Experiencing E-Learning

I gathered some opinions from people who already had an experience in e-learning.  This may help you to conceptualize the design of your e-learning program and further develop your courses to provide an engaging learning community to your target learners.

• According to Mark Felipe (Theorem Global employee), since his professor in Trace University used it during their thesis days, he concluded that this is a good environment to share information among students through uploading assignments, files, and other resource materials that can eventually help each member of their learning community to accomplish their projects.

• According to Marc Sy (Consultant and a self-paced learner), this self-managed learning is very much applicable to busy professionals who would like to gain additional knowledge despite of their limited time.  As he experienced it, he assumed that a learner should be very disciplined to study his course.  Thus, the provider should give an ample time and target deadline in studying the whole course which should apparently be reasonable and attainable.  E-learning can be presented in several ways; however, learners’ needs and nature of the course should be considered.

• According to John Erwin Magno (member of Microsoft Learning Community), it helped him to be more updated with new IT courses.  Through this, he realized that learning new knowledge can be accomplished anytime, anywhere.  He also enjoyed the “progress report” that the learning community has provided which aided him to assess his pacing in his course.  He also appreciated how interactive and dynamic the courses are because they uses well-developed course materials which caters different learning needs and preferences.

• According to German Laylo (IBM employee), he really enjoyed the self-paced learning because he was able to maximize his spare time to study bulk of modules.  He also added that he appreciated the flexibility it offers because this tool provided several methodologies and activities that may be utilized according to preferences of the students with different learning styles.  He was also challenged with the “thought-provoking questions” that every module has.  This way, he is more disciplined to study well so he can move forward to the next step and finish the whole course in a very limited time. Overall, this is very effective and efficient enough for a busy person like him.

You may establish an interactive and dynamic online learning community which offers several methodologies and activities that will cater diverse learning styles and needs while considering the nature of the course you may offer.  Further, since this is a self-paced learning, a progress report and evaluation are essential to assess the pacing of their own learning while providing greater collaboration to them.  Succinctly, e-learning is a helpful tool for our learners to achieve professional growth in a very convenient, portable, and flexible way.  This is an innovative learning means that offers limitless possibilities of learning.

Have you tried experiencing E-Learning?  You may try some open source course management  system like Moodle and Docebo for free.  You may also invest in some learning solutions (software tool) like Adobe E-Learning and Articulate.

E-Learning: An Overview

E-learning  or “electronic learning” refers to a wide range of applications and processes designed to deliver instruction through electronic means.  E-Learning is a fusion of education plus technology.  It’s an innovative approach for delivering electronically mediated, well-designed, learner-centered, and interactive learning environment to anyone, anyplace, anytime by utilizing the Internet and digital technologies in performance with instructional design principles.

It is the synergy of information-on-demand, multimedia communication, social collaboration, instruction, discovery and exploration that interactively engages the learner with great learning opportunity.  Further, this provides cost-savings, time-savings, convenience, more personal contact, and more direct experience of the subject matter.  The rapid adoption of e-learning that has occurred in corporate, school and government settings is based on the fact that these new tools powerfully leverage traditional education and training.

Features of e-learning

It is not unlike any other form of education – and it is widely accepted that e-learning can be as rich and as valuable as the classroom experience or even more so. With its unique features, e-learning is an experience that leads to comprehension and mastery of new skills and knowledge, just like its traditional counterpart.

In closer view, the following features are available in e-learning:

• Learning is self-paced and gives students a chance to speed up or slow down as necessary
• Learning is self-directed, allowing students to choose content and tools appropriate to their differing interests, needs, and skill levels
• Accommodates multiple learning styles using a variety of delivery methods geared to different learners; more effective for certain learners
• Designed around the learner
• Geographical barriers are eliminated, opening up broader education options
• 24/7 accessibility makes scheduling easy and allows a greater number of people to attend classes
• On-demand access means learning can happen precisely when needed
• Overall student costs are frequently less (tuition, residence, food, child care)
• Potentially lower costs for companies needing training, and for the providers
• Fosters greater student interaction and collaboration
• Fosters greater student/instructor contact
• Enhances computer and Internet skills

E-learning process

1. Needs Analysis – this is to identify and analyze feasible courses according to target market’s needs.  This includes content analysis, format and presentation of the content and Learning and Management System (LMS) analysis.
2. Course Design and Development – this is to create effective and competitive courses that would cater the needs of the target learners.  The design defines “how to teach” or methodologies to use.  The aim for learners to learn authentically through development of associations between concepts and reflective meta-cognitive processes.
3. Course Delivery, Deployment and Implementation – this is to provide smooth delivery, deployment and implementation of the course.  Deliver, deploy and implement the designed and developed course for  the learners.  Thus, different parts are integrated to form a cohesive workable whole.
4. Logistics and Maintenance – this is to set well-maintained learning materials and technical support made available for learners.  Maintaining the LMS of the course is being done through providing technical support to students and managing user accounts and network security.  Thus, updating and monitoring the e-learning environment and progress of the learners are necessary.
5. Evaluation – this is to efficiently track and measure course results.  Was the course effective and efficient enough for the learners?  Did the learners achieve the instructional goals and objectives at the end of the course?

Learning is an active process of constructing knowledge. It is individual in nature. Various tools are employed to make the process of teaching and learning effective. In keeping with advancement of technology, the tools have undergone modifications in sophistication. From simple chalk and black board, they have come a long way to computers with multimedia and teletechniques.

Photo courtesy of  Braintrack.