Page 188 - DMGT518_TRAINING_AND_DEVELOPMENT_SYSTEM

Unit 11: E-Learning

11.1 Concept of E-learning Notes

E-learning means the delivery of a learning programme by electronic means. E-learning involves
the use of a computer or any other electronic device to provide training or educational material. E-
learning is any virtual act or process used to acquire data, information, skills or knowledge.
E-learning is an enabled learning, the learning in a virtual world where technology merges with
human creativity to accelerate and leverage the rapid development and application of knowledge.
It covers a wide set of applications and processes such as web-based learning, computer-based
learning, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of content via
Internet, intranet (LAN/WAN), audio and videotape, satellite broadcast, interactive TV and CD-
ROM. Communication technology enables the use of conference calls, video conferencing, Internet
chats, content loaded websites, e-mails, discussion forums, and collaborative software.

E-learning is the unifying term to describe the fields of online learning, web-based training, and
technology-delivered instruction. It is the convergence of the Internet and learning, or Internet-
enabled learning. It is the use of network technologies to create, foster, deliver, and facilitate
learning, anytime and anywhere. It is the delivery of individualized, comprehensive, dynamic
learning content in real time, aiding the development of communities of knowledge, linking
learners and practitioners with experts. It is a phenomenon delivering accountability, accessibility,
and opportunity to allow people and organizations to keep up with the rapid changes that
define the Internet world. It is a force that gives people and organizations the competitive edge
to enable them to keep ahead of the rapidly changing global economy.
Relan and Gillani (1997) define Web-based learning as the application of a repertoire of cognitively
oriented instructional strategies within a constructivist and collaborative learning environment,
utilizing the attributes and resources of the World Wide Web”. The role of the educationalist in
the on-line setting is effectively changed from a deliverer to an enabler. The view that the role
of the lecturer is to enable students to learn becomes enhanced by the role that technology can
play. One of the skills for the educationalist to develop is the initial creation of a learning
environment where peer learning and the management of the resultant individual and group
interactions are undertaken in an effective way.
Added to this is the skills development related to the use of the technologies that support highly
interactive learning groups. But the key factor is that of time management. The technology uses
individual student time with no regard for institutional timetabling. Students can spend far
longer engaging with subject content in an on-line environment than they do in the classroom
and the relevant information requests and exchanges can use up considerably more time than
envisaged.

Horton (2001) is very critical of the way e-learning courses are designed using pedagogical
principles, which fail to address the underlying design philosophy. According to Islam (2002),
fortunately for e-learning professionals, there is a principle that has proven to be effective in
holding the interest and satisfying the requirements of the adult learner population. This principle
is andragogy, which is a learner-centered approach more applicable to adult learning. Brookfield
(1986) has identified that adult learners already bring to the learning situation their own set
patterns of learning, values, attitudes and varied experiences. As a result, adults approach the
learning situation with many and varied expectations of the learning process.

Did u know? Thus adult learning is most productive when lecturers act as facilitators rather
than didactic instructors.

Adult learners like to be engaged in the design of the learning and to be able to perceive the
learning as relevant to their situations. They like to feel that their past experiences are being

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