In Search Of The Perfect E-Learner

It’s becoming common knowledge that e-learning is achieving inconsistent results. Some e-learners thrive on the increased flexibility and control that the medium provides; others wallow in isolation, struggling to make a start. In this chapter, I examine the notion that some people are more suited to e-learning than others, while not discarding the idea that e-learning could be developed to become a medium for the masses.

All e-learners are not equal

Quentin just loves e-learning. His personal circumstances make it difficult for him to commit to events that stick to a rigid timetable and take him away from home. He’s easily bored and so he relishes the highly visual nature of his e-learning materials and the constant challenges set for him. He’s not unhappy working alone, but is takes advantage of any opportunities to communicate online with his fellow learners. He’s already completed two courses with flying colours and now he’s addicted.

Sally believes e-learning is the work of the devil. She loves to work in a team and finds it very hard to get motivated when she has to rely on her own self-discipline. She’s not fond of computers and gets very frustrated when she doesn’t know what to do and has no-one to ask. Courses for her are a social experience in which formal learning takes second place to long contact-building sessions in the bar. Sally tried e-learning, for about half an hour. Now she’s convinced it’s not for her and is working out how to get her money back.

Clearly, if the stories of Quentin and Sally in any way resemble real-life experience, and my guess is that they do, then all e-learners are not equal. We have winners and losers, just as we probably always have had with the classroom and all other learning media. So, perhaps it would help us to know just what it is about some learners that make them better suited to e-learning than others. It would also help if we could make e-learning more suitable for the majority of learners, so we could all take advantage of its benefits, but more of that to come. For now, let’s establish a profile of the perfect e-learner.