Dr. Wasif Syed, Founder and CEO, Ivy League Advisor, the most innovative educational and leadership development firm
Technological advances in synchronous and asynchronous learning approaches have revolutionized how students learn and assimilate information. With the advent of MOOCs and online platforms, there has been a lot of discourse of online education replacing traditional learning. No matter how advanced technology gets, nothing can replace the existential experience of learning in a school or university campus. There are enumerable benefits of a student learning in a collegiate environment including peer-to-peer learning. Interacting with other students is priceless. Students learn as much from each other as they do from their professors. Technology certainly catalyzes convergence to a more inclusive society by eliminating barriers to information globally. Online tools ultimately complement traditional learning not replace it and no doubt learning is enhanced by novel tools and MOOCs. However, riding the “online bandwagon” blinds many into thinking that online education is a substitute for learning in a collegiate environment. It isn’t.