E-learning refers to the many courses offered on
the internet or purchased to run on one's home or office
computer.
Some courses are free; some charge tuition. Some
are associated with educational institutions, K-Ph.D.; some are for
industry training.
This paper of this abstract concerns the writing of e-learning
materials. It is a scholarly paper, but easily understood by the
general reader. I found it a useful overview of the e-learning enterprise and
appreciated his definitions of terms used in the industry.
In 2004, Dr. Woodill, once a university professor of education, wrote a critique of the e-learning
industry that makes the following points.
Most
curriculum development of e-learning courses is
deficient in educational theories of good curriculum design and learning
strategies, psychological theories of learning, sociological understanding of
the different generations of learners, and effective uses of computer and
gaming
technologies. The industry is
driven more by the development of software technologies than by good teaching
using the new modes of instructional delivery. Additionally, curriculum is being developed
mostly as on-screen lectures combined with objective-style testing that do not
vary significantly from traditional classroom delivery systems. Furthermore, the new generation of learners,
having been reared in a visual media age of television, movies, and gaming
software with very little actual experience of reading books, do not learn from
traditional classroom delivery systems.
Consequently, the majority of the current e-learning courses will not
meet the needs of the leaner. Too many aspects
of the e-learning environment, the various learners’ motivational requirements,
and the learners’ psychological requirements are not well understood by the
software and curriculum developers. Too
little attention is being paid to matching teaching strategy to curriculum
content. Future emphasis in the industry
of e-learning curricula should pay more attention to the new findings of
cognitive psychology, the content delivery modes of the gaming industry, new
computer technologies, and successful educational theories.
Reference
Woodhill, G. (2004).
Where is the learning in e-learning: a critical analysis of the
e-learning industry. A paper written for
the Operitel Corporation and published to the web by E-LearningGuru at
www.e-learningguru.com