How Nigeria Can Attain National Development By Bettering Science And Technology Education

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It is believed that national development can be achieved that progress of manpower, which is possible only with the help of education. Formal education offered by schools and colleges can enable children for poor backgrounds to compete with wealthy kids. Hence it is important that we teach science and technological education to our students so that our countries can make further technological and scientific advancements.

Need For Better Science And Technology Education

 

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According to studies, science and technology education is integral to the development of industrialisation and civilisation. In the last few years, global technological advancement has increased to a great extent. As more innovative and creative approaches are being adopted, geographical boundaries, political and social inclinations are getting eroded.

It is imperative that we continuously strive to keep improving the quality of education in science, technology and mathematics. Studies show that China, India, Korea, Brazil and Singapore are the fastest developing economies. All these countries have significantly invested in developing education and enhancing technological skills. However, the government of Nigeria does not consider science and technology education to be of importance regarding investment in offering sufficient funding, infrastructure and training of workers. With a strong science and technology education programme, a country can achieve remarkable national development. Even though successive governments in Nigeria were aligned with the National Policy on education, the country is still lagging behind.

Reviewing The Curricula

 

Fortunately, the national government has taken steps to restructure curricula in primary schools and secondary schools, with initial learning in core science and technology. Moreover, almost 34 trade subjects were also incorporated for inspiring practical skills in Nigerian learners. It has been expected that different stakeholders in this sector would come together and work to make this curricula effective. The objectives of schools for science and technology must meet the worldwide standards, use proper scientific principles and processes in taking personal decisions, intelligently get involved in public discourse, take part in debates regarding scientific and technological concerns, and boosting economic productivity by utilising scientific skills, understanding and knowledge.

Nigeria needs to improve its mathematics, science and technology education if the nation wants to compete globally and remain relevant. There is also a strong need for enabling teachers and students in Nigeria to get used to latest approaches in teaching and learning. Furthermore, necessary steps must also be taken to improve student performances as Nigerian students have performed poorly in science subjects in the recent NECO, SSCE  and JAMB tests.

Collaboration Of Educators And Government

 

Experts suggest that the Nigerian education system must try to involve engineers, technologists, technicians and tradesmen, whenever possible, as educators or facilitators in science and technology in our schools. The country can learn from the examples set by United States of America and Japan, where science and technology education have been promoted effectively. The scenario of Nigeria is not drastically different; hence we can develop the situation by following political will, total commitment and the culture of sincerity of purpose in the effective execution of admirable policies.

Moreover, the government should also create provisions for sharing funds and resources adequately in the education sector to meet global practices and standards. By taking the right steps, Nigeria can follow a successful path to provide enhanced science and technology education to all students in the nation.

Want to share your own views on the Nigerian education sector?Then feel free to comment in the box below.

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Study Online MBA While Working a Full Time Job

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So you are planning to go for an online MBA programme while working on a full time job? This is certainly a great idea for your future career but you should be prepared for facing some serious challenges in accomplishing your goals. Although initially you may feel that the load of an online course for a higher education programme will be rather light and easily manageable; however as your classes progress you will realise how daunting it is to balance your full time job and the online course.

But along with these challenges, you will also receive excellent opportunities for your personal and professional growth. Thus it is necessary that you learn to balance your work life and your education in order to succeed at your mission with comprising on either one. The knowledge and skills that you will gain in your online MBA course will improve your efficiency at work. Moreover, your experience from your full time job will enable you to perform better in your management studies. Thus you need to develop some effective strategies that will help you to prepare for unexpected difficulties and potential challenges and overcome them successfully in order to achieve your educational and professional goals.

These following tips will help you to balance your studies and your job in a simple and efficient manner.

Manage Your Time Effectively

As you have to balance your studies and your current job, you need to properly divide your time to make sure that you perform excellently in both areas. If you tend to procrastinate, then it will create serious problems for you in the future. Plan and organise your meetings and deadlines from your work and tests and assignments from your MBA course so that you can keep track of important deadlines. You must schedule specific times for your study which you will follow regularly and diligently. Pursuing an online MBA can be great only if you manage to maintain your efficiency in both your work and studies.

