Challenges and Opportunties of E-Learning

The challenges and opportunities of e-learning

Introduction

E-learning refers to the use of computer, social media, and information/communication technology (ICT) based learning and teaching (Sangara et al., 2012). Distance education, also called e-learning, enables learners to study independently at a distance. This dynamic method of education started at the beginning of the 21^st century allows students to learn whenever they have time and internet access. The result is that many students from developing countries earn their degrees from advanced industrial countries without leaving their home countries. I will discuss this relatively new opportunity later in this paper.

E-learning education is relatively new, and was adopted by Canadian educators as soon as the internet became widely accessible to learners. I took my first distance education course in sociology in 1999, and my only method of communication with the course instructor was through phone and email since webcams, Skype, Facebook and other forms of social media did not exist then. Although I mainly worked on my own and felt isolated most of the time, I benefited greatly from the course in terms of saving travel time. In addition the course gave me the opportunity to acquire more computer skills. In this paper, I explore the challenges and benefits of e-learning courses from the perspective of both instructor and learner.

The instructor based challenges of e-learning

Similar to other learning methods, e-learning poses challenges. One of the main instructor based challenges of e-learning is the expectation that the instructor should be continually available to provide assistance. For example, students having low levels of computer skills expect on-going support from the course instructor, particularly at the beginning of their course. This happens despite even after e-learning course instructors clearly state their availability in the course syllabus.

In some cases, even when e-learning course instructors create boundaries for the time spent with learners, they can automatically be drawn into dealing with students’ discussions and course related issues. As argued by Boettcher and Conrad (201), no matter how expectations are communicated regarding faculty availability, “…the default mode is twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.” (37)

What can instructors do to manage some of the challenges of e-learning?

While as argued by Boettcher (2011), setting clear expectations is a good strategy for supporting e-learners and helps to prevent faculty burnout while creating a balanced set of dialogues between faculty and learners. This also helps faculty build a high quality community of learners. Furthermore, instructors should empower learners to be independent by designing courses that are more self-directed. For example, they should encourage learners to raise their problems in a discussion forum and work with peers prior to asking the instructor privately. This method can encourage active engagement of peers while increasing cooperation among them.

Learner based challenges and solutions

For learners, time management can be the most challenging aspect of an e-learning course, as every course requires a time commitment and e-learning courses are no exception. Since e-learning courses do not require that learners meet in a traditional classroom setting, some students may wait until close to the end of the course to complete its requirements (due to employment commitment) instead of regularly working on it throughout the course. This may cause stress, burnout and a poor learning outcome.

Another learner based challenge relates to the learner’s technical skills. Some students lack the technical skills to benefit from e-learning. They for example may not be familiar with Word and Excel or do not know how to solve technical problems. The result may be an overwhelming experience when they struggle to learn computer skills while taking an e-learning course. To overcome this challenge, as suggested by Carpenter (2010), it is essential for learners to take an introductory computer course prior to taking an e-learning course. 

The learners usually work in isolation while taking any e-learning course due to the lack of face-to-face interaction with other learners and faculty. To avoid isolation, one alternative is to interact with peers and the instructor through forum discussion or social media, and to be present online whenever possible.

The advantages of e-learning over face to face learning

E-learning offers learners many advantages. As mentioned, one of the main advantages is that it gives them the flexibility to learn at times convenient to them. For example, they can fit the learning time into their schedules while working full time or part time. Another advantage is that learners do not need to travel to school and can use time they would have spent travelling learning.

Furthermore, e-learning courses are borderless and courses are accessible to learners worldwide who gain access to distant experts. This allows knowledge and information on specialized subjects to be accessible to people anywhere on the globe. For example, a few years ago, I took an on-line course which allowed me to interact with peers from all over the world. The course instructor was living in Switzerland, and learners lived as far away as Africa, South/East Asia and South/Central America.

I think we are the luckiest generation to participate in this global interaction without having to put a foot in other countries. The near-global accessibility of computers and the high speed internet has allowed teachers/instructors to be borderless and to teach remotely without being physically present in a country.

