When we hear the words ‘distance learning’ immediately what comes to mind is a situation where you as a student want to study more however due to many circumstances either do not want to pursue classroom course or do not have the resources (time, money etc) to do so. You then decide to apply at some institute and they send you a set of books for self study. You study on your own and then appear for exams. Well, traditionally yes, that is how distance learning used to work, however in today’s times with the technology developing so rapidly and with all us having easy access to internet, the meaning of distance learning has changed, and changed forever. Traditional distance learning which has now been replaced by online learning had many shortcomings, all of which have now been eliminated by the use of technology and the internet. In fact you will be surprised that in a survey conducted about online learning v/s classroom training, most of the students stated that were more satisfied and learnt more in online training compared to classroom sessions… This is plainly because in the modern world the internet has revolutionized the way we teach and the way we study. Online learning has eliminated the need for students to be physically present in a classroom when the same can take place more effectively over the internet. Internet gives the freedom to share a world of resources between the faculty and the students in real time and to discuss and analyze various viewpoints. Online learning is now a days offered by all good academic institutions to bridge the gap between the student and the institute and almost all subjects worldwide are taught online by one institute or the other. Healthcare Management and Hospital Management are subjects that too can be studied online and are offered by the James Lind Institute looking at the demand for healthcare professionals which is going to increase in time to come. Even though the students are not available in person at the institute, by means of cutting edge technology they are provided access to interactive study material and allowed to interact with faculty and other students throughout the healthcare management course.
