Benefits of Online Education: Some New Economic Arguments

But why governments should promote e-learning or online education? What are the special benefits brought by e-learning? While the e-learning experts stress the superiority of online education vis-à-vis F2F (face-to-face) in terms of flexibility of studying anytime anywhere, cost reduction, paradigm shift in the knowledge economy, need for lifelong learning, and so on, the policymakers remain unconvinced by these arguments as they lack economic contents. If online education wants the much-needed boost from policy regimes, the arguments should have sound economic reasoning and this paper seeks to present some of those.

The global warming has in recent years stirred the whole world and there is a general consensus that growth and environmental protection should now go hand in hand in order to 'save the earth' and online model is a better fit in this regard than F2F. Since e-learning is internet-based and students do not need to travel by buses, trains or other road vehicles, transport emissions of Green House Gases (GHG) can be reduced by switching to online education. Transport accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (2000 figures cited in the 'Stern Report') and the majority of these emissions are from road transport (76%). The largest source of emissions is OECD North America, producing 37% of total.

The available evidence also suggests that transport emissions are rising worldwide. Between 1990 and 2004, GHG emissions from transport increased by 32.2%, or 2 per cent per year on average; The share of transport in total EU25 GHG emissions rose from 17% in 1990 to 24% in 2004. The transportation sector directly accounted for 27% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2003. It is the fastest-growing source of U.S. GHGs and the largest end-use source of CO2, which is the most prevalent greenhouse gas. The transport sector contributed 19% of GHG emissions in Singapore in 2004. Transport also contributes to climate change in other ways and the above estimates do not include the indirect effects of the sector. The refineries that produce transport fuel, manufacturing of vehicles, electricity consumed by trains and road vehicles etc are indirectly associated with GHG emissions from the power sector.

Though separate statistics are not available for the transport emissions caused by study-related travel, it is by no means trivial and could be quite alarming in many university towns or city states. Singapore, for example, separates the school-going traffic from office-traffic by setting the school commencement time at very early hour in the morning. Unpopular though, the measure has greatly helped in avoiding traffic jam in morning peak hours and reduce or at least even out transport emissions. The city state Republic is gradually introducing online education to various institutions and it aims to be the "e-learning" hub in the region. Of course, IT industry itself also contributes to GHG (accounts for roughly 2% of global CO2 emissions) but fortunately the recent Climate Savers Computing Initiative to produce "green computers" by technology giants Google and Intel is a significant step towards positive direction. Pat Gelsinger, an executive of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, said "By 2010, the initiative will cut greenhouse gas emissions in an amount equal to removing more than 11 million cars from the road or shutting down 20 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants-a significant step in reducing emissions affecting our planet" (The Independent, 18 June 2007).

The two companies estimated that the energy saving measures could increase the price of a computer by about US$30 but that extra cost they assured would be offset by lower energy bills. Online education offered through green computers will be a perfect example of "green learning" and that will make remarkable contribution to save the earth. Besides, e-learning will also facilitate e-governance yielding many other benefits to the economy.

Not only online education saves the earth by reducing study-related travels and thereby cutting down emissions from the transport sector, it also helps reduce outbreak of contagious diseases as students do not need to learn in "packed classrooms with little or no ventilation". In case of pandemics (SARS, Avian flu etc), online education is likely to help in containment efforts without loss of student's learning benefits.

Online education is also suitable for 'socially disadvantaged' group that include poor living in rural and inaccessible areas, females with cultural and religious barriers, disabled population, and people in confinement or detention (including high profile crime busters in prisons!).

The large-scale adoption of IT and e-learning has the capacity to transform the digital divide into 'digital dividends' by bringing in the marginalised and socially disadvantaged sections of the population to productive economic activities when they might otherwise have been left out.

E-learning helps keep the ageing workforce productive through training and retraining programs. Training participation by aged workers fuelled the recent growth of e-learning in Singapore. E-learning can also facilitate outsourcing by meeting the training needs of outsourced workers and the new hires at the destination at the shortest possible time. It will increase female participation of labor force by increasing their productivity as they can study without hampering their family roles (learn while you breast fed your baby!).

A carefully designed cost-benefit analysis also tends to favour online education. In case of F2F education, the social cost increases rapidly for higher levels of education due to expensive capital and recurrent costs of higher education and heavy government subsidies. An online course may be quite expensive to develop but, as it is potentially deliverable to millions of students at very little extra cost, unit cost falls over a large output range. Social returns for e-learning is likely to be above that for F2F, illustrating the benefits of continuous learning and reflecting the fact that the employment of ICTs generally yields higher rates of productivity.

Online education is likely to get a boost in today's uncertain world. With various uncertainties prevailing in the world following 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Western universities are getting more restrictive to Third World students but demand for higher education cannot be suppressed. Another significant boost may come from increased consciousness on global warming and greening campaigns. Western Universities are likely to forge ties with Asian Universities to "outsource" various educational programs that include e-learning. This will be a "win- win" situation for both as the former will cut costs by doing so and the latter will reposition themselves as the provider of high quality education.