Be Prepared for Unexpected Problems

It is important that you foresee all potential problems that might crop up once you begin attending your online classes. Predict all the small things that might create a major obstacle in your studies. Planning for probable difficulties will help you to figure out the respective solutions to each problem. Prepare back up plans in case your schedules go awry which can create inconvenience in your work or studies. Once you have planned ahead for unforeseen challenges then it will become much easier for you to balance your work and your education.

Apply Your Knowledge

It is imperative that you apply your knowledge from your online MBA course into your workplace while you continue your education. This will help you to understand the topics and become a better manager and team leader. Furthermore you will know how to apply your skills and knowledge successfully when it is required. Apart from this, you also need to apply your work experience into your studies. While you are working on case studies for your online course, your own personal experience at the workplace will help you to understand the topics and subjects easily and solve the problems provided to you.

As a result you will be able to hone your managerial and leadership abilities. Moreover, the valuable lessons you will learn from your mentors, teachers and fellow students will improve your leadership skills which can be beneficial for your career.

Improve Excellent Presentation Skills

Strong and excellent public speaking skills is necessary for a successful manager and team leader. Hence you need to develop and customize the content and quality of your presentations according to the requirements and interests of your clients and teachers. Having good presentation skills will enable you to grab the attention of your viewers and create an impact. You need to practice beforehand to know about the timing and delivery of the presentation. You must remain confident and enthusiastic so that you can deliver your message perfectly.

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Improve Your Networking Skills

Throughout your MBA course and your professional career, you will meet several other professionals whose support and advice can help you to achieve further success. Prepare a list of those people, whether seniors from work, colleagues, peers or fellow students with whom you would like to associate and network better. Find out more information about them and contact them proactively. Increasing and building your professional network will open up great new opportunities for you in the future.

Improve Your Self Confidence

It is very important that you have sufficient self confidence in order to struggle with the several challenges of balancing full time work and online education. You will need to stay focused on your final goal as it can be easy to get distracted after some time.

Instead of concentrating on the negative aspects and challenges, focus on the advantages of pursuing an online MBA and its benefits your career and personal life. Your attitude will have a great impact on the success of your education and work. 

Using Social Media makes you more Employable

 

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Do you think that once you become a graduate, you will get your dream job? Believe it or not, it’s a daunting task because it’s not only you who is having such plans for career development but there are countless individuals who are in the same queue. So, there has to be an avenue that would let you proceed faster than others participating in the race for achieving prosperous careers. In other words, you need to make yourself more and more employable with the passage of time.

Social media – a key tool to allure employers

Social media can act as a key tool. It’s no surprise that you keep posting something or the other in Facebook or Twitter regarding your personal or professional matters. In fact, you keep texting through Skype and nowadays through Whatsapp to remain connected to your friends and dear ones. So, in a way, this works wonders in letting you sustain a healthy social life. Well, the same can be done to bring your employers in notice.

University of Northampton’s head of the employability service, Lynn Finn said that it’s really important for students to make use of social media to enhance their career prospects. “It's so easy for an employer to check your social media profiles and if they can see you're following their company on Twitter and interacting with professionals, it shows them you're more likely to understand their company's values”, he said.

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Boost your profile in a smarter way

Certainly, social media in today’s world can absolutely boost your profile in a smarter way than you can ever imagine. If you ask how, here are a few instances. Suppose, you are an entrepreneur and you want to make your business global. Simply create a blog of your own, post it in a social networking site and tweet it to local business experts. This is an initiative that would let everyone in your field know as what you are up to.

One of Nottingham Trent University’s graduates in graphic design, Rachel Davies said that creating a blog is indeed a superb way of making employers know as how you are preparing prior to appearing for the interview. She was rather confident in saying that it was her blog that would help him grab her internship. 

Blogs can instead be so helpful that they can:

-         make one get accustomed to writing on a regular basis

-         lets one achieve more and more confidence before facing the interviewer

-         For someone who is into journalism can hence showcase one’s journalistic skills through his/her blog.