Best practices for instructors and learners to gain the most benefit from e-learning

Teachers engaged in online teaching need to be familiar and up to date with the broad selection of communications technology available to them. This method of education allows everyone to use e-communication tools such as email, Skype, Twitter and Facebook as effective communication tools without limitations. Best practices for e-learning instructors focus on course planning and management to help ensure learners meet course objectives. Course objectives should clearly state course expectations such as learners’ performance, behavior and understanding, and also how to achieve the learning objectives stated in the course syllabus. Course delivery should be smooth to create a learning community among learners without creating stress and frustration. This means that cooperative and peer learning should be encouraged and valued by the instructor at every level of the course.

Finally, the best way for learners to gain the most benefit from e-learning is to interact with peers and the instructor through forum discussion, email, Facebook, Skype and other social media tools.
            Conclusion

In conclusion, e-learning is an ideal model of learning and achieving a degree for those who want or need flexible hours while learning from the convenience of their homes. Learners save money and time on travel expenses, making this type of education more cost effective by enabling learners to use multimedia to engage with a large, global audience while gaining access to subject matter experts communicating with them across borders. Furthermore, e-learning is accessible to learners who follow their own schedule rather than their instructor’s schedule. Finally, the other major benefit to e-learning course learners is that they can follow and repeat course work while learning at their own pace. 

The fast growing technological revolution in the 21^st century has provided an excellent opportunity for educational institutions to access and engage students globally. Some of the benefits of e-learning for instructors include being able to accommodate the needs of far away students while offering them better opportunities for collaborative work among peers and between learners/instructors, and meaningful professional development. However, the most significant benefit that teaching becomes more learner-centered and based on the learner’s pace.

Work cited

Boettcher, J. and Conrad, R. M. (2010). The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple

            and Practical Pedagogical Tips. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco

Boettcher, J. (2011). Designing for Learning: Ten Best Practices for teaching Online.

            http://www.designingforlearning.info/services/writing/ecoach/tenbest.html

            last visited on Nov 28, 2013

Carpenter, G. (2010). E-learning in the Canadian Post-Secondary Education System.

            Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance.

            http://www.ousa.ca/dev/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/E-Learning.pdf

            last visited on Nov 28, 2013

Sangara, A. & Vlachopoulos, D. and Cabrera, N. (2012). Building an Inclusive

Definition of E-learning: An Approach to the Conceptual Framework. The International

Geneations of Learners

Sedi Minachi                                                                           Oct 15, 2013

PIDP 4150

REFLECT: Generations of learners

Objective:

The objective of this journal is to reflect on my learning experiences based on working with different generations of learners in an online forum.

Reflective:

According to Teras (2011), new technology and new communication tools have been embraced by different generations, but it was the generation born in post 1970s which started using computers, video games and digital technology.  In my experience, although many of us have been using computers, cell phones and other new communication tools since the 1990s, the millennium generation is the tech savvy using both digital technology and social media, which as stated by Teras (2011), this generation is born to use naturally.  

I came to Canada in 1988 and heard of desktop computers for home use. I could not afford to buy one because they were too expensive at the time when many people did not have computers at home. However, since the early 1990s, the prices slowly dropped and many students and working people were able to purchase them for personal use. I bought my first computer in 1994. It was super slow and old because I bought it second hand from a friend. Initially, I used it for writing school papers or reading online news. Email was introduced to me by my partner in 1997, when I opened my first hotmail account but didn’t check my email frequently. Now, I cannot imagine living without a computer, email, cell phone, Facebook, Twitter and Skype, as they are part of my daily life.

Even though I’m facebooking, tweeting, skyping, etc., the new generation (born after 1990) is much more advanced in using new technology compared to people of my generation. It’s natural for them to easily adopt and use new technology to assist them with their school work. I have seen many kids teach their parents how to use smart phones and how to navigate Facebook. It seems like their brain has been naturally wired with digital technology and social media.

This new generation is very quick to adopt, accept, learn and use new technology to express themselves in public and to communicate remotely across borders. Similar to other people my age, I rely on the new generation to help me learn how to make the most of new technology. For example, my younger brother who only has a high school diploma taught me how to use my smart phone’s microphone to record an interview.   

