Apples and apples


One of the problems with any discussion of e-learning is that it’s very rare for the participants to be talking about the same thing. For a start, there are at least three completely different e-learning paradigms. First there’s the idea that e-learning is simply CBT delivered on the web – the same interactive, self-study materials we once had on CD-ROM but now delivered through a browser. What’s changed is that going online provides improved accessibility to materials and easier record-keeping, at the expense, at least for now, of reduced bandwidth.

Then, there’s the model that predominates in higher education: that e-learning provides, through the Internet, a new channel for communication between distance learners and their tutors, and a new, more economical way of getting materials to people. There’s rarely much in the way of interacting with the computer, but when it’s done well, there’s an awful lot of interacting with other people.

Finally, we have the model that e-learning is a way of delivering classroom instruction online. Instead of bricks and mortar classrooms we have virtual ones. No-one’s saying a virtual classroom is better than a real one (except perhaps in that the sessions can be recorded and archived), but they’re certainly much easier to access at a distance, particularly when what’s required is just a short session.

So, here are three completely different ways of looking at e-learning. One is asynchronous (CBT on the web), one synchronous (virtual classrooms) and the other a mix (distance learning on the Internet). They have almost nothing in common except for the fact that they employ computers and networks to aid the process of learning, which is all that e-learning really is – a channel, a way of reaching learners; not face-to-face, not through books or video, but online. The progress of e-learning depends on educators and trainers appreciating just what a broad discipline it is, with so many possibilities, but at heart really simple.




E-Learning's Greatest Hits
E-learnings Greatest Hits
ISBN: 0954590406
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 198

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