AF Education
专属博客 Liam Carrigan
在线学还是在校学：选择适合ni的学习方法
Online or In Person: Choosing the Right Method of Study for You
人们常说我们现在生活在一个日益互联的世界里。自从25年前的互联网问世以来，人与人之间的边界和障碍不断减少，电子通信变得越来越有效。这个世界，似乎从来没有这么小。
It is often said that we now live in an ever-more interconnected world. Since the advent of the internet about 25 years ago, borders and barriers have continually fallen, as electronic communication becomes more and more efficient. The world, it seems, has never been so small.
当然这是就互联网技术革命的受益者而言的。毕竟，正是因为互联网，亲爱的读者，你才能够身在中国，透过电脑读到一个住在日本的苏格兰人为一个香港企业公众号写的文章！
Of course I am speaking as someone who has personally been a major beneficiary of this technological revolution. After all, it is because of the internet that you, dear readers, can read on your computer screen in China, an article on a Hong Kong website written by a Scotsman who lives in Japan!
正如历史不断向我们展示的那样，新的技术也带来了新的挑战和机遇。
As history has continually shown us, with new technologies there also come new challenges and new opportunities.
一个受到数字时代快速发展影响的领域便是线上教育。
One area that has exploded as a result of our rapid advancement into the digital age has been online education.
甚至只是十年前，当我在爱丁堡完成大学课程时，我的许多老师都不愿意给我发邮件。
Even just 10 years ago, when I was finishing up my university studies in Edinburgh, most of my lecturers were reluctant to even send an email.
现在，虽然已经过去了十年，我却希望自己当初能够不踏足校园就完成整个大学课程了。
Now, just a decade later, I could if I so wished complete that same entire degree course without even setting foot on the university campus.
网络教育正在蓬勃发展，尽管他们不是完全没有问题。
Online degrees are booming, however they aren’t without their problems.
现时仍然有大量的学术专家看不起在线教育的文凭。他们学习到的内容可能是抽象的，甚至是难以理解的，最具争议的是，如果学生不亲身参与大学校园里的课程，似乎就失去了大学体验的本质意义了。他们认为通过Skype或者Google Talk这些聊天工具的互动远远不及面对面的互动来得真切。
There is still a significant number of experts in the academic world who look down upon the idea of an entirely online degree. Whilst the exact nature of what they feel may be abstract, perhaps even intangible, the argument is that by not attending lectures and tutorials in person some essential essence of the university experience is lost. They believe that one cannot have the same level of interaction and academic exchange over Skype or Google Talk as they can by meeting in person.
几年前也许我也会同意，但是作为一个在不同国家频繁发表作品的人，我的三观也彻底发生了变化。
Perhaps I would have agreed with this a few years ago, but as someone who is now able to have their writing published regularly in multiple countries simultaneously, I really don’t believe this is the case any longer.
相反，我觉得近来网络教学的问题不在于其教学质量或技术的局限，而在于人们的观念。
Instead, I feel that the real challenge facing online degrees these days is not one of quality or of technological limitations, but one of perception.
和许多公司一直坚持的理念一样，他们一直被误导着一种概念，就是在家里工作会使工人的生产率下降，因而时至今日学术界也还是保持同样的思想。
In much the same way as many companies remain vehemently opposed to the very notion of “working from home” as they cling to the continually misguided notion that this makes workers less productive, so too are many of the old heads of today’s academia locked into the same outdated mode of thinking.
他们或多或少会认为参加线上课程的学生并不如亲临课堂的学生努力学习。
Somehow, they think that a student who attained their degree online didn’t work as hard as one who attained it in person.
不可否认的是，选择在校园内学习全日制课程的学生，似乎贡献了更多的时间和资金给学校，然而他们真的更用功吗？
Whilst it is undeniable that someone who chooses to study full-time and on campus does, in all likelihood devote considerably more time and financial resources to doing so, do they really work harder?
今天的学生之所以选择在线教学最主要的原因是他们能够兼顾全职的工作以及学术理想。在校学习的学生也可以做兼职来资助一下他们的学习，但这真的不如他们尝试去平衡一个全职的工作与定时的线上学习，他们还可以兼顾一下家庭。
Today’s online students will, in the vast majority of cases choose to study online in the first place so that they can juggle their current full-time job with their academic ambitions. On campus students may well have a part-time job to supplement their studies, but it really doesn’t compare with trying to balance a full-time job, regular online study and perhaps family considerations too.
可能你会反对我，但是我想告诉你，我所见到的在线学习的学生跟在校学习的学生一样努力，甚至比那些在校生更用功。
So, whilst you may disagree with me, I would argue that students who study online work just as hard, and indeed in many cases even harder, than those who study in person.
令人振奋的是近来许多世界级的学术机构也一改往日陈旧的思想，逐渐开始鼓励网络教学。
It is heartening to see that in recent times there have been concerted steps taken by many of the world’s most notable academic institutions to encourage online learning and break away from some of the outmoded stigmas attached to doing so.
比如哈佛大学就推出了一系列完整的图书馆介绍课程，其中很多科目都可以在线上免费学习。
Harvard University for example now has an entire library of short introductory courses, covering a wide range of subjects, which can be taken online for free.
尽管这些课程并不提供学位，但是世界上应该不会有老板对你在业余时间学习哈佛课程而感到失望的吧？
Whilst these courses won’t count towards a degree, there must be very few bosses in the world who would fail to be impressed when you tell them that you study courses from Harvard in your spare time!
另外，为雇主开设在线课程也是时下许多大学的新趋势。
Breaking the stigma attached to online degrees among employers is also an area where many schools are setting a new standard these days too.
在以前，很多高校会特意为在校学习和在线学习的学生颁发不同的毕业证书，但今天许多高校已经明确表示两者获得的证书将会是一样的。
Whereas before, schools would issue different certificates that clearly distinguished between those who studied on campus and those who studied online, many schools today openly advertise the fact that your degree certificate will appear exactly the same whether you studied online or in person.
当然，要打破成见还有很长的路，然而将来有一天，你甚至没有义务告诉将来的雇主，你的毕业证书是通过网络课程而来的。
Of course, this goes a huge way to breaking the stereotypes, and removes the obligation to even tell your prospective employers that you studied online.
不论高校守旧的高层见，或者不见，网络课程都在那里。随着互联网速度的提升，越来越多的学生将能安坐家中获得他们的学位证书。
Whether the stuffy old codgers of the upper echelons of academia like it or not, online courses are here to stay. As internet speeds continue to increase, and we edge closer to the age of quantum computing, more and more students will be able to get the degree of their dreams from the comfort of their home.