-         Adding one’s blog to one’s CV always helps the employer realise the potential of the candidate

 

In fact, the ones who can benefit the most from blogging are the online learners. In fact, the working professionals who try so hard to manage time for their work and studies can adopt the blogging strategy to remain exposed to more employment opportunities. Moreover, where experts have predicted 2014 to initiate new trends in social media, it will surely act as a more effective tool for employment.

Smart Strategies to Monitor Online University Students

Being an online instructor, how wisely will you be able to monitor each and every student of yours? To be precise, if you have been assigned the job of handling a huge class of university students, what ways would you adopt to get your job done with ease?

Well, if you are clueless, here are a few ways that would let you know how online universities today actually prefer monitoring a huge database of students. Take a look:

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Social networking – Needless to say, Facebook, G+, LinkedIn and similar other social networking sites have brought massive changes in the education scenario over the years. In fact, these social networks have proved how flexible and effective is online learning in comparison to that in classrooms. Now, online university instructors can ask their students to share news, data or videos online through which it will be clear whether students are taking interest in their lessons.

• Degree Compass System – Have you come across grade predictors? Well, online universities have become super advanced in using grade predictors. These modernised tools say as what grades can be achieved potentially by their students. What the system strongly recommends is that it determines the right course with which students need to graduate. Plenty of universities have started using the degree compass system that is gradually popularising with time.
• Tracking library attendance – One of the best ways today’s virtual universities are following to monitor performances of students is using the library attendance tracker. According to university administrators, one’s learning activities are determined by analysing his/her class attendance, information related to assignment submission. The university will also be checking how consistently students are borrowing books and visiting libraries.



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• Building online network – Saving students from dropping out is no doubt one of the major concerns of a university. Therefore, what today’s university administrators are doing is building virtual networks through which they are giving special guidance and advice to students. In fact, some universities also initiate networks where they involve staff, parents and even student leaders who come up with wise suggestions for all those who have fears of dropping out universities.

Apart from these strategies, online universities have student support teams who keep receiving queries of students every now and then. Through these queries, the universities come to know about the various obstacles that are not able to make students achieve their career goals.

So, there are a lot of strategies in reality that are designed to keep track of each and every student online. You just need to know the right one that can make your job easier. Remember, teaching students online is always fun since it’s not only the students whom you will be equipping with modern learning strategies but you too will be taking pleasure in educating others in an unconventional manner. It’s nothing but a big reality.

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See How an Online Degree in Graphic Design can Exploit your Hidden Creativity

If you want to turn your artistic creativity into your lifelong career, your job satisfaction is fully guaranteed. Now, in this age, where everything is run by communication technology, one of the best fields where your artistic creativity would be best demonstrated is in the profession as a designer. But, as a designer working with information technology, you must excel in graphics. Your sense of creativity enriched with by your graphics qualification can create designs to inspire and influence the world. And at the same time, a good qualification in graphic design can prepare you for an attractive career in designing sphere.

Now, so far acquiring required qualification is concerned, always go for an online degree in graphic design from an internationally recognised institute. The benefit of your doing so will be multi-faceted.

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• First of all, you will be taught by the award-winning creative faculty who are best in the world. In the sphere of graphic designing, newer developments come into being every day. Until and unless you acquire the most updated knowledge and techniques in this field you cannot expect to reproduce your creative imagination in concrete shapes and sizes. Faculty members in any international school ensure that they are the best people in their respective areas.

• Doing your graphic designing course online from an international institute you can experience a world class learning programme with remarkably low expense. You can save up to 60% of tuition fees of what you would have to pay for any international on campus institute.

• You will learn to use the most advanced software and hardware which include Adobe Creative Suite.

• The virtual learning platform that you and your fellow students can enjoy accessing 24/7, will provide you maximum convenience and flexibility to learn whenever and from wherever you want.

Work Experience is Everything

In today’s world, you cannot expect lucrative job openings immediately after you complete your graphic design course. You need sufficient work experience to impress big employers. Your decision to go for an online degree in graphic design will prove equally beneficial for you, in this regard. The huge time you get by studying as per the flexible routine, you can translate the time into sufficient work experience by joining any relevant full-time job or apprenticeships. The experience you get endowed with through practical work gives you enormous advantage over your offline peers, and that will be your huge advantage in the job competition.