Interpretive Questions:

Considering how 21^st century learners embrace and adopt technology faster and are more skilled in using it to communicate, learn and network, I need to learn from them to keep up to date with technology to best position myself to teach online courses. Without any doubt, my generation of educators/facilitators needs to understand this tech savvy generation by planning effective strategies and designing curricula meeting their educational goals and desires. In addition, we need to incorporate emerging technology into every (online and traditional) course design to motivate learners to take advantage of formal and informal learning opportunities and encourage them to use social media to engage their peers in collaborative activities.

This e-learning program has opened up a new world for me and changed my perspectives on effective teaching methods that are based on cooperative/collaborative work among learners and course facilitators.  I learned that the new generation of learners is different from my generation and my parents’ generation. Also, as long as my generation and the generation before mine resists adopting strategies incorporating the use of emerging learning technologies and social media assisted learning, there will be misunderstanding between generations. This misunderstanding will impact learners’ performance, growth and success (Tapscott, 2009; Shirky, 2008).  If older generations of educators are slow to respond to the demands of younger generations, or if they do not incorporate digital technology and social media into educational curricula, the education system will miss important opportunities to educate learners and build an increasingly collaborative society that’s better at solving important challenges.

Decisional Questions:

My motivation in taking VCC’s e-learning certificate program is to pursue my aspiration of teaching in a non-traditional setting by making myself available to learners worldwide. Therefore I am interested in creating inclusive opportunities to help multi-ethnic learners from across the world grow and become successful individuals in this diverse-global knowledge society.

As an e-learning educator/facilitator, I will constantly learn and expand the use of emerging learning technologies and social media assisted tools to create courses and programs which adequately serve the new generation. To facilitate this, first I will be open to learn and develop my knowledge about digital technology from this digital generation. Second, I will design courses that allow collaborative work among learners. In this regard, I should note that creating effective cooperative and collaborative online learning environment requires particular skills and behaviours on instructor’s side.  Therefore, I need to learn and develop skills on how to promote discussion among online learners so that they are able to express themselves in a safe environment, how I facilitate and manage interactions among them and how to promote online activities with respect to valuing diversity among the new generation of learners.

References

Shirky, C. (2008). Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Penguin Publisher.

Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World. New York: McGraw Hill.

Teras, H. (2011). Empowering Teachers to Meet the Digital Native Learners. Academica.edu http://www.academia.edu/420105/Empowering_Teachers_to_Meet_the_Digital_Native_Learnerslast visited: Oct 15, 2013.

Handwriting vs Digitalwriting

Handwriting vs Digitalwriting

by Sedigheh Minachi - Saturday, 14 September 2013, 05:28 AM

Hi everyone. As we all noticed, more people use typing or digitalwriting rather than handwriting in the recent years and I often hear how the art of handwriting is deteriorating. I even heard a school in the US teaches students how to type instead of teaching them how to write text. The article in below link explains how the act of handwriting helps us clarify our thoughts, remember things better and reach our goals more surely.
http://lifehacker.com/5738093/why-you-learn-more-effectively-by-writing-than-typing

I will write more about this topic and would like to explore this question for now: do you think digital writing can effect the disappearance of handwriting by the next century?

How Women Can Help Build a Culture of Peace

From the U.S. Institute of Peace blog The Olive Branch. To read the post on the USIP web site, click here.

By Maria Jessop

 

For many in the United States, Iraq has become synonymous with violence and insecurity.  For those who are from there and those of us who have had the privilege of spending time there -- working with Iraqis and building friendships -- we know that Iraq is not defined by violence. Iraq has a proud culture and history, and the vast majority of its citizens lead peaceful lives and are trying to build a better life for their families.

