong learning is required from students and employees. Anyone who wants to advance professionally has to continue their education permanently. Especially people who are tied to work or family, but still want to develop, often have no other option than to complete distance learning as a self-study.

Many distance universities and distance universities compete with each other

The largest distance university is Hagen with more than 74,000 students enrolled. It is also the only state university in Germany. There are a number of competing providers in the private sector. In 2005, the Hagen University was the first private remote university to be accredited by the Science Council.

According to the IUBH study, the motives for distance learning differ greatly from face-to-face studies, i.e. permanent studies at a college or university. For a face-to-face course, for example, the individual interests of the students are of decisive importance. According to the IUBH study, the most important reasons for taking up distance learning are “71.4%, the improvement in individual chances on the labor market, closely followed by career advancement opportunities (71.1%) and personal development (67.9%). Financial improvements through the acquisition of a university degree follow in fourth place with 57.7%, the deepening of technical qualifications in fifth place with 53.5%”. One could therefore conclude that face-to-face study is a more emotional decision and that distance learning is more of a practical constraint.

Advance your career with distance learning

The 2020 distance learning trend study by the IUBH comes to a similar conclusion: “In comparison to the previous trend study, some trends can be identified. Career-relevant factors and goals, in particular better job market opportunities (+ 8.9 percentage points) and career advancement (+ 9.6 percentage points) within or outside of the current company, play an increasingly important role in the decision for distance learning.” So distance learning as a career driver is the best option for going grooming students and professionals.

Self-study at a distance learning university also allows you to remain flexible – regardless of time and place. For example, distance learning can also be completed abroad, during a longer trip, or it can be interrupted. Usually this does not even make the course more expensive. Single mothers or people who want to continue their education alongside their job can also complete a degree in this way.

High competition among distance universities and distance universities

Fierce competition has arisen for the large education market in the field of distance learning. Whoever reaches the potential students best, gets the most. As the IUBH study shows, the Internet is now playing the central role. Correspondingly, 70.5 percent found their degree program via search engines on the Internet. The area of ​​print is largely left behind. In 2019, 29.2 percent of students found their degree in remote or distant learning education system, compared to only 3.1 percent in 2016.

Successful education: The secret lies in the family

Education is the key issue of the future. Children should learn as early as possible in order to later become strong personalities as adults and to be among the best. At the same time, however, more and more pupils are leaving school without a qualification, and an army of young people can only achieve their goal with tutoring.

What is the secret to successful education? Beyond all current school reform debates, international educators, sociologists and neurobiologists dealt with this question at a weekend conference of the family network. And they all always come to one point: the family.

“Without attachment there is no education” is the motto of the Canadian developmental psychologist Prof. Gordon Neufeld. Many children are no longer able to learn from mistakes or to process contradicting thoughts or feelings. “These skills are not innate, but the fruit of healthy development,” says Neufeld. “Only a child who is sad and disappointed will learn from their mistakes.” The parents should also be able to say “No”, but at the same time comfort the child. Children would be fit for society not through school, but through strong bonds.

According to the sociologist Prof. Tilman Allert of the University of California, educational programs for the very young are not the way to success. The tempo pressure on the child is increased, the individual development process is no longer noticed. “In the months when the child is supposed to learn English and Chinese at the same time, they may prefer to deal with the fire salamander,” says Allert.

Instead, “hectic activity” is spreading in the parents’ homes. “Swap donations for educational success,” says the business. “Not a smile, but a grade or certificate” would be expected from the children. Instead of trusting their own experience, many parents today would become scientific “experts on parenting”. “Today there is only wisdom with an institute address,” says Allert. “In the educational process, however, you have to develop a tolerance for imperfections,” says the sociologist.

And there is something else that affects the development process of children negatively, according to Allert: the lack of boredom. “Today children are no longer able to accept boredom as part of human life.”

The brain researcher Prof. Kristian Folta from the University of Hildesheim deals with the effect of stress on learning and thinking in children. His conclusion: “It doesn’t make sense to provide targeted support in the first three years of life.” Rather, what is essential for the child’s brain at this time is “to reduce the useless that it does not need”. Because in the first 36 months of life, unnecessary nerve connections would disappear, so that the brain structure is then optimally networked.

Early childhood stress at this time is dangerous for the formation of new nerve cells and causes irreversible damage with significant long-term consequences for educational ability. Because for certain areas of the development of the brain, the time window closes after the first three years of life. Folta’s tip: Don’t let the toddler learn vocabulary, but confront a foreign language in a playful way.