Efficiency and cost considerations are driving more people to Web- based coursework as it allows the convenience of being able to study anywhere.

“There are also benefits such as more uniformity of instruction and the potential to ‘bring in an expert from anywhere’, where time and distance are no longer barriers to getting the best tuition available.

“Web-based tuition can be ‘live’ and interactive rather than just downloaded, as new technologies are enabling this,” says IDC Technologies elearning systems senior learning adviser Ric Harrison.

He stresses that online learning could transform how we learn, if not becoming a major part of the ‘blend’ of learning techniques for students.

IDC Technologies has been providing training for more than 15 years on an inter- national basis from offices around the world. In the past few years, tens of thousands of engineers, technicians and scientists have attended IDC workshops.

The institution has thousands of students enrolled in online elearning courses from all over the world and from some of the world’s largest companies.

Harrison adds that elearning is fast becoming a leading delivery method, as it introduces new technologies that encourage student interaction and participation.

For some learning areas, such as on-site experimentation, there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction. IDC Technologies boasts remote labora- tories that assist students through Web- based links to perform actual experiments on real equipment.

A 70-year-old engineer, Edwin Wakefield, from South Africa, has just successfully completed a three-month part-time course in programmable logic controllers and supervisory control and data acquisition (Scada) systems, one of a range of courses offered by IDC Technologies through distance learning.

He enrolled to expand his knowledge developed during his career in the industry and is supportive and optimistic about online learning today.

“The main advantages of online learning are convenience, accessibility and the guaran- teed availability of top-class instructors.

“Attending live evening classes can have certain advantages, provided the quality of the instruction is up to standard. “This may not always be the case. “Unless one’s place of work is close to where the course is presented, attending live classes can suffer from [the disadvantage of a] lack of convenience and accessibility,” says Wakefield.

Working Knowledge

He notes that the course was “extremely engaging and interactive” and he had achieved his goal of gaining a working knowledge that he had been lacking for too long.

Harrison warns that it is important to realise that elearning is not a quick fix solution. Success will depend upon commitment, discipline and the time spent in study and practice.