e-learning

A question | Andy Boon | May 5th, 2001

Does anybody have any experience with E-learning (teaching via the internet)? I would like to know what you think of the idea of the virtual classroom- pros and cons?

Thanks,

Andy

Re: A question | Darin Bicknell | May 5th, 2001

I am attending a conference on E-learning here in Singapore on the 14th for my school. We are looking to develop some distance/e-learning programs in the next few years... after I sit in on the conference I will give you some more info on what I learned there.

Darin M. Bicknell

E-learning | Francesca Michalski | May 4th, 2001

Andy,

You asked whether anyone has experience with E-learning (learning over the internet). I've just started teaching a businessperson who needs to improve her writing skills. She lives in another city and we are communicating only via email with attached files. She is sending me texts that I copy and correct noting reasons for my corrections and giving tips as to how she might improve. She has just asked me for homework, so I'm thinking about sending her handouts I already have on file with exercises that might be helpful to her. I think I should buy a scanner, so that I can send her materials from books too and perhaps texts as a basis for her writing. I have never been involved in this kind of course before and, actually, it was her that found me rather than vice versa, furthermore, I'm no technology whizz. However, I find the whole thing exciting and challenging and believe that this market is a growing one that I would be foolish (I am self-employed) to ignore.

Another pro is that I don't need to leave home to work. The only con that has come up so far is my lack of computing skills. My general attitude with computers is to learn what I have to when I need to and only that. As we've just started this course (we're in the first week), I've got hardly any experience in this area and would be pleased to hear from other CPs who are involved in such on-line courses in other parts of the world and teaching contexts.

Francesca

Re: E-learning | Aleka Hamourikou | May 5th, 2001

Hi everybody,

I'm also interested in E-learning. I'm currently using the "Flo-Jo" site with my FCE (First Certificate in English) students. It includes a lot of exercises, and there is also a students' forum that gives them the opportunity to talk about the exam with other students and teachers around the world. My teen FCE students really love it!

Apart from that I often give them addresses on the Internet to look for information about their projects. We also exchange messages during the holidays. (They usually complain about it but I think they like it.) The problem is that only few students have Internet access at home.   I suppose that Internet would work well with TESP students who usually find course books boring. (I don't know much about it though, as I have never taught such classes)

Alexandra

Web-based courses | Raymond Sheehan | May 5th, 2001

I'm at the receiving end in this process at the moment, taking the web-delivered module on LEX. It's far too soon to give any detailed assessment of the experience; but obviously learners' feelings do matter, and mine are very positive. I find it very refreshing to have a good alternative to the book-based module. I can sit at my desk at work in between classes, log in and pick up from where I left off without having to carry huge white'n blue tomes around! The module comes in full Technicolor, consistently used for quotations, appendices... You can cut and paste what you think is a key quotation/concept into a word doc and build up a file of what strikes you the most... I am sure that as Aston/LSU and other universities become more involved in web-based learning and find more and more takers for the modules, they will become more and more boldly innovative with the marriage of pedagogy and technology. At the moment, one can see that they have obviously put a lot of good effort into ease of use, user-friendliness- and it has paid off.

Raymond
UAE

What is e-learning? | Lori Solbakken | May 6th, 2001

Andy,

What do you mean by e-learning? I found the following definition:

e-Learning: Shorthand for electronic learning, e-Learning refers to training and educational materials delivered electronically, usually over the Internet or on CD-ROM. Usually, these materials take the form of a computer-based training course. Whether an online course or a tutorial distributed on CD-ROM, e-Learning lets you learn what you need to know when and where it is most convenient for you.

Is e-learning limited to specific courses available online or via CD-rom? Or can using the internet as a means for 'out of class' learning also be categorized as such?

Last week, I assigned homework in the form of scouting for information on the net. The topic in class was 'world facts and discussing countries', so as an extension/homework exercise, asked my learners to use the net to find more information about countries (they chose the ones they wanted to know more about), print out their findings and report to the class on our next meeting. I find that students are receptive and enthusiastic towards this type of autonomous learning and it can be applied to just about any subject matter, often in the form of info gathering and investigation.

I also point learners towards useful websites, let them email their writing assignments, give them 'web quests' in which they locate various bits of info, (see online examples such as "ESL Treasurehunts" , or make up your own). Can this be a form of e-learning as well? In future classes I'd like to try interactive games or cooperatively build class websites. Has anyone had experience with these? Luckily, Taiwan is wired, so it's pretty easy to exploit the internet and its abundant English resources in order to flesh out course books and in-class topics.

