The Old Carnegie model of education is steadily transforming into computer mediate model.  Mainstream education is changing its gears and students felt that the acquisition of knowledge could be done at anytime. It does not restrict them to traditional methods of education as you can grasp the knowledge and can get the answers through internet. Classroom education has become virtual education to some extent as lot of online tools and methods are stream lined to give good exposure to students. Moreover, a day will come when the former will become exception rather than being a rule. Purpose of using the word virtual is to make you understand the difference and change in trend of modern education and usage of internet for the same. As World Wide Web, give you the freedom and liberty to grab knowledge from your comfort zone thus the paradigm of classroom education is fading and virtual system is coming into existence. 

Virtual and cyber education got the name as online learning as the education experience is delivered via computer and internet. It came into existence in year 1989 when University of Phoenix introduced online university program for the first time across the globe. Online courses are those where 80% of education is delivered through the medium of internet. Remaining is achieved by self-research and little face-to-face interactions involved, if any. By 2006, 3.5 million students participated in on-line learning at institutes for higher education in United States of America.  By fall of 2010, over 6.1 million students were pursuing at least one online course, which is an increase of 560,000 of students over the previous year.

According to Sloan Consortium report on online education, 9.7 percent growth rate for online enrollment exceeds the1.5 percent growth of the higher education student’s population as a whole. It also states that almost 20 percent of all the higher education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of 2006.

Many universities support online courses, as it has proved beneficial for the development of university and of the students also. However, cost reduction is not the main factor but what they have realized is institutes engaged in online courses has witnessed increasing rate of degree completion.  Almost 65 percent of institution in USA says that online course is an important part of their long-term strategies.

Students also find it convenient and appealing due to the following reasons discussed below. They are:

• You can never miss a chapter, discussion, content and discussion forums as you have the power to revisit and learn until it does not throw a light on the topic.
• The most important among all is it gives you 24 hours exposure to virtual classrooms and you can get hold of it at any time.
• It gives an opportunity to spend more time on studies rather than wasting time on traffic.
• You can select the most appropriate time for the course, which will not hinder your work.
• You will be in a position where you can inherit more knowledge as you will be open in front of millions of internet users who may help you to ease your doubts.
• It does not dig your pockets as universities grant financial aid to pursue online degree.

Recent trend has witnessed a higher rate of enrollment for online professional courses also. As after graduation many students targets to achieve masters, they earn it through online courses also. The flooded field is Online MBA and it is so because while working people do not get time to think about studies rather they cannot afford time to study. Since they have professional experience on them, so it turns easy to achieve the target.  Moreover, big Multinational companies also provide online education to their employers after a completion of certain period. The reason is they want to develop the company with the knowledge of its employers and it makes employers efficient in time management as they do dual task until they do not finish their course.

With web access and a desktop or laptop, students are just a click away from the classroom. It also offers flexibility and convenience through web-based platform. As the trend is emerging rapidly so why don’t we enrich our knowledge on subjects who we need to know for betterment of our future. Just go for it as it is made for you to learn easily and conveniently.