E-Learning: An Overview

Often, I am showered with questions like, what is e-learning, what is the use of it in the current scenario, whether it is practiced in schools nowadays, etc etc. So I thought of sharing a very very basic idea on e-learning.

E-learning can be explained as an online education system that encompasses information, training, and knowledge management. The term e-learning seems to be an invention of this jet age, however, the concept itself has been around for decades. Any training, happening through a network, usually over the Internet is known as e-learning. A decade back, e-learning was only confined to technical education. Nowadays, e-learning is found in corporate offices, schools, and in other organizations. Sometimes, due to shortage of time or rising costs, training becomes an expensive venture for most of the organizations; the situation becomes worst when the economy is hit by recession or any other financially adverse situation. In such cases, e-learning solutions stand to be the most vital tool for companies or any employees looking for a reasonable method to learn new skills.
With today's e-learning, companies can train salespeople to use a new product, even if offices are situated in different geographies. On the academic front, e-learning allows people to take online classes from universities in varied subjects.

Advantages of e-learning

· Increased access: Instructors of the highest caliber can share their knowledge across borders, allowing students to attend courses across physical, political, and economic boundaries through the Internet.

· Convenience to learners: In many contexts, e-learning is self-paced and the learning sessions are available 24x7. Learners are not bound to a specific time to physically attend classes. They can also pause learning sessions at their convenience. High technology is not necessary for all online courses. Basic Internet access, audio, and video capabilities are common requirements.

· A major argument for e-learning is that it enables learners to develop essential skills for knowledge-based workers by embedding the use of information and communications technologies within the curriculum.

Types of e-learning

Researchers have classified e-learning into two types: Traditional and Rapid.

1. Traditional e-learning: It is expensive and time consuming. Estimations state that it takes around three to four months to produce a traditional e-learning course. Companies tend to find ways to leverage traditional e-learning courses due to their high production costs. Organization having large budgets or a major product opts for traditional e-learning courses. Moreover, projects that need extensive simulations like industrial control systems are good candidates for traditional e-learning. Due to the high production cost of traditional e-learning, it is typically expensive to change content in an already produced course. Thus, traditional e-learning is usually created for material that is static.

2. Rapid e-learning: Projects that are best suited for rapid e-learning have the following characteristics:

· Dynamic content

· Limited shelf life

· Low funded projects or products

Instructional design and e-learning

Instructional design is a systematic approach for developing a course, ensuring that specific learning goals are accomplished. It is an iterative process that requires ongoing evaluation and feedback. To elaborate, ID is the practice of maximizing the effectiveness and appeal of instruction. Persons expert in ID are known as instructional designers.

Many instructional design models are based on a behaviorist foundation. Such foundation focuses on learning objectives and operant conditioning through reinforcement of the desired behavior. These models fall in the area of reductionism, which is defined as the decomposition of each component of an instructional system into parts like the learner, the objective, the content, and the instructional strategy.

Despite the proliferation of instructional design models, several elements are common to most of them. These common elements are defining objectives, determining content, determining the instructional strategies and methods for presenting the material, and developing the curriculum. Most models include evaluation and feedback at some stages in the process. A particular ID model differs from the other on the method or approach to design.

To develop a module, instructional designers follow a process, which generally includes understanding the needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, understanding and analyzing the content, designing a micro document, and storyboarding. There are several other steps that come later, but these are the basics, which an instructional designer must follow.