Each person in the video has a different conception of e-learning.
What do you think of when you hear the term e-learning?
Sunday, April 18, 2010
What is e-learning?
Synchronous and asynchronous learning can both be defined as types of e-learning. But before we can define and debate synchronous and asynchronous e-learning, we need to define the term 'e-learning'. This brief youtube clip gives an introduction to some of the key ideas regarding e-learning and is a useful starting point of our debate.
Each person in the video has a different conception of e-learning.
Each person in the video has a different conception of e-learning.
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Some of the things I think of when I hear the term e-learning:
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the idea that you are picking up here that e-learning is at once a broad and inclusive term (covering mediums like podcasts, CBTs, chats, wikis, blogs etc). In these interpretations, e-learning as a term is not so much a means of describing the 'learning' but rather the 'delivery' of material.
It is a term that is subjectively interpreted (often based on experience or assumptions) and pretty elusive to pin down. 10 years or so ago the emphasis was on the 'flexible', 'individual' custom or bespoke aspects of e-learning (a good fit with Western society). These days promotion of e-learning seems to centre more around the collaborative, synced & networked advantages offered by the technology and async. e-learning packages are tarnished with the curse of bad design of text-heavy, wizz bang quizzy efforts from the 1990s.
The term e-learning also has a tinge of daggy about it these days with many theorists and specialist training companies talking about blended learning as being what we should be aiming for as the best of both worlds. Blended learning in a true form is surely more than mixing e-learning technologies with a bit of face to face training. I suspect it is more about good design and adaptation - matching the audience, purpose and delivery to the context and objectives.
I think e-learning is a very broad concept to define as a video skype session could well be classified as 'face-to-face' to a certain degree. I believe that e-learning markets itself as being beneficial to the learner because it is flexible and can be used to cater for full-time workers and those who cannot attend class. Its purpose may not at this stage, focus on the eduactional benefits.
ReplyDeletePhil.
To me, e-learning is the myriad forms of communication on the internet that we see changing every few months to bring us something different.
ReplyDeleteI regard e-learning as another form of student teacher interaction that is chosen for its suitability at that time. By this I mean that the e-learning activity is appropriate.
I would never allow an apprentice to use the internet to show competency in correctly wiring up an electrical plug. To me, this is an activity that has done be done hands on in front of an examiner.
The elearing could consist of a multimedia video, vodcast, Elluminate session where the task is demonstrated and the student has the materials nearby to be able to follow along.
A different situation is presented with the medical training of a surgeon using computer simulation. It is summed up by Roger Kneebone in his article Simulation in surgical training: educational issues and practical implications where he states:
"The emphasis is now shifting from the technology of simulation towards partnership with education and clinical practice. This highlights the need for an integrated learning framework, where knowledge can be acquired alongside technical skills
and not in isolation from them."