Week 4: E-Learning everyday

E-Learning has never crossed my mind ten years ago. School was so much more about classrooms with 40 students, teachers, blackboards, old projectors, libraries, science laboratories, tables and chairs and the whole experience of it being like your second home due to the amount of time it occupies your life.

With the rapid growth of technology over the years, it kind of blended into our learning experience in school pretty seamlessly. It is amazing how we are so used to using laptops to do our work now instead of writing it in hand. Somehow, writing it in hand seems more raw, original and imperfect, which makes it all the better for learning because you must do all the checking on your own with no computer tools to help you with grammar mistakes or word count.

However, having technology to check and improvise our work is not a bad thing. In fact, I feel it enhances our work by allowing us to focus more on content and interactivity, which I think, leads to e-learning.

The advantages of e-learning are no doubt being increased retention, reduced learning time, more convenient and these are some particular benefits for students:

1) On-demand availability enables students to complete training conveniently at off-hours or from home.

2) Self-pacing for slow or quick learners reduces stress and increases satisfaction.

3) Interactivity engages users, pushing them rather than pulling them through training.

4) Confidence that refresher or quick reference materials are available reduces burden of responsibility of mastery.

However, with advantages, comes disadvantages as well. The ways in which e-learning may not excel over other training include:

1) Technology issues of the learners are most commonly technophobia and unavailability of required technologies.

2) Portability of training has become a strength of e-learning with the proliferation of network linking points, notebook computers, PDAs, and mobile phones, but still does not rival that of printed workbooks or reference material.

3) Reduced social and cultural interaction can be a drawback. The impersonality, suppression of communication mechanisms such as body language, and elimination of peer-to-peer learning that are part of this potential disadvantage are lessening with advances in communications technologies.

With a fair share of pros and cons, e-learning is growing rapidly nonetheless. To keep a positive mind, I believe e-learning would not completely take over the traditional way of learning from printed books and materials. Instead, it serves as a supplement; an enhancement to improvise the learning process and experience. The future digital classroom would most probably be like classrooms or lecture halls that are filled with digital technologies for the usage of each student to engage in interactive learning and improve their understanding of what is being taught. Updated digital tools would be provided for each student and that would actually be really cool if it happens. :)