Iraq is not unique in this sense. The aspiration to live in peace and security is one of the most important things that unites us.
What disunites us and what gives rise to violence is the erroneous belief that we are separate. Science has recently been catching up to what spiritual leaders all over the world have been teaching all along.
We know from the field of quantum physics, for example, that everything is energy and that all living things are connected by a field of energy.  We know from the science of DNA that we have infinitely more in common with the natural world than we ever imagined.
We may be different, but we are not separate. We are all connected.
Another false belief we have is that we are somehow hard-wired for violence. But there is no evidence of this. Concepts such as “survival of the fittest” have been misinterpreted and misused to justify this claim. The truth is that we are wired for cooperation and compassion. We would not have functioning societies at all if we weren’t.
Moreover, the results of research published in Foreign Policy magazine last year by academics in Texas showed that “the very best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is not its level of wealth, its level of democracy, or its ethno-religious identity; the best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is how well its women are treated.”  This corroborated other studies that have shown that the larger the gender gap between the treatment of men and women in a society, the more likely a country is to be involved in internal and interstate conflict, to be the first to wield force in such conflicts, and to resort to higher levels of violence.  The best predictors on matters of national health, economic growth, corruption, and social welfare, are also those that reflect the situation of women.
The Texas research, published in Foreign Policy last year, was conducted by a team led by Valerie M. Hudson, a professor and the George H.W. Bush chair at Texas A&M University. Their database rated countries based on several dimensions of women’s security from 0 (best) to 4 (worst). The world average is 3.04, which demonstrates the scope and severity of the problem of violence against women, even among the highly developed and free nations.
So the most important thing anyone, including women, can do to build a culture of peace is to improve the status of women. The general violence and insecurity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, are often used as excuses to put the issue of women’s rights on the back burner. People say it’s not the right time, we have economic priorities, we have to contain the larger violence, etc.
But all violence is connected, and we now have plenty of empirical evidence that correlates women’s security with state security.
One of the first Iraqi women I met on my first trip to Iraq in 2008 was Dana, a young woman in her twenties who is a graphic arts instructor at a technical school in Baghdad.  Dana told me that the classroom she taught in had no computers, it had no desks, and it had no chairs.  She and her students sat on the floor.  Yet she showed up for her students every day and scraped together supplies, even using leftover wall paint.  She knew it would be better for the students to come to her class than be on the street.
There was one student, a 16-year-old boy, who looked despondent. So she sat and talked with him after class one day. She learned that the boy’s parents were pressuring him to join an armed group because they needed the money.  Eventually, he gained the strength to move in with his sister and her husband. Thanks to Dana’s support, the boy didn’t join the armed group.
That’s building a culture of peace.
There’s Zainab, a 40-year-old attorney from Basra, a socially conservative area in southern Iraq, who runs her own NGO to combat violence against women. I first met Zainab at a dialogue workshop co-sponsored by USIP.  She learned how dialogue can help bridge divides, and she subsequently found the courage to engage the conservative leadership in her community on women’s issues.
That’s building a culture of peace.
Women’s leadership in building a culture of peace is not rare, even in places like Iraq, where women still struggle for equality and security. It just doesn’t get noticed as much.
Still, prejudices and stereotypes keep women from working together effectively, and it weakens them as it weakens the whole society. Women who have gained political power, perhaps because of a society’s quota system, may lack experience and end up marginalized. Strengthening relationships with women from across the political and social spectrum puts them in a stronger position to accomplish positive changes. This is one reason that a significant area of focus for the Institute’s work with women in Iraq has been to build bridges among women from different backgrounds.
When we can dispel the falsehood that you and I are separate and we embrace the truth of our interconnectedness and interdependence, then we will all be taking actions that build a culture of peace.
Maria Jessop is a senior program officer in USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. This blog post is adapted from remarks she made on Aug. 23 to an audience at the Iraqi Cultural Center in Washington D.C. for a discussion entitled “The Role of Women in a Culture of Peace.”

Turkey provided education for Syrian children who have been displaced in Turkey

Journal # 3 Internationalization of the Western Universities

Internationalization of the Western Universities

Objective:                       

Bowen (2012) defines “glocalization”  as adapting a global product to fit local customs and needs. “For example, McDonald’s is a global company known for the consistency of its products, but in India it offers mostly chicken, lamb, and vegetarian food.” He then suggests in education, there is a need to localize the material and internationalize the product (e.g., New York University in Abu Dhabi). The objective of this journal is to critically discuss why major universities have become internationalized and how they take advantage of new technology to integrate active learning among student and faculty remotely.

Reflective:

In my perspective, internationalization of higher education is a great service to humanity in the long run as long as it’s not profit motivated. I like Bowen’s argument on the significant role of universities “at integrating the human and personal significance of content, enhancing the human    intellectual curiosity, increasing personal investment in the material, negotiating difference, and connecting information across disciplines.” (p. 285) Unfortunately, the decreasing financial support from the federal and provincial governments has forced many universities to compete at the global level for private donors to cover costly expenses, including updating or expanding their facilities.  

