Virtual Learning – The Arising Phoenix

With the onset of COVID-19, social distancing will become a norm and this impacts many fields (till a vaccine is found) – Office Hubs, Tourism, Restaurants, Travel & On-Premises Education (schools, colleges & universities) etc.

Yes! You read it right : On-Premises Education are impacted temporarily due to

• delayed re-opening of institutions
• travel restrictions
• constraints on desk spacing in classroom (due to social distancing)

Though things will turn to normalcy in sometime, what to do till then?

Answer is Virtual Learning (also called Online Education or e-Learning)!

In mythology, Phoenix is a long lived bird that is reborn from its ashes. Virtual Learning is one such that has reborn and has always bettered since 2000.

With the rapid expansion of Internet, this is one field which never loses its sheen – even during such uncertainty.

The intent of this article is not to compare On-Premises vs Virtual Learning because some will prefer one over the other. It is to create awareness on how to utilize free & paid online courses

Virtual Learning – Who does it help?

Note: Unlike On-Premises (Classroom based environment – where teachers & friends collaborate and motivate you to learn), online courses will be helpful to self-starters i.e who self-motivates to do things.

Requirements: All that you need is Good Internet, Device (Mobile or Laptop) and self-motivation

Virtual Learning helps:

1. Students who want affordable and quality education – to complete a Bachelor’s / Master’s degree of your choice
2. Professionals who want to learn and upgrade specific skillsets :
   • To be updated with market trend
   • For a change in Career
3. People who want to explore Entrepreneurship or market your passion/hobby

Which Universities & Companies provide Virtual Learning?

US universities like:

• MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• Harvard University
• Standford University

Indian universities like:

• IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)
• IIM (Indian Institute of Management)

Companies like:

• Microsoft
• Amazon Web Services
• Google

Types of Virtual Learning:

1. Free Courses : Self-paced learning (learn at your own time)
   • MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses
2. Paid Courses – Self-paced & Live Web-Conferencing at affordable fees
   • Bachelor's or Master's Full Degree
   • Professional Certification – Specialized & Focused topics (accredited with a certificate)
   • Passion/Hobby enhancing Skills – Blogging, Videography etc

Details about each program (provided by Top Virtual Learning providers) will be explained in the next set of articles.

On a personal note, if you are not a self-starter – it is time to be! During such uncertainty with COVID-19, be one among the brave as we have to do things differently!

As Ronald Reagan, former US President, once said

The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.

Grab such learning opportunities or create awareness about such learning methodologies with people who are in need of this. Together we will definitely overcome this pandemic.

Happy e-learning and Stay safe!