Online education has definitely brought about positive changes on how students learn effectively and efficiently. It is also fast gaining popularity for the convenience and flexibility that it provides students.
It has helped a lot of working adults finish their degrees, whether graduate or post-graduate, and continue with their respective careers at the same time. There are several free online courses that anyone can enroll in.
Online education is also changing the world of fashion - and it's not just through social media sites such as Instagram and Snapchat. According to Business of Fashion, this technology is relevant for fashion education because, whereas the best education and institutions have always been located around the industry's design capitals like London, Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo, students from different places around the world can now learn from these schools.
"[Technology has enabled] real-time artistic collaboration around designs with people in far corners of the world," Allison Bailey, a senior partner at BCG, said. " You can actually create much richer experiential learning, connecting people to real experts on things and pulling them into a collaborative space in a way you couldn't before."
It was noted that online education has the potential to produce better academic outcomes. This is because it can offer students a more personalized learning experience, based on their strengths and weaknesses.
"[Online education] serves up content to students to meet them where they are," Bailey added. "They're able to move faster and more effectively [through the course], because of the customization."
However, there are still limitations. One of the biggest challenges to online fashion education is how to teach creative design through digital media.
"In my opinion, to have the experience of understanding what silk versus toile versus wool versus knit feels like and behaves like is best as an in-person experience," Andrew Cornell Robinson, assistant professor of design and fashion marketing program director at Parsons, said.
Today, most online fashion courses focus on non-practical subjects that can be taught using straightforward teaching methods. The experience of online learning is continuing to improve. It won't be long until the world gives way to fashion designers who honed their craft through online education.
