Topic Name: e-Learning

Name: Rakhi Bera

M.Ed. Trainee of Gangadharpur Sikshan Mandir
Session: 2018-2020

Introduction:
While the term “e-learning” has been thrown around quite a lot in recent years, many are still
unaware of what it actually means and how it can help them achieve success in both their professional
and personal lives. This short e-book aims to provide an introductory level overview of the e-learning
field for those people.

What is e-Learning?
When it comes to education, the model has been pretty straight forward - up until the early ‘00s
education was in a classroom of students with a teacher who led the process. Physical presence was a
no-brainer, and any other type of learning was questionable at best. Then the computer evolution
happened and it radically changed the learning landscape.
In essence, e-learning is a computer based educational tool or system that enables you to learn
anywhere and at any time. Today e-learning is mostly delivered though the internet, although in the past
it was delivered using a blend of computer-based methods like CD-ROM.
Technology has advanced so much that the geographical gap is bridged with the use of tools that
make you feel as if you are inside the classroom. E-learning offers the ability to share material in all
kinds of formats such as videos, slideshows, word documents and PDFs. Conducting webinars (live
online classes) and communicating with professors via chat and message forums is also an option
available to users.
There is a plethora of different e-learning systems (otherwise known as Learning Management
Systems, or LMSs for short) and methods, which allow for courses to be delivered. With the right tool
various processes can be automated such as the marking of tests or the creation of engaging content. E-
learning provides the learners with the ability to fit learning around their lifestyles, effectively allowing
even the busiest person to further a career and gain new qualifications.
Some of the most important developments in education have happened since the launch of the
internet. These days learners are well versed in the use of smartphones, text messaging and using the
internet so participating in and running an online course has become a simple affair. Message boards,
social media and various other means of online communication allow learners to keep in touch and
discuss course related matters, whilst providing for a sense of community.
In the fast-paced world of e-learning the available technologies to make a course exciting are
always changing, and course content can and should be updated quickly to give students the very latest
information. This is especially important if the e-learning training is being given to employees in a
sector where keeping up-to-date on industry developments is of the utmost importance. This is one of
the reasons why many businesses are now offering training via e-learning - other reasons includes low
costs and the ability for employees to study in their own time and place. Overall, traditional learning is
expensive, takes a long time and the results can vary. E-learning offers an alternative that is faster,
cheaper and potentially better.
Overview:
E-learning refers to the use of technology in learning and education. There are several aspects
to describing the intellectual and technical development of e-learning, which can be categorized into
discrete areas. These are addressed in turn in the sections of this article:
1. e-learning as an educational approach or tool that supports traditional subjects;
2. e-learning as a technological medium that assists in the communication of knowledge, and its
development and exchange;
3. e-learning itself as an educational subject; such courses may be called "Computer Studies" or
"Information and Communication Technology (ICT)";
4. e-learning administrative tools such as education management information systems
(EMIS).
Background:
e-learning is a broadly inclusive term that describes educational technology that electronically
or technologically supports learning and teaching. Bernard Luskin, a pioneer of e-learning, advocates
that the "e" should be interpreted to mean "exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended,
excellent, and educational" in addition to "electronic." This broad interpretation focuses on new
applications and developments, and also brings learning and media psychology into consideration.
Parks suggested that the "e" should refer to "everything, everyone, engaging, easy".
Depending on whether a particular aspect, component or delivery method is given emphasis, a
wide array of similar or overlapping terms has been used. As such, e-learning encompasses
multimedia learning, technology-enhanced learning (TEL), computer-based training (CBT),
computer-assisted instruction (CAI), internet-based training (IBT), web-based training (WBT),
online education, virtual education, virtual learning environments (V LE) which are also called
learning platforms, m-learning, digital educational collaboration, distributed learning, computer-
mediated communication, cyber-learning, and multi-modal instruction.