Lori

PS: I teach various levels of adult learners (mid 20's to early 40's), who are studying English not only for their jobs or business purposes, but also for intrinsic reasons such as a way to make friends and feel confident traveling abroad. I encourage my learners to make pen pals or 'e-pals' from other parts of the world online, and many of them have.

Nunan on e-learning | Lori Solbakken | May 6th, 2001

Here's an article I found from The Guardian Unlimited:

Lori

Why the Web is Friend not Foe

David Nunan
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday July 20, 2000

Web-based ELT is extremely flexible, allowing anytime, anywhere learning. This is invaluable for busy professionals who do not have the luxury of a set time for face-to-face instruction. It also offers a supplement to classroom instruction for those learners who can attend regular classes. The computer is a patient tutor, providing the many hours of repetitive skills practice.

Another benefit of internet-based learning resources is the potential for personalisation. Until now one-to-one learning has been largely restricted to expensive, private institutions. Through the internet, however, teachers are able to create modularised programmes to suit individual learner's needs. The best learning sites support all levels of learners, and support self-paced learning in ways that are not always possible in classrooms.

At this stage the ELT dotcoms that have emerged in the last couple of years have both replaced and enhanced classroom-based instruction. The good news for teachers who are fearful that they may be made redundant by new technological means of instruction is that the best sites, and indeed learners themselves, see the teacher as the crucial element in effective learning.

It is true that teaching through the internet demands new skills, but then that's the reality in most professions today. Such skills include managing interactions online to maximise learning opportunities, creating a cohesive learning community among students who may be spread around the globe, and encouraging active learning. In fact there are techniques that can be deployed to simulate experiential, student-centred approaches that are in keeping with communicative approaches to language teaching. However, these demand a certain amount of pedagogical "retooling" on the part of teachers.

From the perspective of the learner the greatest frustrations come with slow connection times in real-time chat and classroom sessions. In some countries, the cost of connecting is also considerable. Despite the disadvantages, however, the Web holds tremendous promise as a medium of instruction. And the potential is not just confined to dedicated language learning sites. There are thousands of sites that provide learners with opportunities to process and produce spoken and written language.

Dr. David Nunan is director and chair of applied linguistics at The University of Hong Kong, and was until recently president of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). He recently became senior academic adviser for GlobalEnglish.com.

Online Education | Barry Wolford | May 7th, 2001

Hi Andy,

I have a few files relating to this, as the topic caught my interest last year. My particular interest was in delivery of university degree modules. Unfortunately, some files were downloaded from Electric Library while I was at work (via an institutional subscription). You may be able to search their archives on a trial basis.

Others which I hoped to send you have now gone commercial: Australia's Fairfax Corp now wants payment to access any archive material, much of which was freely available when I last used it some months ago.

There are one or two public access files, however (URLs below) and there will be more info if you do a keyword search, i.e. strip off the URL back to the root URL or to the archive page and perform your own search.

The following article discusses some of the issues:

E-uni quest for best of British
Ambitious plans for an international web-based UK university are credible but can only succeed if resources are pooled as quickly as possible.

Donald MacLeod
Guardian
Tuesday February 22, 2000

The race is on to become one of the founder members of Britain's "e-university" following last week's announcement by David Blunkett, the education and employment secretary. Observers expect half a dozen of the most advanced research universities working with the Open University to form the initial consortium - Oxford and Cambridge may not be quick enough off the mark to participate, said one.

[continues...]

The UK Telegraph also has a searchable archive. Look for the "Search" on their front page. There should be plenty of discussion by now, particularly relating to tertiary courses. There is already a growing delivery of units online in the States, and some in Australia, I believe.

None of this is first-hand experience, merely theoretical. Broadly, one advantage seems to be in convenience for working people who cannot move to study or may have inconvenient hours available for study, while disadvantages relate to loss of collegiality and personal contact, affecting motivation, and hardware costs/reliability- though some of the cost can offset against accommodation and other expenses incurred in conventional campus life. Solutions to the latter (e.g. real-time classes) may fail due to the available time issue, e.g. for shift workers.

From a teaching point of view, one complaint I've read is that staff are never really off duty- this would be especially a problem with international courses where students are in different time-zones. I'm sure many of the issues are similar to those generally for distance learning!

A colleague tried a collaborative online writing site with his EAP students a while back. If you're interested I can chase up the URL for that.

Barry

 

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