E-learning Basics

eLearning uses learning management systems (such as Blackboard, WebCT, KEWL, etc.) as a web-based platform for distributing and facilitating the eLearning curricula. Learning management systems allow for effective use of the Web for learning by:
Providing access to rich sources of information.
Encouraging meaningful interactions with content.
Bringing people together to challenge, support, or respond to each other.
Exemplary eLearning courses should have the following aspects:
eLectures – eLectures provide crucial concept or technique that students need in order to apply it to a problem or discussion.
Discussion Forum – This is where online interaction takes place for each course. You will be expected to initiate a discussion and post replies.
Ask an expert – In addition to the local learning facilitator, you will have access to an expert practitioner for each course. This expert practitioner will be available to generate discussion about a particular topic and to respond to questions.
Mentorship – If you require an online mentor who is a professional in a particular subject area and who can provide ongoing feedback let your course instructor know so we can help locate an online mentor for you.
Local learning facilitator or tutor support – A local learning facilitators and/or lecturer will be available for face to face interaction at your Home Institution.
Access to network resources - Additional reading materials relevant to your course are located in “Course documents”. Moreover, some assignments will require that you locate material on the Internet for sharing in the conference room or discussion forum.
Structured group activity – You will be expected to participate in a combination of the following structured group activities: seminars, small group discussions, learning partnerships and dyads, student work groups and learning circles, team presentations, simulations or role plays, and peer learning groups. Please get some guidance from your course instructor or local learning facilitator.
Informal peer interaction -- Sometimes the best learning occurs during informal peer interaction so please email each other if you require private space.
Connected Education
Of the various related terms and definitions, I appreciate Steven Gilbert (2000:15) vision of connected education. “In this vision of education, individual learners, teachers, and related support professionals connect better to information, ideas and each other via effective combinations of pedagogy and technology – both old and new.” Gilbert continues that “within the context of the institution’s educational mission, all have more opportunities to connect with each other’s efforts to identify, understand, develop, and improve effective combinations of:
Learners’ capabilities, needs, and goals;
Teachers’ capabilities, needs, and goals;
Academic content;
Approaches to teaching and learning (pedagogy);
Media and applications of technology; and
Assessment and Feedback.”
e-Quality: Access to Quality eLearning
Before we proceed, let's take some time to look at quality assurance concerns that started to be voiced as more traditional universities started to offer Internet-based distance learning and as more private sector entities started to offer diplomas based entirely on computer-mediated learning. The eight regional accrediting commissions which assure the quality of the great majority of degree-granting institutions of higher learning in the United States issued a statement of commitment about their resolve to sustain certain values in the face of greater movement towards Internet-based distance learning (not as we have defined eLearning above). These values are:
that education is best experienced within a community of learning where competent professionals are actively and cooperatively involved with creating, providing, and improving the instructional program;
that learning is dynamic and interactive, regardless of the setting in which it occurs;
that instructional programs leading to degrees having integrity are organized around substantive and coherent curricula which define expected learning outcomes;
that institutions accept the obligation to address student needs related to, and to provide the resources necessary for, their academic success;
that institutions are responsible for the education provided in their name;
that institutions undertake the assessment and improvement of their quality, giving particular emphasis to student learning;
that institutions voluntarily subject themselves to peer review.
Based on an initial draft by the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (http://www.wiche.edu/telecom/), the eight regional accrediting commissions offered the following best practices to reflect the “common understandings of those elements that reflect quality distance education programming.” The best practices are meant to assist institutions in planning distance education activities and to provide a self-assessment framework for those already nvolved and are intended to inform and facilitate the evaluation policies and processes of each region. These Best Practices are divided into five separate components, each of which addresses a particular area of institutional activity relevant to distance education. They are:
Institutional Context and Commitment
Curriculum and Instruction
Faculty Support
Student Support
Evaluation and Assessment
Blackboard Inc and the U.S. National Education Association (NEA) commissioned a study on “Quality on the Line: Benchmarks for Success in Internet-Based Distance Education”. The study set out to validate a set of benchmarks applicable to Internet-based distance education.The study outcome is a list of 24 benchmarks, grouped under seven general categories that are essential to ensure quality in Internet-based distance education. The seven categories are:
Institutional Support Benchmarks
Course Development Benchmarks
Teaching/Learning Benchmarks
Course Structure Benchmarks
Student Support Benchmarks
Faculty Support Benchmarks
Evaluation and Assessment Benchmarks

Why should one use e-learning?

