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E-learning

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E-learning is an all-encompassing term generally used to refer to computer-enhanced learning, although it is often extended to include the use of mobile technologies such as PDAs and MP3 players. It may include the use of web-based teaching materials and hypermedia in general, multimedia CD-ROMs or web sites, discussion boards, collaborative software, e-mail, blogs, wikis, text chat, computer aided assessment, educational animation, simulations, games, learning management software, electronic voting systems and more, with possibly a combination of different methods being used.

Along with the terms learning technology and Educational Technology, the term is generally used to refer to the use of technology in learning in a much broader sense than the computer-based training or Computer Aided Instruction of the 1980s. It is also broader than the terms Online Learning or Online Education which generally refer to purely web-based learning. In cases where mobile technologies are used, the term M-learning has become more common.

E-learning is naturally suited to distance learning and flexible learning, but can also be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in which case the term Blended learning is commonly used.

E-learning:Typical Managed Learning Environment with a navigation menu and icons giving access to automated tools and content pages.
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Typical Managed Learning Environment with a navigation menu and icons giving access to automated tools and content pages.

In higher education especially, the increasing tendency is to create a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) (which is sometimes combined with a Managed Information System (MIS) to create a Managed Learning Environment) in which all aspects of a course are handled through a consistent user interface standard throughout the institution. A growing number of physical universities, as well as newer online-only colleges, have begun to offer a select set of academic degree and certificate programs via the Internet at a wide range of levels and in a wide range of disciplines. While some programs require students to attend some campus classes or orientations, many are delivered completely online. In addition, several universities offer online student support services, such as online advising and registration, e-counselling, online textbook purchase, student governments and student newspapers.

E-learning can also refer to educational web sites such as those offering worksheets and interactive exercises for children. The term is also used extensively in the business sector where it generally refers to cost-effective online training.


Contents

Advantages and disadvantages

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Advantages of e-learning often include flexibility and convenience for the learner especially if they have other commitments, facilitation of communication between learners, greater adaptability to a learner's needs, more variety in learning experience with the use of multimedia and the non-verbal presentation of teaching material. Video instruction provides visual and audio learning that can be paused, and reversed for watching again. For organizations with distributed and constantly changing learners (e.g. restaurant staff), e-learning has huge benefits when compared with orgnizing classroom training.

Others are critical of e-learning in the context of education, because the face-to-face human interaction with a teacher has been removed from the process, and thus, some argue, the process is no longer "educational" in the highest philosophical sense (for example, as defined by RS Peters, a philosopher of education). However, these human interactions can be encouraged through audio or video-based web-conferencing programs.

The feeling of isolation experienced by distance learning students is also often cited, although discussion forums and other computer-based communication can in fact help ameliorate this and in particular can often encourage students to meet face-to-face and form self-help groups.

The cost-effectiveness of e-learning is a subject of much debate as there is usually much upfront investment that can only be recouped through economies of scale. Web and software development in particular can be expensive as can systems specifically geared for e-learning. The development of adaptive materials is also much more time-consuming than that of non-adaptive ones.

Consequently, some of the cost is often forwarded to the students as online college courses tend to cost more than traditional courses.

Growth of e-learning

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Among the early institutions of online learning in the mid-1980s were the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, the New York Institute of Technology, the Electronic Information Exchange System - EIES - of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Connected Education. More recently the organization Independent Student Media has developed a working curriculum that instructs students through an Interactive Online Textbook.

By 2003, more than 1.9 million students were participating in online learning at institutions of higher education in the United States, according to a report from the "Sloan Consortium", an authoritative source of information about online higher education. At the same time, in Australia, Shane Hill former teacher and gifted and talented co-ordinator founded eLearning Company 3P Learning. Just one of their products Mathletics has enabled over one million students across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and US to go online and challenge other students at mental arithmetic. The explosive rate of growth -- now about 25 percent a year -- has made hard numbers a moving target. But according to Sloan, virtually all public higher education institutions, as well as a vast majority of private, for-profit institutions, now offer online classes. By contrast, only about half of private, nonprofit schools offer them. The Sloan report, based on a poll of academic leaders, says that students generally appear to be at least as satisfied with their online classes as they are with traditional ones. Mathletics also supports the full educational curriculum of school students internationally. Private Institutions may become more involved with the online presentations as the cost of instituting such a system decreases. Properly trained staff must also be hired to work with students online. These staff members must be able to not only understand the content area, but also be highly trained in the use of the computer and Internet.

