Online learning
Also called: E-learning · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 7 "Factors of Production"
Meaning
Online learning means courses delivered through technology, such as the internet, a phone or a computer. A learner can study from anywhere, at their own pace, and often alongside a job or another course. It matters because it removes the barrier of distance. A student in a small village can reach the same knowledge and skills as one in a big city. This helps build human capital, which means the skills and knowledge that make workers more productive.
Example
India's SWAYAM platform (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) offers free MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses, meaning open courses that anyone can join online) from Grade 9 onwards. A girl in rural Odisha can take a SWAYAM course in aquaculture or textile printing on her phone in the evenings, while still helping on the family farm.
Don't confuse with
- National Career Service portal: this is a job portal that helps people find work, from plumbing to accounting. Online learning platforms like SWAYAM teach skills. They do not match people to jobs.
Related concepts
- Skill gap
- Skill mismatch
- Employability
- Vocational education
- Apprenticeship
- Upskilling
- Reskilling
- Recognition of prior learning
- NEET