Career Options

Being a skilled graphic designer, you will see many job roles open to yourself. You can be hired by design consultancies, studios, media houses. In advertising sector, you can get the role of creative designer and work to promote various ideas and images in favour of your agency and its clients.

In a publishing house you can be hired as a designer for designing books, magazines, journal, newspaper etc. In a website designing organisation your role will be to create web pages impressively.

Studying your graphic designing online, you can turn multiple advantages to your favour. This creative stream of study will be much more interesting when learnt from the global masters congregated in reputed international schools.

Private Colleges: Decline in Enrolments sees a Dip

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"I think it's fair to say 30 percent of these private schools won't exist in a decade." - Jonathan Henry, vice president of enrolment, Husson University, Bangor, Maine (Source: goo.gl/j1clVw)

This quote is proving to be truer than the truth. If you follow the trends of private college enrolments, you will see how badly it has been suffering. As an educator, I find it important to follow any kind of news related to the education system and an article on the declining rate of enrolment in private colleges is what caught my eye. With the steady decline in enrolment from 2010-13, around 45 colleges have joined hands with other institutions in order to survive and sustain their position.

How are the colleges responding?

I further read that at Husson University, enrolments in 2013 were 10% lower than they were in 2009. This figure was rather alarming and I couldn’t believe the situation private schools were in. It was also mentioned that the schools that were struggling or hanging by a thread were either surviving with mergers, pay cuts, new recruitment plans or were finding answers with layoffs and closure.

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Other ways in which colleges responding

Also, many colleges responded differently. For example, ‘single-sex’ colleges were becoming co-ed, to attract more students; other colleges went to high schools, outside the country, trying to attract rich students who were willing to cross borders. Also, some universities are offering part scholarships to students who schedule a campus tour, hence attracting more students.

The affects of the decline

The reason for the decline of enrolment seems to be affecting all of us. There is a great decline in people graduating from school and that decline seems like it will continue in future. Another major reason for the decline is the advancement of technology and online learning substitutes which is upsetting profit margins as well as costs, student debt seems to be on the rise as the job market seems to be falling for graduates and incomes are starting to stagnate.

The impact of technology on physical schools

As I read on, I also saw how technology has invaded the education system, leaving little room for physical colleges to grow. In future, the physical colleges will lessen due to the mergers and bankruptcies, but students will get various choices to complete their education. In future, students will get the opportunity to take a combination of various courses through different modes of study, traditional, blended, and online or even through MOOCs. In fact, according to a study conducted by American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 14% (around 3 million) students are completing their graduation online, whereas 30% of the students take at least one class online. The online headcount has increased by 53% at the College of DuPage, since 2009. While this is brilliant news for students who find it easier to study online, it is bad news for physical private colleges.

The future... As employers these days are accepting online degrees and certificates and as online college courses are flexible, more affordable and more convenient, people have started picking online college courses instead of traditional college courses. Though this may be grim for traditional colleges, it is a beacon of hope for those who cannot afford to go to traditional college. After thinking for a while, I came to the conclusion that as technology is taking over the world probably this is a good thing but embracing technology completely will leave no room for the institutions that have existed for such a long time and have contributed in a large way. What is fair is rather inconclusive. So all we can do, is wait and watch, and adjust with time.

A Promising Future is Waiting for the Online Learners, asserts Bill Gates

It’s not only educators and new age learners who have started accepting the increasing benefits of studying online but eminent business leaders like Bill Gates and Jack Welch are also humming the same tune. Although virtual schooling has not been able to replace the education system operated in brick and mortar institutions, reports are clearly stating that online learners have a promising future.

It was Gates who promised through his annual letter in 2010 that he would be financing for all those projects that would lead to the development in online learning. The previous decade was thoroughly dedicated to e-learning that has now achieved recognition at various corners of the globe. In fact, what has now been found is that the homeschoolers are currently updating themselves through online learning curriculum. Even a lot of charter schools have come up with online programmes for making students complete their education flexibly and affordably.

