By Rayyan Tilde
Since the start of the internet era, our civilization has been experiencing a great change in the way we do almost everything. From the way we communicate, to what we eat, down to how we entertain ourselves. Every sector has changed drastically since the advent of technology. Educational sector is one of the few sectors that is yet to be seriously disrupted by technology. I believe technology will continue to disrupt the way we do and see things even to the extent of fully actualizing what Huxley portrayed in his book (Brave New World).
The way things are taught today is [in some areas] the same as they were taught 200 years back or even the way Fatima bint Muhammad Al-Fihriya founded the world’s first university in 895 CE in Fez. That is about to change with online universities — the platforms that are ushering a new era of learning.
What’s an Online University?
An Online University, like any other conventional university, is an authorized place where you can study and earn your First, Masters and even Doctorate degrees. The major difference is that it is done remotely by using the internet as a medium that connects you with the university.
Challenge
The Online University like any other new thing before it, is still yet to be fully accepted by people especially in Africa. It’s clearly written in many traditions that humans tend to stick to what they are used to. They tend to perceive it as being safe while portraying the new one as being unpromising. Calestous Juma in his book “Innovation and its Enemies”, mentioned 10 innovations that were heavily criticized when they came into existence. He explained how coffee was rejected, Tractors, Electricity, printing of the Quran and other innovations.
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A more recent example is how many scholars rejected the idea of listening to the Quran on a radio, regarding those that did that as apostates. Great Imams like Sheikh Ibrahim Niass had to go through a lot to convince the ummah that it is absolutely fine to listen to the Quran on a radio.
In 1892, John Froelich introduced the first tractor to replace the animals that were used on the farm, there was a great resistance from those that were using the incumbent source of farm power that had reached its biological capability, especially those that were fixated in the business of selling oxen and mules that work on the farm.
Today, it will totally be funny to find someone that’s against the above mentioned innovations as far as he is in a civilized society. An Austrian economist, Joseph Schumpeter, concluded in one of his researches that “Resistance to new technologies is often frowned upon as a temporary phenomenon that is inevitably overcome by technological progress”. I believe online universities will become more accepted as the technology used in the platform improves. With the progress that’s being made in fields like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, it is now possible for a university to teach its students basic practicals with Augmented Reality and a more complex one with a VR headset — from their homes. Though VR headsets are expensive now, I believe they’ll soon be available at a more affordable rate.
Advantages
According to BioHistory, new things emerge when humans reach a limit, thus being stressed which will then force them into finding a better solution, they considered it to be the building block of civilization — according to a research they did about the roman civilization and the modern-day western civilization.
I consider it to be a miracle from our Lord (SWT). For instance: With Farm mechanization, He saw how our population was increasing, if it were to increase without a creative way of producing farm produce for us to eat, there would have been a great hunger globally. Same with the way we study. If you look at the number of students that are trying to have a degree, there’s no way they can fit into our conventional university system without a compromise in the standard of learning. Online universities will be able to solve this since the platforms are tailored to appeal to every student in an individualistic manner.
Elon Musk’s Starlink is a device that uses satellite technology to deliver internet connectivity to anyone that’s using it at any point on this planet. This type of technology will help in allowing people in remote areas to still benefit from this system of learning.
Advantage – Finance
With Online Universities, you don’t have to worry about the cost of accommodation, feeding, transportation and other expenses that you may incur if you were to study away from home. This means one can study in a university that’s in the United Kingdom while he lives in an environment where life is extremely cheap.
Many online universities now allow students to enroll for a single course at a time. This makes it easier for students who can’t afford to pay for a complete program, by allowing them to take their courses as funds become available to them.
Advantage – Morality
I believe it is the fear of every right-thinking parent that their child will leave their home and go to a place where his upbringing will be challenged by the influence of other people — if they are to enroll in a conventional university.
Online Universities in Nigeria
There are a few number of accredited online universities in Nigeria, the one I can attest to, after researching both online and offline is the one from ABU Zaria. They offer a variety of courses and the best part is, they offer the same certificate as that of the students in-campus.
Conclusion
In the next 20 years, I believe online universities are going to dominate the educational system. The fact that someone from my village at Tilde or any other place on earth — as far as he is connected to the internet, can be able to enroll in a university anywhere on this planet and graduate will make life easier for everyone.
Rayyan Tilde
17.07.2022
