e- learning and its advantages and disadvantages - Librarians Portal

e- learning 

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.