E-Learning Generations

The theme I would like to explore today concerns the growth and development of our idea of online learning, or as it is sometimes called, e-learning. What I would like to do is to describe a series of ‘generations’ of technologies and approaches that have characterized the development of online learning over the years. These generations of have informed the shape of online learning as it exists today, and will help us understand something of the direction it will take in the future.

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The University of Wherever

Thrun’s ultimate mission is a virtual university in which the best professors broadcast their lectures to tens of thousands of students. Testing, peer interaction and grading would happen online; a cadre of teaching assistants would provide some human supervision; and the price would be within reach of almost anyone. “Literally, we can probably get the same quality of education I teach in class for about 1 to 2 percent of the cost,” Thrun told me.

The traditional university, in his view, serves a fortunate few, inefficiently, with a business model built on exclusivity. “I’m not at all against the on-campus experience,” he said. “I love it. It’s great. It has a lot of things which cannot be replaced by anything online. But it’s also insanely uneconomical.”

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Screen test for the online classroom

The Khan Academy website allows pupils to follow a structured course through a subject, with banks of videos and questions to answer, in a growing number of languages. It’s not a replacement for school or teachers, says Mr Sinha. And in fact the academy is setting up its own real-world summer school and is working with schools in the San Francisco area in California.

But it does raise some big questions about the future functions of schools and universities – not least when US colleges are charging students $50,000 per year. The other striking aspect of the Khan Academy equation is the reach of such a small team of people. There are volunteers, but as of November 2011, there are only 20 full-time staff. Millions of students, scattered around the world, are being served by a staff the size of a primary school.

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Learn It In 5 – Digital Classroom Strategies

At Learn it in 5, you’ll learn what is Web 2.0, and strategies for using Web 2.0 technology in the digital classroom – all in 5 minutes or less.

Learn it in 5 is a powerful library of how-to videos, produced by technology teachers, for the purpose of helping teachers and students create classroom strategies for today’s 21st century’s digital classroom. These step-by-step how-to videos walk teachers through Web 2.0 technology, demonstrating how to use Web 2.0 applications like blogs, social networks, podcasts, interactive videos, wikis, slide sharing and much more.

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Investigación sobre la creación y diseño de Escenarios de Aprendizaje con TIC, bajo la responsabilidad del Aprendiz

Pretendemos investigar sobre la manera de poder llevar a cabo la enseñanza-aprendizaje a distancia, de una manera inclusiva y basada en el Usuario, donde el Sistema Educativo y de Formación tradicionales, en este caso del Elearning, sirva sólo cómo apoyo y orientación, a las necesidades personalizadas de los Usuarios-alumnos, juntamente con la socialización de los mismos, por medio de la intercomunicación e intercreación, de contenidos, conocimientos.

Lo justificamos delante de la necesidad de evitar, por una parte, el fracaso escolar y educativo que hay en la actualidad, también incrementaremos la democratización e igualdad de oportunidades, para todos los usuarios, así cómo una mayor motivación debido a que ellos se verán el centro y eje de sus aprendizajes, responsabilizándose a la vez de los mismos.

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Articulate Rapid eLearning – E-Learning Software and Authoring Tools

With e-learning software tools that empower anyone to quickly and easily create engaging courses, presentations, quizzes, and surveys, everyone ends up looking good. At Articulate, our mission is simple. We make everyone involved in organizational e-learning — subject matter experts, trainers, and instructional designers — into teaching and training heroes.

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L’elearning in Italia ha bisogno di Correre

Quindi, l’elearning in Italia in molti casi è stato prima ridicolizzato, poi spolpato (troppo velocemente e in maniera sbagliata) ed infine abbandonato. E’ stato bocciato. Quante volte ci siamo sentiti dire “Si, l’ho provato, ma non funziona” o “Abbiamo avuto un sacco di problemi, con l’elearning” o ancora “Abbiamo iniziato, ma la persona che se ne occupava non lavora più qui”.

Quando abbiamo cominciato a sentire parlare di e-learning molte aziende non sapevano nemmeno cosa fosse (beh a ben pensarci forse – purtroppo – le cose non sono molto cambiate). Troppo spesso infatti, anche oggi gli occhi con cui ti guardano molti (troppi) manager italiani quando parli di e-learning sono gli occhi dubbiosi di un’Italia ferma sulle gambe, che ha difficoltà a camminare, figurarsi a correre. Eppure l’elearning sarebbe un bel Gatorade per molte imprese.

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Distance students’ readiness for social media and collaboration

In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the use of social networking tools and social media in general, mainly for social, recreational, and entertainment purposes. Many educators believe that these tools offer new educational affordances and avenues for students to interact with each other and with their teachers or tutors. Considering the traditional dropout rate problem documented in distance courses, these tools may be of special interest for distance education institutions as they have the potential to assist in the critical “social integration” associated with persistence. However, as distance students are typically older than regular on-campus students, little is known about their expertise with social media or their interest in harnessing these tools for informal learning or collaborating with peers.

To investigate these issues, an online questionnaire was distributed to students from four large Canadian distance education institutions. A systematic sampling procedure led to 3,462 completed questionnaires. The results show that students have diverse views and experiences, but they also show strong and significant age and gender differences in a variety of measures, as well as an important institution effect on the student’s interest in collaboration. Males and younger students scored higher on almost all indicators. These age and gender differences should be interpreted cautiously, however, as they are based on self-reported measures. The limits of the study, as well as future developments and research questions, are outlined.

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Visible Body – 3D Human Anatomy

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Visible Body is a content and software development firm that produces award-winning interactive and visual content. The company publishes anatomy and physiology learning products sold through its web site and at the iTunes App Store and produces custom content for many of the world’s top pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and educational publishing companies. Founded in 1996, Visible Body is based in Newton,  Massachusetts. The company also operates as Argosy Publishing.

The Saylor Foundation – Harnessing technology to make education free

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We believe that everyone, everywhere should have access to a college education. This website will serve as a zero-cost alternative to those that lack the resources to attend traditional brick-and-mortar institutions and, if they are willing, a complement to mainstream education providers.

Educators and content providers who contribute their materials to our project can be assured that their work will receive more exposure and have a greater impact on in the scholastic world and beyond. If you are interested in joining us, or would simply like to know more about this process, please read more about this important initiative here.