The Importance of Distance Education in 2024: Why It Matters

Getting a diploma from the comfort of their home is a unique opportunity for modern students who have a lot of time to spend on the Internet.

But can distance learning, with all its advantages, compete in efficiency with traditional, in-person education? Here we will discuss the advantages of distance learning at university and what technologies facilitate distance higher education.

This is a format for obtaining higher education mainly through self-study. In this case, the curriculum is learnt online using online platforms or other technologies. Online calling services, chat rooms and collaboration programmes are used to communicate with lecturers and classmates.

The UAE and many other MENA countries recognize and accept degrees obtained through online learning at reputable and recognized educational institutions. Many universities worldwide offer distance education programs recognized by the UAE Ministry of Education. Students can obtain Undergraduate or Postgraduate degrees through distance education without any non-validation of their degree program.

Obtaining higher education in an online format corresponds to the widespread technological progress and the needs of modern students. Young people prefer to choose their own profession and educational institution, organize their own work schedule and combine study and work.

Advantages:

• It is convenient to combine work with studying.
• The ability to stay in your own city or country.
• Flexible learning process — the chance to study whenever you have free time and desire.
• There is no need to practice missed lectures and copy notes from your classmates.
• Necessary study materials are provided to all students.
• Tuition is cheaper than full-time study, but the diploma is the same.

The main drawback is the stereotypes and perception from the outside. Many employers are often distrustful of such graduates. Distance learning seems frivolous, even though the diploma does not contain any marks about the distance learning format.

Disadvantages:

• It is not possible to experience the life of a student, socialize with classmates (online only) and participate in university activities.
• You have to be confident in your own discipline and willpower to avoid being lazy.

With the spread of the Internet, all the necessary materials for learning come to the student digitally, not by mail, as it was 10-15 years ago. For this purpose, the university develops its own educational platform or uses third-party services.

Tools and Resources for Students of Online Programs:

• Webinars and Live Broadcasts
• Educational Videos
• Online Seminars and Lectures
• Libraries of Digital Content
• Online Communication with Faculty Members
• End-of-Term Tests

Educators need to produce most of these materials from scratch themselves: record a video lecture, teach an online lesson or film a workshop. In order not to waste the time of busy teachers, many universities use ready-made solutions, such as Jalinga video studio. With Jalinga's help, every educator can easily record a video in a matter of hours.

All the equipment is tested and set up before filming: the person involved in the recording only has to prepare a special presentation, which will be part of the finished video lesson.

However, the training videos produced in Jalinga are not the tedious "talking head" recordings; they are full-fledged interactive video content. During the recording, the speaker can interact with elements of their presentation: move, resize, hide them and bring them back. The glass touch board in Jalinga studio allows you to draw and highlight the main points of your presentation. At the end of the filming, you get a finished video file that requires no additional processing or editing.