Question 1: State the features of e-learning technology: what are the

advantages and disadvantages of e-learning?

Question 2: Differentiate between educational technology and ICT.

INTRODUCTION

The Internet has become one of the vital ways to make available resources
for research and learning for both teachers and students to share and acquire
information (Richard and Haya 2009). Technology-based e-learning encompasses
the use of the internet and other important technologies to produce materials for
learning, teach learners, and also regulate courses in an organization (Fry, 2001).
There has been extensive debate about a common definition of the term e-learning.
Existing definitions according to Dublin (2003) tend to reveal the specialization
and interest of the researchers. E-learning as a concept covers a range of
applications, learning methods and processes (Rossi, 2009). It is therefore difficult
to find a commonly accepted definition for the term e-learning, and according to
Oblinger and Hawkins (2005) and Dublin (2003), there is even no common
definition for the term. Holmes and Gardner (2006) also made a comment on these
inconsistencies by saying that there may be as many definitions of the term e-
learning as there are learning went on to ask the following questions: Is e-learning
an on-line coursework for students at a distance? Does it mean using a virtual
learning environment to support the provision of campus based education? Does it
refer to an on-line tool to enrich, extend and enhance collaboration? OR is it a
totally on-line learning or part of blended learning? (Dublin, 2005). Some of the
definitions of the term e-learning as given by different researchers and institutions
are reviewed below.

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 In some definitions e-learning encompasses more than just the offering of
wholly on-line courses. For instance Oblinger and Hawkins (2005) noted that e-
Learning has transformed from a fully-online course to using technology to deliver
part or all of a course independent of permanent time and place. Also the European
Commission (2001) describes, e-Learning as the use of new multimedia
technologies and the Internet to increase learning quality by easing access to
facilities and services as well as distant exchanges and collaboration. The
following are also different definitions of e-learning.
Features of E-Learning Technology
1. Collaboration of Various Learning Tools: Mixed learning apparatuses enable
you to oblige diverse adapting needs and inclinations. You can offer online
students up close and personal guidance combined with online, preparing assets to
improve the advantages. Just as to give self-guided, web-based, preparing ways for
the individuals who incline towards no concurrent online investigations. At times,
an LMS may highlight video conferencing instruments. This enables you to offer
the best you can from any place on the planet.
2. Strong Reporting With Customization: LMS reports give you a total picture
of online student execution, commitment, and fulfillment evaluations. You can
discover how well they are faring amid intelligent activities. View eLearning
appraisal scores with the goal that you can suggest supplemental web-based
preparing assets, and guarantee that they are getting the data they have to
accomplish the ideal results.
3. Web-Based Business Support: One of the LMS highlights eLearning
organizations should search for is e-Commerce coordination, which enables you to
market your eLearning courses. This might be done in installment portals, virtual
shopping baskets, or item URLs. Another vital thought is e-Commerce LMS

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measurements. These reports enable you to follow changes, navigate rates, and
deals figures to improve your eLearning promoting procedure.
4. Brand Integration: It’s basic that your new LMS enables you to redo
eLearning layouts and has different advantages to pass on your image informing.
This guarantees coherence, cohesiveness, and validity. Accordingly, you fabricate
brand dedication and grow your online student client base.
5. Online Course Catalogs: Your LMS needs to help online course lists. Ideally,
with an implicit shopping basket choice, so online students can rapidly buy the
substance or select an eLearning course with the snap of a catch. This, as well,
ought to be completely adaptable. For instance, you can transfer your own logo,
designs, text style, types, and catch styles.
6. Self-Registration: Online students examine your online course inventory and
locate the perfect eLearning course for their requirements. In any case, how would
they book their spot and pay their educational cost? Your LMS ought to have a
self-enlistment or auto-select element, where online students can join self-
governing. Remember that a considerable lot of them are settling on a brief instant
choice.
7. Responsive Design Features: Current students need access to eLearning
courses anytime, anyplace. Subsequently, you need a Learning Management
System that can convey portable inviting substance immediately. All the more, one
that offers everybody a similar survey involvement and gives similar advantages.
That implies your LMS needs responsive structure highlights.
8. Accreditation Support: Your LMS must offer affirmation support. For
instance, the capacity to pick explicit online preparing ways and consequently
convey culmination testaments to effective online students. You ought to likewise
have the capacity to follow each component of your accreditation course, from