Generally e-learning is seen as offering solutions to several challenges currently facing HE. These include the move towards lifelong learning, with its ongoing demand for continuous professional development, and the drive to widen participation. These challenges come at a time of increasing pressure on resources, and the increasing diversity in the student population and their modes of attendance, including learning that is part-time, at a distance, open or flexible, and work based E-learning can improve the flexibility and quality of learning by:
providing access to a range of resources and materials which may not otherwise be available or accessible, for example graphics, sound, animation, multimedia;
giving control to students over when and where they study;
allowing students to study at their own pace;
providing a student centred learning environment which can be tailored to meet the learning needs of individual students;
creating an environment that promotes an active approach to learning;
supporting increased communications between staff and students, and amongst students;
providing frequent and timely individual feedback, for example through computer assisted assessment, and positive reinforcement;
motivating students through appropriate use of interactive courseware;
supporting and encouraging collaborative learning;
supporting economic reuse of high quality, expensive resources;
encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning

Types of e-Learning

e-Learning is comes in many variations and often a combination of the following:

* Purely online - no face-to-face meetings
* Blended Learning - combination of online and face-to-face
* Synchronous
* Asynchronous
* Instructor-led group
* Self-study
* Self-study with subject matter expert
* Web-based
* Computer-based (CD-ROM)
* Video/audio tape

E-Learning Styles

The three predominant e- learning styles are visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic.

Broken down further, people learn by:

* Reading (visual)
* Listening (auditory)
* Seeing (visual)
* Speaking (auditory)
* Doing (Tactile/Kinesthetic)

The first three on the list are passive types of learning, while the last two are active types of learning. How much we tend to remember is a function of the type of learning we prefer and our level of involvement in the learning. People often learn through a combination of the ways described above. To a lesser degree, environment is a factor too.

The Active Learning Modes
Given a good learning environment (be it online or traditional), most people tend to remember best that which they do - practicing the real thing. Next, a combination of doing and speaking about what we learn produces a high retention rate, followed by speaking alone. These levels of involvement are all active learning modes.

The Passive Learning Modes
The passive learning modes - seeing and reading - fall just below the active learning modes on the retention ladder. After speaking, the combination of listening and seeing produces the next best retention results, then listening, then seeing, and then reading.

How it all relates to Online Learning
In an online class there is a lot of passive learning done through reading text, listening to audio clips, and seeing graphics, but the active "speaking" mode is done very much through writing, email, and chatting. Online learners are often self-directed and/or working in their chosen fields, so a lot of doing happens in the way of applying their newfound knowledge to the workplace, hobby, or home. For this reason many online learners say they learn more in online classes than traditional settings, and have better retention, too.

As you consider online learning, recognize that everyone learns differently and attempt to zero in on the particular style you use best. Maximize your online learning by choosing the courses suited to your learning styles - and be sure to talk about and apply what you learn.

Features of E-Learning

* Learning is self-directed, allowing students to choose content and tools appropriate to their differing interests, needs, and skill levels
* Accommodates multiple learning styles using a variety of delivery methods geared to different learners; more effective for certain learners
* Designed around the learner
* Geographical barriers are eliminated, opening up broader education options
* 24/7 accessibility makes scheduling easy and allows a greater number of people to attend classes
* On-demand access means learning can happen precisely when needed
* Travel time and associated costs (parking, fuel, vehicle maintenance) are reduced or eliminated
* Overall student costs are frequently less (tuition, residence, food, child care)
* Potentially lower costs for companies needing training, and for the providers
* Fosters greater student interaction and collaboration
* Fosters greater student/instructor contact
* Enhances computer and Internet skills
* Draws upon hundreds of years of established pedagogical principles

E-Learning Flexibility

E-learning is often sold on the basis that the learning takes place "any place, any time". Statements like this can be found all over the literature and particularly in vendors' and promoters' propositions. However the reality is not so simple.


All the tools are capable of delivering learning any place. However, their time flexibility is more complicated.

* Only web pages are available any time.

* The tools that support live, real-time interaction are usually employed at set times during a course, because learners and the tutor have to make arrangements to be available. Further, the service usually has to be set up at a set time with the service provider.

* Discussion forums offer a time flexibility in between any time and set time that I call flexible time. Typically there is a defined period, of perhaps days or one or two weeks, in a course during which learners must exchange messages with other learners and or with the tutor on a particular topic or course module. Interaction outside this time window does not fit with the course's schedule: things have moved on to the next topic.