The concept of a Digital native has also become popular, and there are certainly likely to be generational influences on the future of e-learning. As more and more adult learners enter into this field the gap will begin to close.

Pedagogical approaches

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It is clearly possible to apply any specific pedagogical approach to e-learning, however some approaches are more common than others. Two of the most common are those of instructional design and social-constructivist pedagogy. The latter in particular is particularly well afforded by the use of discussion forums, blogs, wikis and online collaborative activities. Adaptability to different learning styles is also still in vogue in certain circles.

Laurillard's Conversational Model is also particularly relevant to e-learning, and Gilly Salmon's Five-Stage Model is a pedagogical approach to the use of discussion boards.

There are four fundamental pedagogical perspectives which historically have influenced the approach to computer based pedagogy, distance education and continues to provide guiding principles for the pedagogy of e-learning:

Cognitive perspective - which focuses on the cognitive processes involved in learning as well as how the brain works.

Emotional perspective - which focuses on the emotional aspects of learning, like motivation, engagement, fun etc

Behavioural perspective - which focuses on the skills and behavioural outcomes of the learning process. Role-playing and application to on-the-job settings.

Contextual perspective - which focuses on the environmental and social aspects which can stimulate learning. Interaction with other people, collaborative discovery and the importance of peer support as well as pressure.

Reusability, standards and learning objects

Much effort has been put into the technical reuse of electronically-based teaching materials and in particular creating or re-using Learning Objects. These are self contained units that are properly tagged with keywords, or other metadata, and often stored in an XML file format. Creating a course requires putting together a sequence of learning objects and open non-commercial peer-reviewed repositories of learning objects such as the Merlot repository exist.

A common standard format for e-learning content is SCORM whilst other specifications allow for the transporting of "learning objects" (Schools Interoperability Framework) or categorizing meta-data (LOM).

These standards themselves are early in the maturity process the oldest being 8 years old. They are also relatively vertical specific: SIF is primarily pK-12, LOM is primarily Corp, Military and Higher Ed, and SCORM is primarily Military and Corp with some Higher Ed. PESC- the Post-Secondary Education Standards Council- is also making headway in developing standards and learning opbjects for the Higher Ed space, while SIF is beginning to seriously turn towards Instructional and Curriculum learning objects.

In the US pK12 space there are a host of content standrds that are critical as well- the NCES data standrds, each state government's content standards and achievement benchmarks are critical metadata for linking e-learning objects in that space.

Communication technologies

Communication technologies are generally categorised as asynchronous or synchronous. Asynchronous activities use technologies such as blogs, wikis, and discussion boards. Synchronous activities occur with all participants joining in at once, as with a chat session or a virtual classroom or meeting.

The term eLearning 2.0 has been used to refer to the user of social software such as blogs and wikis. This approach has been particularly evangelised by Stephen Downes who runs the very popular OLDaily blog and newsletter.

Computer Aided Assessment and Learning Design

Computer-aided Assessment (also but less commonly referred to as e-Assessment), ranging from automated multiple-choice tests to more sophisticated systems is becoming increasingly common. With some systems, feedback can be geared towards a student's specific mistakes or the computer can navigate the student through a series of questions adapting to what the student appears to have learned or not learned. Most software for this is still very primitive however.

The term Learning Design has sometimes come to refer to the type of activity enabled by software such as the open-source system LAMS which supports sequences of activities that can be both adaptive and collaborative. The IMS Learning Design specification is intended as a standard format for learning designs, and IMS LD Level A is supported in LAMS V2.

The first general-purpose system for computer-assisted instruction from which e-learning evolved, was the PLATO System developed at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.The Plato system evolved with the involvement of Control Data who created the first authoring software used to create learning content. The authoring software was called Plato. The Science Research Council then wrote the first CAI system of Math for K-6. Wicat Systems then created WISE as their authoring tool using Pascal and developed English and Math curriculum for K-6. The very first complete CAI classroom for K-6 students was set up at the Waterford Elementary School in Utah using the Wicat system. The first public CAI classroom with its own layout and design was implemented with the Wicat System by Baal Systems (later known as Virtual Systems) in Singapore as a joint operation between Wicat and Baal. It is from this design that all the computer learning centers globally evolved and which were the forerunners of elearning.

See also

References

As online degree offerings grow, caution is advised


Open source LMS

Categories


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