The History of e-Learning:

The term “e-learning” has only been in existence since 1999, when the word was first utilized at a
CBT systems seminar. Other words also began to spring up in search of an accurate description such as
“online learning” and “virtual learning”. However, the principles behind e-learning have been well
documented throughout history, and there is even evidence which suggests that early forms of e-
learning existed as far back as the 19th century.
 An e-learning timeline :
Long before the internet was launched, distance courses were being offered to provide students
with education on particular subjects or skills. In the 1840′s Isaac Pitman taught his pupils shorthand
via correspondence. This form of symbolic writing was designed to improve writing speed and was
popular amongst secretaries, journalists, and other individuals who did a great deal of note taking or
writing. Pitman, who was a qualified teacher, was sent completed assignments by mail and he would
then send his students more work to be finished using the same system.
In 1924, the first testing machine was invented. This device allowed students to tests themselves.
Then, in 1954, BF Skinner, a Harvard Professor, invented the “teaching machine”, which enabled
schools to administer programmed instruction to their students. It wasn’t until 1960 however that the
first computer-based training program was introduced to the world. This computer-based training
program (or CBT program) was known as PLATO-Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching
Operations. It was originally designed for students attending the University of Illinois, but ended up
being used in schools throughout the area.
 The first e-learning systems were really only set up to deliver information to students but as we
entered the 70s e-learning started to become more interactive. In Britain the Open University was keen
to take advantage of e-learning. Their system of education has always been primarily focused on
learning at a distance. In the past, course materials were delivered by post and correspondence with
tutors was via mail. With the internet the Open University began to offer a wider range of interactive
educational experiences as well as faster correspondence with students via email etc.
 Online learning today :
With the introduction of the computer and internet in the late 20th century, e-learning tools and
delivery methods expanded. The first MAC in the 1980′s enabled individuals to have computers in their
homes, making it easier for them to learn about particular subjects and develop certain skill sets. Then,
in the following decade, virtual learning environments began to truly thrive, with people gaining access
to a wealth of online information and e-learning opportunities.
By the early 90s several schools had been set up that delivered courses online only, making the
most of the internet and bringing education to people who wouldn't previously have been able to attend
a college due to geographical or time constraints. Technological advancements also helped educational
establishments reduce the costs of distance learning, a saving that would also be passed on to the
students - helping bring education to a wider audience.
In the 2000′s, businesses began using e-learning to train their employees. New and experienced
workers alike now had the opportunity to improve upon their industry knowledge base and expand their
skill sets. At home individuals were granted access to programs that offered them the ability to earn
online degrees and enrich their lives through expanded knowledge.
Types of e-Learning:
1) Computer based training
2) Internet based training
3) Wave based training

Opportunities and Practices in e-learning:

