Perhaps
at this point, e-learning is still a very fluid concept, considering that the
world is not at the level whereby e-learning is genuinely widespread yet.
Currently, we define e-learning as learning that is facilitated by the use of
digital tools and content, and that it involves interactivity between the
learner and their teacher or peers. Institutions hope to provide convenience
and flexibility to learners while improving performance and access with
e-learning. However, preparing and developing e-learning materials is a costly
and time-consuming enterprise, without being able to predict the take-up rate
and genuine benefits before such programmes are launched and tested.
Furthermore,
e-Learning is touted to develop the skills and competencies needed in the 21st
century to ensure that students have the digital literacy and skills requires
in their discipline, profession or career. However, at a closer look, perhaps
some may realise that this is a chicken and egg situation. Is the student first
digitally literate, competent and skillful, consequently being able to fully
reap the benefits of e-learning, or is e-learning supposed to train them in
this area of digital competence throughout the process of learning about other
main topics?
The former
seems to make more sense as e-learning would logically be extremely difficult
for anyone who is not digitally competent. The process of e-learning should
allow users to learn through digital tools, and fully exploit the digital
medium for its benefits (which would only work if users have the capacity to
use them), instead of expecting them to pick up digital skills while also
absorbing the main content of what is being communicated through the digital
medium.
A
feature of online instruction over paper-based learning processes is the
ability to employ multiple media types to present ideas and concepts. These
include the playing of games, sharing of videos, simulation, and much more.
However, how close does the ideal of online learning match against the reality
of delivery? Through personal experience, the blended approach which involves
both face-to-face, as well as online interaction and learning is the most
effective in matching the ideal of e-learning to the reality of delivery.
In
secondary school, my first encounter with e-learning was News In Class by
Channel News Asia. At that time, my school used the programme in both English
and Mandarin, with the aim of getting students interested
and talking about local and international current affairs. This blended
approach of presenting digital media as well as discussing issues face-to-face,
as a class was rather effective (to me).
It created tasks for us to undertake as students – which is
thinking critically about current issues and presenting our thoughts to the
class in a discussion. This form of interaction then provides us with an
experience, which is likely to lead us to the desired new understanding.
In
polytechnic, we also experienced e-learning as part of the blended approach for
the module – Basics of Entrepreneurship. In that module, students were required
to play a game (similar to Cisco Aspire as shown above) to experience the challenges of running a business. The
fundamental idea of the game is to simulate the whole process of starting and
financing a new company. Players go through this process as an entrepreneur and
as an investor. As an entrepreneur, players would have to find their own business
opportunity, communicate ideas to other people and negotiate funding with
investors. Successful players would obtain (fictional) funds to start their
companies. While taking the role of an investor, players learn to recognize
good business opportunities, to mentor and critique entrepreneurs, to make difficult
choices about which companies to finance, and to negotiate terms with
entrepreneurs.
In
addition, we have class discussions every week to sharpen our understanding of
the entrepreneurial process by discussing and analyzing business problems that we
faced as entrepreneurs in the game. This method was effective for me as the
approach allowed for interaction with my tutor and peers both online and
offline. Furthermore, e-learning is more effective when there is a reason or
motivation for students to undertake an educational activity if the learning is
to be memorable and considered valuable. From my perspective, this
entrepreneurship game provided students with an interesting context or scenario,
which is able to assist the activity to have meaning. With the freedom to fail, students can see the
importance of business skills in the real world through the game and gain valuable
experience without any fear of financial losses. Therefore, it allows the learner
to pass through many levels within the cognitive domain of Bloom’s Taxonomy,
from remembering to evaluating.
All
in all, I find that e-learning is the most effective when it involves a
participatory design and implementation approach, where the e-learning system
is a two-way street, allowing ongoing communications between educators and
users. If done right, e-learning has the potential to produce great results by
decreasing costs and improving performance in terms of accelerating knowledge
development and learning as well as promoting critical thinking.
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