Technology has changed our lives giving us the freedom to conduct these activities from the comfort of our homes
When I look around today at the conveniences produced by information and communication technology, I often pause to reflect on past decades when we didn�t have any of this. How did we ever get anything done? A document that now takes a few seconds to attach and send by email took several days by regular mail not to mention that you had to address the envelope, put a stamp on it, and deliver it to the nearest post office. As for banking, you were required to adhere to the hours of the local bank when you wished to deposit your paycheque, pay bills, or withdraw funds; thank goodness for direct deposits, preauthorized payments, and automated tellers! Technology has certainly changed our lives by giving us the freedom to conduct these activities from the comfort of our home and at any time we choose.
This same technology is now providing more choice when it comes to education. It is no longer necessary to attend lessons in a classroom in order to further our learning. The widespread use of the Internet has globalized education and enabled educational institutions to be able to offer courses to students anywhere in the world. E-learning has changed the way that courses can be taught and distance education has removed the traditional barriers of higher education. Since I have always been fascinated by computer technology and keen to try the latest trends,
As a computer technology developer, the resources that I needed were readily available in the classroom including access to the Internet. In the earlier stages, students were taught how to use the Web to access and gather information, and to use email for communications and to send and receive assignments. Then some of my colleagues began to set up websites for their students to access and I was just starting to entertain the idea when along came WebCT (www.webct.com) it is a much more user friendly e-learning tool that could accomplish the same task, and I didn;t need to spend hours deciphering HTML code to set it up;, the software helps instructors and students have an integrated teaching and learning experience and thousands of colleges and universities in more than 70 countries worldwide are now employing it. WebCT allows instructors to easily engage with students, manage their assignment and assessment submissions, and evaluate their performance. Another popular e-learning program is called Blackboard (www.blackboard.com). Blackboard Inc., a
In the first couple of years after WebCT was introduced, only a handful of instructors at my college utilized it but gradually more faculty became interested, especially when textbook publishers began to offer software that integrated with WebCT and included on-line tests, assignments, and grading. Students can access the material from any computer system with Internet access but the instructor can control how much they can see at any given point in time. What more could you ask for? Most Universities in the world has chosen to use WebCT as a communication tool for their students; this way students have a common resource that they can utilize from anywhere and individual instructors can also use it as a delivery tool for their courses.
At the same time that I was experimenting with different forms of e-learning, I also began to take notice of distance education. This was an electronic version of traditional correspondence courses and certainly an innovative departure from conventional learning. The introduction of this Web-based resource opened the door to higher education for many individuals who lack the resources to do it any other way. It allows individuals like myself to gain a degree while still working full-time, it allows stay-at-home mothers to earn their credentials while raising their children; it allows people to study without leaving home. But is distance education being taken seriously by major educational institutions? Just take a cruise on the Web and it won’t take long to realize that most post-secondary establishments around the world have adopted this technology and are competing with each other for the global student market. While some institutes offer distance education as an option to their regular classes, there are others such as
If information technology continues to impact education at the same rate that it has in the past ten years, I can�t wait to see what will happen in the next decade. Perhaps distance ed and e-learning will become the standard and traditional teaching methods will become as old fashioned as it is a snail mail. It only time will tell.
Picture an all-too-familiar training classroom scenario.
An employee walks into a training room and is greeted by a trainer. He sits back, relaxes and appears to listen to the trainer drone on about the subject matter. Then the lights dim. He is barraged by a multitude of boring PowerPoint slides; maybe he takes some notes.
He starts to drift. His mind wanders to the multitude of messages in his inbox waiting for a reply. He snaps out of it briefly as the trainer engages a nearby participant in a question-and-answer exchange and possibly even a discussion. But the instructor continues to drone on and he drifts again.
At some point he may complete some questions either verbally or on paper. He might even be asked to perform a task or procedure. At the end of the session, he walks away with some printed material that the trainer says is already out of date. He might even receive the phone number of the trainer for further questions, but he is pretty much on his own.
The assumption has been that face-to-face training -- with a human being actually providing the training -- leads to greater interaction than computer-based training, and as a result, leads to greater success. But that assumption is not based on fact. True e-learning provides many, if not more, opportunities for interaction than instructor-led training.
From a conceptual perspective, e-learning is a holistic view of training and performance support embedded in the actual work environment. Designing effective e-learning tools requires stepping back and evaluating what support the learner needs before, during and after the point of need. The resulting e-learning solution can include many of the traditional attributes of training and performance support as well as several new components enabled by technology.
E-LEARNING INTERACTION
The following depicts a blended e-learning scenario that includes a high degree of interaction:
To begin his learning experience, the employee logs onto a self-paced Web-based-training program to familiarize himself with basic concepts. The WBT interface is intuitive. The content is presented in modularized segments that are easy to absorb, and there are plenty of engaging interactions requiring the employee's input.
The employee receives effective feedback immediately and is given the opportunity to go back and review material if necessary. If he has a question, he can browse the "frequently asked questions," explore the more detailed online support or click a link to initiate a live chat with an expert.
Deepening his knowledge, the employee participates in a real-time learning experience where he, other participants and an instructor are all interacting in a live training session over the Internet. The instructor presents information using a live video feed, video clips, animations, diagrams and slides.
The employee clicks a link that tells the instructor he has a question. There is an online whiteboard where he takes control and makes annotations to the diagram that is presented. The instructor lets another participant answer the question while all participants observe. The employee wants more information, but chooses to ask that participant to join him later in a private off-line discussion.
Then the instructor posts a series of review questions for all participants to answer. The instructor notices that several participants did not correctly answer the questions. He therefore reviews some of the material and posts more questions to measure retention. When complete, the tabulated scores are posted for all to see and a discussion begins. This pattern of interaction is repeated several times until the entire session is complete.
After the session, the employee has a question, so he posts it in the threaded discussion for the instructor and other participants to respond. He also has access to an extensive knowledge base that is continually updated. If he is still at a loss, he can request a live chat with an expert to get resolution.
AN ACTIVE ROLE
As can be seen, e-learning doesn't prevent interaction from taking place. In fact, e-learning can actually increase interaction as it shifts the participant from a passive learning role to an active learning role. It also provides both the participant and the instructor with tools to measure real-time retention of information and allows for corrective measures to be made accordingly. E-learning can even include scheduled or randomized post-training assessments to measure the retention of information over time.
At its best, e-learning is more than just interactive. It is collaborative. The participant is connected to learning peers through the virtual learning community. He also has access to mentors, experts, colleagues and professional peers, both inside and outside his organization for problem solving and decision-making.
By taking a holistic approach, a company can arrive at a training process that is more engaging and effective than traditional face-to-face learning at an economical cost. With the focus on the participant, e-learning can ensure employees fully master the training content, ultimately leading to greater job performance and a stronger bottom line.