1. Learning Management System:

Over the past a couple of years, there has been an explosion in the use of blogs, wikis, podcasting
and social networking sites. The trend of using Web 2.0 technologies and social media has had a major
impact on e-learning which has been trying to harness it. On one hand, most of LMSs continue to
maintain their typical/traditional functions, such as serving specific requirements for managing online
courseware assets, tracking results of student tests and content completion, and making sure the
accuracy and availability of the content, etc. On the other hand, most of LMSs start to accommodate
user-navigated resources made up of commercial and user-generated content, working as “small pieces,
loosely joined,” connected by topical and pedagogical scaffolds, and held together by links and
connections from social and semantic media. As a result, the learning management systems are
beginning to shift from a focus on learning management to learning management, where the learning
is finally taking center stage (Davis, Carmean, & Wagner, 2009). The report, The Distance Education
and E-learning Landscape, conducted (Greenberg,2007) indicated that LMSs would look more like
portals and less like platform over the next five years. More and new functions such as Web 2.0
collaborative tools would be featured by LMSs, Davis, Carmean, and Wagner (2009) also reported some
top evolving LMS issues derived from divers perspectives and resources, such as: hosted options for
LMSs; open sources, open applications, and open education resources; commercial LMS customers:
less formal, more holistic; extensibility matters, revising standards, specifications, and structures, etc.
2. Blended Learning:
Blended learning emerges as perhaps the most prominent delivery mechanism in higher education,
business, government, and military settings. Blended learning combines face-to-face (F2F) instruction
with computer-mediated learning (CML) and instruction, which provides three main benefits for
teaching and learning: (1) improved pedagogy, (2) increased access and flexibility, and (3) increased
cost effectiveness (Graham, 2005). As early as in 2002, the Chronicle of Higher Education quoted the
president of Pennsylvania State University as saying that the convergence between online and
residential instruction was “the single-greatest unrecognized trend in higher education today” (Young,
2002). In 2003, the American Society for Training and Development identified blended learning as one
of the top ten trends to emerge in the knowledge delivery industry (Rooney, 2003). Furthermore, the
report, Current Trends in e-Learning Research Report, pointed out a survey on blended learning and
found that a significant majority of respondents’ organizations (85%) use blended learning for the
creation and/or delivery of educational content (Pulichino, 2005).
3. Microlearning:
Generally, the term "microlearning" refers to micro-perspectives in the context of learning,
education and training. More frequently, the term is used in the domain of e-learning and related fields
in the sense of a new paradigmatic perspective on learning processes in mediated environments on
micro levels. It deals with relatively small learning units and short-term learning activities. Unlike
“traditional” e-learning approaches, microlearning often tends towards push technology through push
media, which reduces the cognitive load on the learners (Wikipedia, 2001). Microlearning has been
considered as a very flexible, efficient, relaxed, and effective way for learners to learn. Hug (2005)
described analysed or generated versions of microlearning from following seven dimensions:

 Time: relatively short effort, operating expense, degree of time consumption, measurable time,
subjective time, etc.
 Content: small or very small units, narrow topics, rather simple issues, etc. Curriculum: small part
of curricular setting, parts of modules, elements of informal learning, etc.
 Form: fragments, facets, episodes, "knowledge nuggets", skill elements, etc.
 Process: separate, concomitant or actual, situated or integrated activities, iterative method,
attention management, awareness (getting into or being in a process), etc.
 Mediality: print media, electronic media, mono-media vs. multi-media, (inter-)mediated forms,
etc.
 Learning type: repetitive, activist, reflective, pragmatist, conceptionalist, constructivist,
connectivist, behaviourist; also: action learning, classroom learning, corporate learning, etc.

