ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the need for online education. It addresses online teaching, online learning, and online laboratory for courses that require the development of hands-on skills. The chapter examines Massive Online Open Courses, which is an open online course that allows anyone to register without time limitations. It discusses enabling technologies for online education, its quality and effectiveness, benefits, and challenges. The development in the Internet coupled with low-cost communication has caused a surge in online education. The use of animation, virtual reality, audio, video, chat, video conferencing, and social networking sites make online learning a rich experience. Online teaching offers exciting opportunities to expand the learning environment for diverse student populations. Online learning refers to a form of distance learning that takes place partially or entirely over the web. It is learning that is supported by information and communication technologies.
