E-learning
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- Introduction.
- Why introduce e-learning?
- Distance.
- Time.
- At need / on demand delivery.
- Practice.
- Sustainability.
- Virtual learning environments.
- Hints, tips and suggestions.
- Further information.
1. Introduction
Accessing learning and teaching online, as part of university education, is now the norm for the majority of UK students. This is usually as part of a ‘blended' programme of delivery but, for some, may form the main way of studying. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) published its e-learning strategy in 2005 which set out its plan for supporting and helping institutions to embed e-learning over the proceeding 10-year period.
The strategy defines e-learning as:
'.... any learning that uses (Information and Communication Technology) ICT. In embedding this strategy we want to ensure that there is confident use of the full range of pedagogic opportunities provided by ICT. For HE this will encompass flexible learning as well as distance learning, and the use of ICT as a communications and delivery tool between individuals and groups, to support students and improve the management of learning.'
E-Learning can take many forms and require students to use and develop a wide range of knowledge and skills. In particular the gain of research skills, such as gathering, evaluating and utilising information, are highlighted. Many face-to-face teaching and learning methods have been simulated or developed to take place online and so it is possible to attend virtual seminars and field courses and attend e-lectures. However, technology also enables integration of these different modes of study and most universities may use of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) or MLEs (Managed Learning Environments), to provide a framework and structure to coordinate e-learning provision. (Common VLEs include WEB CT and Blackboard.)
So, e-learning may involve some or all of the following technologies -
- Desktop and laptop computers.
- Software, including assistive software.
- Interactive whiteboards.
- Digital cameras and video recorders.
- Mobile and wireless tools, including mobile phones and PDAs.
- Electronic communication tools, including email, discussion boards, chat facilities, virtual classroom and video conferencing.
2. Why introduce e-learning?
The use of e-learning, or web-based elements in teaching and training has been seen to bring benefits in particular contexts. The chief benefits which have been seen are:
- The conquering of distance.
- The shifting of time.
- A new focus on at need or on demand delivery.
- New opportunities to extend the practical and ‘practice' elements of learning.
- New models of sustainability and scalability in teaching materials and methods.
3. Distance
One of the most significant changes which e-learning and the internet has brought to education is the ability to reach distant learners, either as individuals or in groups, without having to travel to meet them. With the arrival of the internet and the mass take up of home PCs and internet connections, distance learners are now able to email and chat to other learners in their group and their tutors on a daily basis if they want to. It is also possible for tutors to supply updates to course materials or new information almost instantly by updating web pages or sending files by email. This has significantly improved the experience of distance learning for many participants.
4. Time
The use of e-learning elements in teaching relieves the strain on the timetable for delivery by allowing some elements of the teaching process to be time-shifted, extended or focused, giving increased flexibility for both learners and teachers.
The advantages of having materials available on the internet for students to download and store for themselves can be seen in the increased amount of classroom time which can be focused on learning tasks rather than administrative matters.
The use of online discussion tools such as email and web-based discussion forums can enable learners and tutors to continue their discussions outside class time thereby giving space and time for more thoughtful responses and peer support in the answering of questions based on shared experience.
5. At need/on demand delivery
A much celebrated advantage in using online and multimedia elements of learning materials is the ability to offer the learner the opportunity to access these learning materials at the moment they need them rather than having to wait until a time prescribed by the teacher.
6. Practice
Computer-based simulations or visualisations give the experience of using a particular piece of equipment without the reality of having access to it. Examples such as flight simulators for the training of pilots are well known. For many learners the opportunity to practice in private, at home, at their desk or at their own pace may allow them to flourish and succeed where traditional group demonstrations do not. Good simulations are expensive to produce but this technology and technique of training is becoming more widespread.
Computer-based tests have the advantage of being able to deliver almost instant feedback to the learner where it has been provided in advance by the teacher, giving them formative feedback by which to assess their own progress and areas for further study or revision.
7. Sustainability
The use of internet-based materials facilitates the re-use and sharing of materials, doing away with the need for each teacher to develop their own, and making it possible to distribute the same piece of learning materials to many learners without significant additional cost to the provider. Sustainability and scalability of education and training is very much a hot topic across many sectors at the moment. Where sustainable models are being promoted, teachers are encouraged to develop materials which can be shared and
re-used by other people.
