Activity 1.1 – Defining e-Learning

Based on my current knowledge and experiences, my definition of e-Learning was:

“e-Learning is a mode of learning that is primarily delivered through the use of electronic media accessible through the use of web technology that is available anywhere and anytime.”

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Given these definitions …

“E-Learning is instruction that is delivered electronically, in part or wholly – via a Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator, through the Internet or an intranet, or through multimedia platforms such as CD-ROM or DVD. Increasingly – as higher bandwidth has become more accessible – it has been identified primarily with using the Web, or an intranet’s web, leveraging the Web’s visual environment and interactive nature.”

Brandon Hall, nd, FAQs About e-Learning

http://www.brandonhall.com/public/faqs2/faqs2.htm

 

“Instructional content or learning experiences delivered or enabled by electronic technology.”

“A Vision of e-Learning for America’s Workforce”, ASTD,

June 2001

And given the following readings to complete …

Reading 1: Tsai, S. & Machado, P. 2002, “e-Learning, Online Learning, Web-based Learning, or Distance Learning: Unveiling the Ambiguity in Current Terminology”, eLearn Magazine, July.

http://elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=best_practices&article=6-1

Reading 2: Cher Ping Lim, 2001, “What Isn’t e-Learning?” TechKnowLogia, May/June, pp11-12.

http://www.techknowlogia.org/TKL_active_pages2/CurrentArticles/main.asp?FileType=HTML&ArticleID=267

Reading 3: Downes, S. (2005), “e-Learn 2.0″ , eLearn Magazine online

http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1

Reading 4: Taylor, Donald H. (2007) “It’s time to drop e-Learning” TrainingZone.co.uk , 11 July

http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=170224

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Here are the main points I have gathered about e-Learning from these readings:> E-learning is mostly associated with activities involving computers and interactive networks simultaneously .

> Web-based learning entails content in a Web browser and actual learning materials delivered in Web format. Web browsing is the key feature of Web-based learning.

> Online learning is related to the more common concepts of online help, online documentation, and online services. It is associated with readily available learning materials in a computer environment.

> Distance learning requires that instructors (or the instructing institution) obtain educational responses from the students and reacts to them with adequate educational responses.

> Lifelong learning is now seen by corporations as a basic necessity for survival.

> Internet- supported learning innovation allows workers to learn anywhere and anytime, promotes active and independent learning, and supports communication between experts and novices. The anywhere-anytime nature of e-learning generates substantial cost savings to corporations.

> Four key questions that should be considered when evaluating e-Learning in the corporation context:

· Does the course emphasize on both processes and products?
· Does the course focus on knowledge management rather than information provision?
· Does the course harness the strengths and address the weaknesses of web-based learning?
· Does the course provide interactions among the learners and their communities?

> The dominant learning technology employed today is a type of system that organizes and delivers online courses-the learning management system (LMS).

> Internet users are changing. Sometimes called “digital natives” and sometimes called “n-gen”, these users absorb information quickly, in images and video as well as text, from multiple sources simultaneously. They operate at “twitch speed”, expecting instant responses and feedback. They prefer random “on-demand” access to media, expect to be in constant communication with their friends (who may be next door or around the world), and they are as likely to create their own media (or download someone else’s) as to purchase a book or a CD.

> It is “learner centered” or “student centered”. The control of learning is placed in the hands of the learner themselves. The learning is characterized not only by greater autonomy for the learner, but also a greater emphasis on active learning, with creation, communication and participation playing key roles, and on changing roles for the teacher, indeed, even a collapse of the distinction between teacher and student altogether.

> Web 2.0 is a platform in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed and passed along. Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution but rather a social revolution.

> e-Learning 2.0

· Blogging is very different from traditionally assigned learning content. It is much less formal. It is written from a personal point of view, in a personal voice. Students’ blog posts are often about something from their own range of interests, rather than on a course topic or assigned project. More importantly, what happens when students blog, and read reach others’ blogs, is that a network of interactions forms-much like a social network.
· It’s not just blogging. Educators have also taken an interest in podcasting.
· Rather than being composed, organized and packaged, e-learning content is syndicated, much like a blog post or podcast. It is aggregated by students, using their own personal RSS reader or some similar application. From there, it is remixed and repurposed with the student’s own individual application in mind, the finished product being fed forward to become fodder for some other student’s reading and use.
· In the future it will be more widely recognized that the learning comes not from the design of learning content but in how it is used. Most e-learning theorists are already there, and are exploring how learning content-whether professionally authored or created by students- can be used as the basis for learning activities rather than the conduit for learning content.

From having done these readings and gathered some main points, my initial definition of e-Learning remains the same however what I realise is that e-Learning encompasses more than can be defined. It is broad and is made up of a number of different learning methods (as well as a huge amount of jargon) and doesn’t necessarily have to be web-based, however, as web technology gains prominence in society it is no wonder that most e-Learning does take place via the Internet.