Man is a life-long
learner. Learning is the gaining or acquiring of a skill or knowledge in
something by study , experience or being taught. Learning can be facilitated by
direct means by personally attending classes conducted in the academic
institutions or by indirect means such as distance learning. Distance education
is the method of study in which lectures are broadcast or lessons are conducted
by correspondence without the students needing to attend a school or college.
The amazing development of IT has opened up new possibilities for providing
education. There are various terms that are used in providing instructional
methods using ICT in education, e – learning, virtual classroom and some
others. The online education refers to teaching and learning method mediated by
a computer system of a place which may be different from learner personal
computer system. The e learning takes a broader view wherein various
technologies are involved in the design, delivering and managing instructions
using computers. Basically, the concept which was initiated with the term web
based training is a particular method of developing technology for instruction.
If not only involves the process of designing, delivering of instructions in
different platforms and managing instructions, but also the developing
technologies of training, authoring and managing content.
Bernard Luskin, the pioneer of E-learning regards `e’ in
e-learning as exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended and
educational. E-learning is internet-enabled learning. It is a store house of
education, information, communication, training, knowledge and performance
management.
In the digital
education environment, libraries are challenged to integrate and expose their
services and content into the e-learning system, as well as take on new duties,
such as creating content and managing digital repositories.
The key benefits of e-learning
1. Increased quality and value of
learning achieved through greater student access and
combination
of appropriate supporting content, learner collaboration and interaction, and
on-line support
2. Increased reach and flexibility
enabling learners to engage in the learning process
anytime,
anyplace and on a just-in-time basis
3. Decreased cost of learning
delivery, and reduced travel, subsistence costs and time away from the job
4. Increased flexibility and ability
to respond to evolving business requirements with rapid roll-out of new and
organisational-specific learning to a distributed audience.
Synchronous and asynchronous
Synchronous
learning
involves the exchange of ideas and information with one or more participants
during the same period of time. A face-to-face discussion is an example of
synchronous communications. In e-learning environments, examples of synchronous
communications include online real-time live teacher instruction and feedback,
or chat rooms or virtual classrooms where everyone is online and working
collaboratively at the same time.
Asynchronous
learning
may use technologies such as email, blogs, wikis, and discussion
boards,
as well as web-supported
textbooks, hypertext documents,
audio video courses, and social
networking
using web 2.0. At the
professional educational level, training may include virtual
operating rooms.
Asynchronous learning is particularly beneficial for students who have health
problems or have child care responsibilities and regularly leaving the home to
attend lectures is difficult. They have the opportunity to complete their work
in a low stress environment and within a more flexible timeframe.
Models
of e-learning
Models of
e-learning describe where technology plays a specific role in supporting
learning. These can be described both at the level of pedagogical principles
and at the level of detailed practice in implementing those principles.
Presentation
model
In this
asynchronous model, information is presented one-way to the learner via text,
graphics and sound. It is a demonstration, a simulation, a story or a movie.
Interactive model
The
interactive model takes presentation of materials a step further by requiring
users to interact directly with the material. This can be as simple as clicking
buttons to navigate themselves through the course content or more involved such
as answering test questions, running experiments, or connecting objects and
concepts. A biology class, for example, might have a learner use the mouse to
build an endocrine systems in a blank human body.
A
chemistry class might have the learner experiment with mixing chemicals with
polymers in a simulated environment.
This
model might have more impact on learning, as learners become directly involved
in material. Learners make active choices, navigating their own path and
understanding the building blocks of their studies.
Collaboration model
The
collaboration model encourages the social aspect of learning, as it creates
online communities which share information and discourse, or complete
collaborative work and projects.
Message
boards, for instance, foster an archived knowledge base of a community of
practice. It allows multiple topics with threads that can be collapsible or
expandable, demonstrating an easy way to organize the discourse. Document
repositories allow a central database to store and documents, offering
excellent accessibility to course materials, or for peers to
file-share
when working on a collaborative project.
Requirements
of e learning in academic libraries
As a part
of e-learning an academic library must provide the services to its students and
staff from remote access which include:
1, New acquisitions to indicate newly acquired
materials for each department.
2. View
your patron record to see materials borrowed by an individual customer with an
option to renew the borrowed materials without visiting the library.
3.
Request for materials that are borrowed by another user. Upon return of the
material,
communication
is sent to the user who made the request to come and borrow the material.
4. Users
can suggest additional items that the library should acquire based on their
need. The request can be made online.
5.
Materials placed on reserve by lecturers for specific courses.
6. E-mail
communication is provided through the system to enable a two way communication
between
the user and the library.
7) Online
charges and fines are made available to users.
8)
Searching for past examination papers by faculty, department and course numbers
providing access to full text.
Advantages
of e-learning
·
Class work can be scheduled around
personal and professional work.
·
Reduces travel cost and time to and from
school.
·
Learners may have the option to select
learning materials that meets their level of knowledge and interest.
·
Learners can study wherever they have
access to a computer and Internet.
·
Self-paced learning modules allow
learners to work at their own pace.
·
Flexibility to join discussions in the
bulletin board threaded discussion areas at any hour, or visit with classmates
and instructors remotely in chat rooms.
·
Different learning styles are addressed
and facilitation of learning occurs through varied activities.
·
Development of computer and Internet
skills that are transferable to other facets of learner's lives.
·
Successfully completing online or
computer-based courses builds self-knowledge and self-confidence and encourages
students to take responsibility for their learning
Disadvantages
of e-learning :
·
Unmotivated learners or those with poor
study habits may fall behind.
·
Lack of familiar structure and routine
may take getting used to students may feel isolated or miss social interaction.
·
Instructor may not always be available
on demand. Slow or unreliable Internet connections can be frustrating.
·
Managing learning software can involve a
learning curve. Some courses such as traditional hands-on courses can be
difficult to simulate.
No comments:
Post a Comment