4. Mobile Learning:
The growth of mobile technologies such as the Kindle, the iPhone and other smartphones, web-
enabled tablets, GPS systems, video games and wireless home appliances, the growth of the mobile
web has been amazing. According to the current Morgan Stanley report (2010), although the mobile
wealth creation/destruction cycle is still in its earliest stages, the proliferation of better devices and the
availability of better data coverage are two trends driving growth. Better services and smaller, cheaper
devices such as iPhone and iTouch have led to a huge explosion in mobile technology that far outpaces
the growth of any other computing cycle. Based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile
web will be bigger than desktop Internet use by 2015. Mobile learning has been defined by researchers
(O’Malley, et al, 2003) as “Any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed,
predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning
opportunities offered by mobile technologies.” Like other forms of E-learning, M-Learning is also
collaborative; sharing is almost instantaneous among everyone using the same content, which leads to
the reception of instant feedback and tips. It is convenient in that it is accessible from virtually anywhere
and brings strong portability by replacing books and notes with small RAMs, filled with tailored
learning contents. In addition, it is simple to utilize mobile learning for a more effective and entertaining
experience (Wikipedia, 2001).
5. Open Education:
As Batson (2009) indicated, “Open education, open knowledge, and open resources are different
faces of the Web 2.0 revolution in higher education.” Web 2.0 technologies empower today’s websites
of higher education institutions in a great way. There is a growing movement in higher education to
create course materials that are available for use without restrictions of copyright or use fees. This
movement often refers to materials developed in this way as “Open Course Ware” (OCW) or “Open
Educational Resources” (OER). The term Open Education Resources (OER) refers to “digitised
materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and re-use for
teaching, learning and research” (OECD, 2007) The term Open Courseware (OCW) refers to publicly
available materials which are either a part of, or a complete course from an educational institution such
as a university or college. For example, iTunes U is probably the most talked-about and widely used
podcast for higher education institutions on open education. On May 30, 2007, Apple Computer’s
iTunes U was announced at Cupertino, California. According to iTunes U Website, “iTunes U brings
the power of the iTunes Store to education, making it simple to distribute information to your students
and faculty — or to lifelong learners all over the world. With an iTunes U site, your institution has a
single home for all the digital content created or curated by educators, which can then be easily
downloaded and viewed on any Mac, PC, iPod, or iPhone.” Only a few years old, higher education
institutions have formed a huge-e-learning delivery network. Various universities/colleges have created
their own iTunes U sites to manage, distribute, and control access to educational audio and video content
and other resources for current students as well as the broader Internet. The online service is without
cost to those uploading or downloading material. Content includes course lectures, language lessons,
lab demonstrations, sports highlights, etc. OER Commons (http://www.oercommons.org/) and Open
Courseware Consortium (http://www.ocwconsortium.org/) have been accumulating some excellent
related resources and information.
6. Do-It-Yourself Learning:
The use of multimedia and web technology has made individualized learning and/or related
learning technologies more available and effective as an alternative to formal learning and training. For
example, Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) can help an organization to reduce the cost
of training staff while increasing productivity and performance. According to Bezanson (2002), EPSS
is “A performance support system provides just-in-time, just enough training, information, tools, and
help for users of a product or work environment, to enable optimum performance by those users when
and where needed, thereby also enhancing the performance of the overall business.” Do-it-yourself or
individualized learning provides three main benefits for learning and training on: (1) reducing the
complexity or number of steps required to perform a task; (2) providing the specific performance
information a person needs to perform a task, and (3) providing a decision support system that enables
a person to identify the action that is appropriate for a particular set of conditions (Wikipedia, 2010).
7. Virtual Learning:
Virtual worlds based on Web 2.0 have the potential to provide: teaching, learning, and training
opportunities; rich interactions and communication environments to improve communication skills and
problem-solving skills, and an engaging and low risk environment as an alternative to the real world
(Park & Baek, 2010). A virtual world usually refers to the online community that often takes the form
of a computer-based simulated environment, through which users can interact with one another and use
and create objects (Bishop, 2009). Virtual worlds are intended for users to inhabit and interact, and the
term today has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users
take the form of avatars visible to others graphically (Cook, 2009). These avatars are usually depicted
as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations, although other forms are
possible (Biocca & Levy 1995.)
The report, Getting Started in e-Learning: Simulations and Games (2010), have shown that
simulations and games could provide a means for embedding certain instructional strategies into
instruction, such as: using similar contexts, providing extensive and varied practice, and make
underlying principles clear, etc. which can dramatically improve transfer from learning to real-world
performance. A learning simulation is a structured activity that reproduces important characteristics of
a real environment and situation, which allows learners to experience how reality works in a virtual
environment. A learning game is a structured activity that involves a specific challenge, information to
respond to, and rules for achieving the goal.
 A research study by the U.S. Department of Defense (Blunt, 2008 cited by Getting Started in e-
Learning: Simulations and Games, 2010) showed that students in the study who used learning games
scored significantly higher than those who did not. More than 40% of respondents planed to do more
games, simulations and scenarios, complex games, and immersive learning simulations in the next 12
months. One virtual world that has caught the attention of many people is Second Life (SL). SL was
released to the public by Linden Lab in 2003, and quickly becomes the largest three-dimensional virtual
world. According to SL site (http://education.secondlife.com/whysl/), because of the strong sense of
“presence,” many prominent educational institutions and organizations understand it and are creating
virtual learning environments to deliver a wide range of courses, field trips, and events including:

 Distance and Flexible Education

 Presentations and Discussions
 Historical Recreations
 Simulations and Role-Playing
 Multimedia and Games Design
 Language Learning Practice

Advantages of e-Learning:
1. You are able to link the various resources in several varying formats.
2. It is a very efficient way of delivering courses online.
3. Due to its convenience and flexibility, the resources are available from anywhere and at
any time.
4. Everyone, who are part time students or are working full time, can take advantage of web-
based learning.
5. Web-based learning promotes active and independent learning.
6. As you have access to the net 24x7, you can train yourself anytime and from anywhere also.
7. It is a very convenient and flexible option; above all, you don't have to depend on anyone for
anything.
8. Not only can you train yourself on a day to day basis, but also on weekends or whenever you
have the free time to. There is no hard and fast rule.

Disadvantages of e-Learning

Well, there are not many disadvantages of eLearning, the main one being that you get knowledge
only on a theoretical basis and when it comes to putting to use whatever you have learnt, it may be a
little different. The face-to-face learning experience is missing, which may matter to some of you.

1. Most of the online assessments are limited to questions that are only objective in nature.
2. There is also the problem of the extent of security of online learning programs.
3. The authenticity of a particular student’s work is also a problem as online just about anyone can do
a project rather than the actual student itself.
4. The assessments that are computer marked generally have a tendency of being only knowledge-
based and not necessarily practicality-based.
Conclusions:
The growth of online resources and the advancement of Web 2.0 technology are impacting
education and training, as well as changing e-learning. The previous section presents some major
opportunities and practices in e-learning. e-learning from LMS to virtual learning shifts from a focus
on formal learning to informal learning. Formal learning usually refers to the hierarchically structured
school system that runs from primary school through the university and organized school-like programs
created in business for technical and professional training. Information, on the other hand, refers to a
lifelong process whereby individuals acquire attitudes values, skills and knowledge from daily
experience and the educational influences and resources in his or her environment, from family and
neighbours, from work and play, from the market place, the library and the mass media (Conner, n.d.).
Research indicates most learning that has a real impact on human performance tends to be informal in
nature. As early as in 1998, a study of time-to-performance done by Moore (cited by Wikipedia, 2010)
graphically shows the disparity between formal and informal learning. More recently, according to a
2009 report by American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and Institute for Corporate
Productivity (i4cp), Tapping the Potential of Informal Learning, informal learning clearly has a strong
presence in many of today’s organizations. Four in ten respondents said such learning is occurring in
their organization to a high or very high extent, with another 34 percent indicating that it’s occurring to
a moderate extent. More than half of the respondents (56 percent) predicted that the use of informal
learning would increase over the next three years. This expected increase in informal learning is not
surprising in the context of today’s technology-driven corporate culture. There is now a need, as well
as the ability, to learn on-demand rather than wait for more conventional learning opportunities, which
informal learning addresses.

References:
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Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2008). Staying the course: Online education in the United States. Needham, MA: Sloan Consortium.

Ambient Insight Research (2009). US self-paced e-Learning market. Monroe WA: Ambient Insight Research.

ASTD/i4cp (2009). Tapping the Potential of Informal Learning. Retrieved August 7, 2010, from
http://www.astd.org/NR/rdonlyres/BDCB22E4-0D4C-4A61-AB32-912172C1D6CB/0/InformalLearning_ExecSumm.pdf

Batson, T. (2009). Why is Web 2.o important to higher education? Campus Technology. Retrieved August 7, 2010, from
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/04/15/why-web-2.0-is-important-to-higher-education.aspx

Biocca, F., & Levy, M. R. (1995). Communication in the Age of Virtual Reality. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bishop, J. (2009). Enhancing the understanding of genres of web-based communities: The role of the ecological cognition
framework. International Journal of Web-Based Communities, 5(1), 4-17.

Conner, M. (n.d.). Introducing informal learning. Retrieved September 8, 2010, from http://marciaconner.com/intros/informal.html