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The vice president of public relations for K12, Jeff Kwitowski, says “In the last five years, online learning has become much more proven and mainstream. It's differentiated, engaging, and it really provides the ideal situation for many students.” On the other hand, another group of researchers, Ambient Insight, showed that around 10.5 million students will be taking at least a few online classes by 2014 through a high school.

Predictions moreover say:

Students will be accessing quality content

Concept of educational technology would be encouraged

Online learning communities would constantly enhance their activities

Students would strengthen their knowledge base

According to Forbes, significant developments will keep continuing by bringing more and more resources for education. Both educators and students would be getting more resources for open education and the OER resources will keep scoring high in terms of their quality on a quarterly basis.

Forbes says:

- Over 400 institutions have adopted texts ensuring high quality within a shorter time period

- Texts have been downloaded more than 400,000 times which is indeed a stunning figure for the current academia 

- Over $5.5 million students have been able to complete their education with absolute safety 

(Source: onforb.es/1g4dP6y)

Now, what initiatives should be taken to realise the career goals of today’s learners?

Students, educators, technologists and producers must collaborate to meet these goals, and this is where the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) will have to play an active role. On taking this initiative, leaders from different backgrounds and cultures will gather together and will hence form a global network. Once this happens:

• a lot of innovations would be implemented

• new connections would be established

• unfulfilled goals would be easily achieved

So, the future of online education doesn’t look bleak at all. Rather, the data presented here must act as an inspiration for the new age learners who have plans to take up online courses for higher studies. Virtual learning has already become a noticeable trend which will successfully replace traditional education without effort.

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How Online Distance Learning Changes Education in the Caribbean

Looking back at the education trends in the past couple of decades, what do you see? A classroom, hundreds of students scurrying here and there and a tutor delivering a dull monologue. And all this was available only to the ones who could afford to go to university. The bricks-and-mortar education system that was restricted to privileged people had little to offer to learners coming from less affluent backgrounds.

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With the innovation brought by the Internet, most impediments to education have been removed. Students can now access information whenever they want and learn wherever they are in the world.

RDI supports hundreds of Caribbean students to fulfil their dreams

RDI’s vision is to change people’s world through innovative learning by delivering UK university courses that fit around work and family. Their convenient learning programmes cost up to 60% less than traditional, on campus universities and provide lifetime opportunities to many residing in Caribbean countries.

Josina France

“My experience with RDI was excellent. The enrolment and course selection process went smoothly. The financial cost of the program was affordable, and because of this I did not have to obtain a loan or seek financial assistance from my place of employment”, says Josina France who got her MBA degree from the University of Sunderland through RDI.

She found studying online a wonderful experience, which enabled her to achieve a UK university degree from the comfort of her home in Antigua and Barbuda.

“I would recommend RDI to anyone who intends to obtain a degree through distance learning because of its credibility; the professionalism and level of support given by the staff; the flexibility it offers to study, and the affordable cost of the programmes”.

(Source: http://www.rdicaribbean.com/student-experience/)

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Advantages of studying by distance learning through RDI

• Expert academic tutors and dedicated programme co-ordinators guide you throughout your studies to help give context to your learning.
• RDI gives you the support you need to achieve a degree from an accredited UK university. And pursuing an online qualification from a well reputed UK university rewards you with a degree that is recognised all over the world and could boost your career and earnings.
• Tuition fees are 30-60% less than campus learning in a UK University.
• Flexible payment options such as Pay-as-you-go and instalments are available to make learning more affordable.
• Access to an international network of students that enables you to share knowledge, bounce ideas and career opportunities.

MOOCs: A Cheaper Alternative To Higher Education

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MOOCs are certainly taking the world of education by storm. They are providing keen students a platform to continue their education. MOOCs are becoming so popular that some of the biggest universities have agreed to provide backing for many of their courses. Students these days are looking for cheaper alternative to colleges and universities as college fees are going up by the day and some students can’t travel to universities to earn their education. Through MOOCs, they can sit at home and complete their higher education.

 Here are a few interesting facts about MOOCs.