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individual student advancement to a general diagram of how many individuals
have finished the eLearning course.
9. Natural User Interface: A Learning Management System isn’t of much esteem
as you can’t utilize the LMS highlights and capacities. That is why an LMS must
be easy to use and instinctive. In a perfect world, it ought to have an assortment of
dashboards that feature distinctive parts of your eLearning course.
10. Availability Features: On the off chance of your planning to offer your
eLearning courses to online students with exceptional requirements, you ought to
consider availability highlights. For instance, include inscriptions and captions to
suit online students who are hearing debilitated or sound portrayals for the
individuals who are outwardly hindered. It’s also quite smart to pick an LMS
which will allow you to provide useful online assets to your students worldwide.
Advantages of E-learning
Some of the advantages that the adoption of e-learning in education, obtained from
review of literature includes the following:
1. It is flexible when issues of time and place are taken into consideration. Every
student has the luxury of choosing the place and time that suits him/her. The
adoption of e-learning provides the institutions as well as their students or learners
the much flexibility of time and place of delivery or receipt of according to
learning information.
2. E-learning enhances the efficacy of knowledge and qualifications via ease of
access to a huge amount of information.
3. It is able to provide opportunities for relations between learners by the use of
discussion forums. Through this, e-learning helps eliminate barriers that have the
potential of hindering participation including the fear of talking to other learners.
E-learning motivates students to interact with other, as well as exchange and
respect different point of views. E-learning eases communication and also

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improves the relationships that sustain learning. Wagner et al (2008) note that e-
Learning makes available extra prospects for interactivity between students and
teachers during content delivery.
4. E-learning is cost effective in the sense that there is no need for the students or
learners to travel. It is also cost effective in the sense that it offers opportunities for
learning for maximum number of learners with no need for many buildings.
5. E-learning always takes into consideration the individual learners differences.
Some learners, for instance prefer to concentrate on certain parts of the course,
while others are prepared to review the entire course.
Disadvantages of E-learning
The disadvantages of e-learning that have been given by studies include the
following:
1. E-learning as a method of education makes the learners undergo contemplation,
remoteness, as well as lack of interaction or relation. It therefore requires a very
strong inspiration as well as skills with to the management of time in order to
reduce such effects.
2. With respect to clarifications, offer of explanations, as well as interpretations,
the e-learning method might be less effective that the traditional method of
learning. The learning process is much easier with the use of the face to face
encounter with the instructors or teachers.
3. E-learning may also deteriorate institutions’ role socialization role and also the
role of instructors as the directors of the process of education.
4. Since tests for assessments in e-learning are possibly done with the use of proxy,
it will be difficult, if not impossible to control or regulate bad activities like
cheating.
5. E-learning may also probably be misled to piracy and plagiarism, predisposed
by inadequate selection skills, as well as the ease of copy and paste.

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Differentiate between educational technology and ICT
Educational technology (also called learning technology) is the study and
ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating,
using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.
Educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing
human capability. Educational Technology includes, but is not limited to, software,
hardware, as well as Internet applications and activities. Whereas ICT are only a
part of a continuum of technologies, starting with chalk and books, all of which
can support and enrich learning. ICT, as any tools, must be considered as such, and
used and adapted to serve educational goals. The purpose of ICT in education is
generally to familiarise students with the use and workings of computers and
softwares.
Educational technology can be considered either as a design science or as a
collection of different research interests addressing fundamental issues of learning,
teaching and social organization. it only aims at increased efficiency or
effectiveness of current practise, but frequently it aims at pedagogical change.
Whereas ICT in education can be broadly categorized in the following ways
ICT as a subject (i.e., computer studies).
ICT as a tool to support traditional subjects (i.e., computer-based learning,
presentation, research).
ICT as an administrative tool (i.e., education management information
systems/EMIS).
The main difference between educational technology and information
technology is that educational technology refers to the use of technological tools in
the process of learning and teaching while information technology refers to
anything related to computing technology, such as hardware, software, networking,
and the Internet.

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 REFERENCES
Dublin, L. (2003). If you only look under the street lamps……Or nine e-Learning
Myths.The e- Learning developers journal.http://www.eLearningguild.com.

European Commission (2001). The eLearning Action Plan: Designing tomorrow’s

education. http://www.elearningeuropa.info.

Fry, K. (2001). E-learning markets and providers: some issues and prospects.
Education Training, 233-239.

Oblinger, D. G., & Hawkins, B. L. (2005). The myth about E-learning. Educause
review.

Richard, H., & Haya, A. (2009). Examining student decision to adopt web 2.0
technologies: theory and empirical tests. Journal of computing in higher
education, 21(3), 183-198.

Rosenberg J.M. (2001). E-learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the

Digital Age McGraw-Hill: New York.