The principal variables for time flexibility are therefore

* the tool(s) being employed,

* whether the learner belongs to a class of learners,

* whether the learner is required to interact with other learners and or the tutor as part of the learning experience.

Thus for a course designer there are decisions to make to trade off the value of a learning tool, and the learning processes it supports, with its effect on time flexibility.

This is especially difficult as current thinking recommends blended learning (a combination of self-study [any time] and interaction with other learners and the tutor [set time or flexible time]) for quality e-learning.

This dilemma, illustrated to the right, is explored in the following scenarios.
Scenario One

A company's course designer is creating an e-learning course on servicing a new technology to be delivered through e-learning the company's field engineers. These field engineers have hectic diaries, are on call for emergencies, and only spend a short time anywhere. A design decision is:

* whether to deliver the course entirely through web pages, in which case it can be taken anywhere at any time 'off the shelf' as learners require it - simply downloaded from the intranet;

or
* to include interaction through a tutor-led discussion forum.

The purpose of the discussion forum would be to clarify and situate the course material and allow for peer to peer collaborative learning.

If the discussion forum is incorporated, the course must run to a schedule with signed-up classes of learners, which is an administrative overhead, and some learners will not have time to participate in the interaction.

What would you advise the course designer to do?
Scenario Two

A training company designing a four-week part-time e-learning course on personnel management to be sold to busy managers in a Canadian-wide financial company, who are often travelling across the company's areas of operations. A design decision is:

* Whether to deliver the course entirely through a combination of web pages and a tutor-led discussion forum;

or
* to include tutor-led web-casts (together with an audio conference) at the start of the course, then every Friday, and at its conclusion.

The purpose of the web casts and associated audio discussions would be to highlight highly graphical material in a slide show, to reveal learners' interests to be discussed in the discussion forum, to answer their questions, and to increase their motivation to participate fully.

If included, however, it is clear that some of these live sessions will clash with learners' business commitments. These may be real commitments, or potential learners may feel that they are usually too busy to book into a course requiring their 'attendance' at set times.

Some may not therefore book onto the course, leading to reduced revenue for the training company and perhaps cancellation of the programme.

What would you advise the training company to do? Should they include the web casts as part of their course design?
Conclusion

E-learning is widely claimed to offer flexible "any time, any place" learning.

The claim for "any place" is valid in principle and is a great development. Many people can engage with rich learning materials that simply were not possible in a paper or broadcast distance learning era.

But the claim for "any time" is in reality over-stated. Quality, blended e-learning requires interactivity amongst learners and the tutor. Practically, however, providing this interactivity restricts e-learning at best to flexible time periods, and at worst to set time periods. In many cases, this is not a problem; learners may well be able to 'attend' according to the schedule.

However, in many corporate training situations, learning providers are forced into difficult flexibility / quality trade-offs, which I believe will get worse. Hectic work patterns and life-styles of the employees in today's lean, pressurised, highly-competitive corporations are already creating time starvation. If this trend increases, and I don't see any reason for it not to, it may become commercially inadvisable or even unrealistic to offer interactivity in e-learning. You can have flexible e-learning, as long as you don't mind learning on your own.

Is e-learning worthy

E-learning requires investment of time and effort in developing new skills, new approaches, and new resources: perhaps time and effort that would otherwise be spent on research. However, you can save time and effort in the long term. For example, you may create banks of flexible resources that can be reused, you may design learning activities that can be redeployed, or you may produce computer assisted assessment (CAA) that will allow you to cope with increasing student numbers with no increase in marking time. The key to improving the effectiveness and quality of student learning and making it worthwhile is to replace existing traditional modes of teaching with more active and engaging learning opportunities, delivered where appropriate by e-learning.

How it all relates to Online Learning ?

In an online class there is a lot of passive learning done through reading text, listening to audio clips, and seeing graphics, but the active "speaking" mode is done very much through writing, email, and chatting. Online learners are often self-directed and/or working in their chosen fields, so a lot of doing happens in the way of applying their newfound knowledge to the workplace, hobby, or home. For this reason many online learners say they learn more in online classes than traditional settings, and have better retention, too.

As you consider online learning, recognize that everyone learns differently and attempt to zero in on the particular style you use best. Maximize your online learning by choosing the courses suited to your learning styles - and be sure to talk about and apply what you learn.

The Illinois Online Network says one of the best things you can do as an online learning student is become a true advocate of its merits through discussion. If you ". . .truly believe in its potential to provide quality education which is equal to, if not better than the traditional face-to-face environment", you'll strengthen the habits you need to succeed.