• Just four months after the launch, Coursera had a million users signed up
• In a MOOC, 61.5 percent of the students who enrol are from countries outside USA
• Coursera presently has 62 universities partnering them and a total of 3.3 million students who have enrolled from over 196 countries
• Out of the students who have enrolled, 70 percent already have a bachelor’s degree or higher qualifications
• Countries like China, Brazil, India, UK and Canada boast of a high percentage of student enrolments
• Out of all the students enrolled, at least 50 percent are of the age 26 or more
• 80 percent of the students take these online courses for credit
• A downside of MOOCs is that, they do not offer credits. However, that may change very soon
• MOOCs don’t require tuition fees, meaning, they are free and around 86 percent of MOOCs do not require text books

Professors who teach at MOOCs

• 2/3 of the professors are tenured
• 73 percent of the professors who teach at MOOCs own the content of their courses
• A majority of the professors teaching at MOOCs have teaching experience of 10 years or more
• The professors who teach at MOOCs spend 100 hours in prepping for each class
• To make higher education more attainable, 71.8 percent of professors taught a MOOC
• The professors who teach at a MOOC spend about eight hours, each week, ‘in class’
• 50 percent of the professors think that online classes have the same difficulty level as traditional classes but 70 percent do not agree with the fact that the students ought to get credit from their home institute
• Every class has around 33,000 students enrolled in it

The year 2012 came to be known as the year of the MOOC as the foundation rose rapidly in that one year. Critics may say that MOOCs are unreliable but supporters believe that MOOCs will change the face of the education system. Some also believe that MOOC is the future of education. A student, who attends a traditional college, spends hundreds on textbooks but 86 percent of the professors don’t even require text books, making the MOOC a cheaper option for students.

Majority of the professors who teach at MOOCs say that they had to change the way they taught in class after teaching at MOOCs and the change was for the better. So basically, MOOCs are on a high and very soon will become a ‘complete’ institution, changing the face of education.

What’s In Store For E-learning In The Near Future?

 

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Have you ever seen that how your Facebook profile page and your Yahoo and Gmail accounts show you advertisements of what you have been searching for on the web most of the time? This is how they have tailor made their services in order to attract most of their customers. The same way, even technology is now trying to promote the field of education by making everything easier for the learners. Learners, the major chunk of customers for the universities worldwide, are the ones who should be at ease while getting the degree. Hence, online learning will become all the more mainstream and advanced in the coming days.

Personal digitised profiles

It is being predicted that all the learners in future will have their own online profiles which will mark their every single skills, credentials and will help to update their knowledge. This digitised profile will be with them all through and they will be able to carry it along with them through school, college, university as well as at their workplaces. This will help them to keep an eye on their own development and this will also led them make necessary changes on their personal profiles.

Learning with sophistication

Online study will become the most sophisticated way of getting educated. The digitised learning profiles will make for much more accurate assessments of the learners. The profiles will have a much more accurate digitalised representation of the learners and this will make assessments easier for the various employers in recruiting them. This way, the learners will not have to keep a huge file for all the certificates, results, etc and they will not even have to worry about the documents getting missing or spoil in the long run.

MOOCs will be in schools

I am just guessing this but who knows, this might be true as well. These days, a lot of schools have already incorporated the concept of BYODS (Bring Your Own Device), where the learners need to bring their own electronic gadgets in the classroom for studying. Remember the days when our teachers wouldn’t even allow us to bring a calculator? But times have now changed and it will change even further. In the coming days, the Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs might take over the schools as well. Our grandchildren might not even have to visit schools at all. Everything might happen on the web. Who knows, the brick and mortar learning institutions might not even be constructed only.

University developments

There will be several developments at the university level. Smart Science Initiative, which is a kind of collaboration between the Smart Sparrow, high school teachers and the Australian universities in order to develop interactive and rich study contents, will bring online education in the school classrooms in the coming days. Also, the University of Melbourne will launch an all new personalised learning initiative for the medical education. Likewise, there will be many other developments which will take over the learning institutions.

All these above predictions are all guesses by me. However, with the ongoing changes in the education industry, it is but obvious that the learning industry will develop more with time. But we need to wait and watch. Online mode of study has a long way to go and there is no denying of the fact that it will become much more conventional in the coming days.