8. Virtual learning environments
The changing landscape of training and education as described above has also shaped the landscape of the internet. Virtual learning environments have been developed to provide protected and flexible space on the web for teachers and learners to use.
Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are web-based software packages which bring together a range of tools for teachers and trainers to use in the delivery of their courses. There are a number of large commercial VLEs available. VLEs need not be commercial, however, they are often built as platforms using open-source or home-grown tools and are sometimes tailored to the needs of a particular university.
VLEs have the advantage of bringing together, and integrating tools which work well together. VLEs are designed to offer teachers and trainers whichever tools they wish to use for online education, e-learning or communication without requiring those teachers to develop internet programming or software development skills. This means they do not necessarily have the most up-to-date features and functionality available elsewhere on the internet, but VLEs show their value in bringing teachers and learners together in shared space.
Although the provision of VLEs has not required all teachers to become web developers, it has required an increase in web-literacy amongst teachers and a willingness to engage with learning new skills.
Most VLEs have tools which can be roughly grouped into three categories: tools for content, tools for communication and tools for management.
Tools for content
VLEs will provide easy interfaces for teachers to use to create and upload materials they would want their learners to use, read and collect. These materials may be a range of file types. Most VLEs will contain word-processed documents, graphic presentation slides, video, images, animation and sound files. Many also have established links with online libraries, catalogues or databases of relevant collections of study materials.
Tools for communication
Since communication between teachers and learners and between learners themselves is one of the key beneficial features of web-based education, VLEs contain a range of communication tools such as integrated email, synchronous chat rooms, asynchronous discussion forums, flagged news announcements and collections of frequently asked questions. More modern VLEs also include tools such as blogs, wikis, spaces to facilitate group work and student writing and RSS feeds to deliver podcasts and news.
Tools for management
Most VLEs include tools for managing, collecting and ‘time releasing' files. They may also include tools for creating group permissions to access documents or work in shared areas online. The complex processes around managing materials and learners require a range of tools which can help teachers to save time, particularly when scaling up their delivery to large groups of learners.
Some VLEs provide graphical representations of tracking and progress tools which allow teachers to see who (and when) has accessed materials, making it possible to identify students who have not engaged with materials and those who make most use of them. Where electronic pigeon holes or drop boxes are provided this can make the handling, marking and returning of assignments less of a labour-intensive process.
It is up to the instructor to bring together resources in useful sequences to structure learning tasks for their students. Teachers who use materials provided via a VLE have a range of choices to make in the use of those materials. Those choices concern the selection of materials, the tasks to be completed, the pace, and blend of the tasks and the learning outcomes to be achieved. These resources may take the form of lecture notes and handouts or images and graphics which are developed from their own work experience. Considerations should be made as to how these materials are best used by students:
- For preparation.
- For note taking in class.
- For revision and reference.
Teachers beginning blended learning often struggle with the decision about whether or not to make lecture materials available online. In some cases making learning materials such as these available to students outside class time will result in students not wishing to attend class and seeing the online materials as an adequate substitute. In these cases it is important for the teacher to show that the face-to-face contact time will be used to do something valuable, practical, or active to supplement and enhance the online materials.
The instantaneous and 24/7 nature of internet communications means that learners often assume that their questions to teachers in a VLE will be answered instantly and at any time of day. The ways in which teachers manage their own workload and manage learners' expectations in a virtual environment are challenges which all teachers face.
9. Hints, tips and suggestions
It is vital that students are introduced and trained in the use of technology - although student needs and skill levels vary enormously from terrified beginner to experienced expert.
It is important to consider how people will use resources online and to avoid overloading with content - it is easier to read a book than read lots of things from a computer screen. Most e-learning researchers and users recommend approaches which encourage student interaction, activity and engagement, ie getting students to do things, discuss and think.
Technology-rich teaching has suffered more than most forms of teaching from the not invented here complex. Utilising e-resources and packages of materials developed in another institutions or subject isn't always straightforward and many teachers feel the need to tailor to their own teaching styles and curricula.
E-learning and the technologies that support it are both topics full of acronyms and jargon and keeping up-to-date is not easy; Amy Finn in her article (Finn, 2005) provides a helpful summary.
10. Further information
Finn, A., 2005. Trends: Out with the old, in with the new? Learning Circuits, ASTD's Source for E-Learning
Salmon, G., 2004. E-tivities. RoutledgeFalmer
The Higher Education Academy e-Learning page