Traditionally, many students from developing countries located themselves in Western countries to gain knowledge and skills, and the expectation was for them to return to their home countries and advance their societies. While Canadian universities still admit thousands of international students, technological tools have made it possible for many other students to stay in their home countries and graduate from the same universities. In this case, those graduating from the University of British Columbia remotely don’t incur the high cost of living in Vancouver and mainly pay tuition fees and course related expenses.  

Interpretive:

The concept of Internationalization is not a foreign concept to many of us, particularly since the increasing pace of globalization in the world market and trade economy. “Internationalization describes the voluntary and perhaps creative ways of coping (Altbach, 2004:3).”  The process of internationalization of higher education involves voluntary interaction between individuals (students, faculty and staff) and between nations across borders.  Internationalization of higher education creates opportunities for education partnerships with governments and nations, academic institutions at the global level, non-governmental organizations, businesses, faculty and students, and diverse Canadian and global communities.    

Although I agree with Bowen that universities need to change their approaches and strategies in this era of globalization to become global universities, in recent years, advancements in technology have made it much easier for educational institutions and universities to offer distance education and on-line education to students and scholars who may study, work and live anywhere in the world.  Currently, distance education and on-line education is more popular in the fields of business, management and technology to middle class international students whose parents have money and who study and work in their home countries and receive their degrees from foreign universities.  This has been reported in the Vancouver Sun article “The Chinese connection”:

The number of students in China packing their bags to study in Canada is dropping, but that isn’t stopping many of them from getting a Canadian education.  Faced with declining numbers of international students seeking admission to programs here, Canadian institutions have been putting more emphasis on creative partnerships that deliver Canadian curriculum-seen as an advantage in a globalized economy-to students in China. (2005, E1)

As argued by Bowen, the focus of universities that market their service at the global level should be on motivating students to learn and to “…find new ways to connect with students.” (p. 288)  

As discussed, the integration of national markets into a global market has pushed the administrations of many Canadian universities to internationalize their campuses and to maximize revenue from international students.  Faced with increased cuts to education budgets at both provincial and federal levels since the early 1990s, many university administrations have been forced to accept funding from multinational companies, particularly for their science and technology departments.  Whether this new direction for Western universities puts quality of education ahead of profits or whether it’s beneficial for the survival of the universities is beyond the scope of this journal, my concern is whether educators are using opportunities offered by  “glocalization”     to create quality, effective education that is very accessible, interactive, inclusive, supportive and promotes active learning.

Decisional

Educational institutions need to encourage interactive relationships between students, faculty and staff to motivate participation of all groups in the design and delivery of international programs.  If I have some kind of decision making power in higher education at the global level, I will not force my way of thinking on anyone, including nations considered ‘financially poor’, but instead create equal opportunities for collaborative sharing and exchange of knowledge/skills with the aim of improving the quality of life for people worldwide.

As our experience has shown, in recent years, many educational institutions are pushed into privatizing departments and programs. In my perspective, individual students, staff and faculty members can make a big difference in moving campuses toward being inclusive, supportive, caring and passionate in rising to the challenge of making the world more humane and livable for everyone by transforming our institutions into needed societal leaders and role models.

The opportunities provided by the new technology have allowed all students to share their knowledge, expertise and related experiences with a broader audience at the global level.  This course has encouraged me to think more about the concept and practices of higher education in this fast growing era of technological advances in every aspect of our lives.  In this era of a knowledge economy, educators need to create and implement curricula that are relevant locally and internationally.  In this context,  “glocalization”     of education motivates me to create a curriculum that will meet the demands of the international community and meet the needs of local and remote learners. Therefore, my aim will be to share my knowledge and skills to make the world better for all humanity. 

References

Altbach, Philip.  (2004).  ‘Globalization and the University:  Myths and Realities in an Unequal World’.  Tertiary Education and Management (No. 1, 2001).  Centre for International Higher Education, Campion Hall, Boston College, Chestnut.

Bowen, J. A. (2012). Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Imp

Shaw, Gillian. (2005).  ‘International program widens horizons for students in B.C. and Asia: The Chinese connection’.  Monday, March 14, 2005. E1, Vancouver Sun.