Security Issues To Improve For Online Learning

Online learning is an electronic learning platform which refers to a new method of learning that depends solely on the Internet in its execution. The Internet as the backbone of any system is inherently insecure.

Many institutions are adopting the use of online learning due to some of its benefits such as lower cost, faster delivery, more effective learning and lower environmental impact; without
much consideration to issue of security.

However, online learning system requires a well secured environment for it to function. Security of e-learning system is one of the key factors to ensure effective delivery of content on the web. This article on online learning, security issues and point out the current or recent research in area of online learning security.

Online Learning Security Challenges

Online learning security plays a very important role in online learning systems development despite its huge benefits. There are numerous challenges faced by learners, Higher learning Institutions and e-learning service providers in today’s internet age. Some of these challenges include:

Interoperability of applications

Despite current technological advances in online learning, emerging trends are demanding a greater level of interoperability for components, systems, applications, and environments which are often developed for a particular institutions or organization and provide very similar functionalities (Cardenas and Sanchez, 2005).

Standardization and compatibility

Standardization and compatibility are vital for both online learning service providers and end users (learners) to be able to inter-change components in the market. These are very important where different e-learning systems must interact with one another.

Security policy and enforcement Mechanism

The security policy is defined as the set of laws, rules and practices that regulate how an organization manages, protects and distributes sensitive information. Once the security policy is defined, it must be captured and followed at application runtime via an enforcement mechanism which represents the set of centralized and distribute software to ensure that the security policy is maintained and never violated.

Conclusion

Online learning offers a lot of opportunities for the expansion of education and learning beyond the classroom, particularly, in developing countries. The major challenge in online learning today is to improve security issues.