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Editor's Notes
How do you begin with e-learning? It's not about the technology Communicating and building relationships. There's a lot of technology to use but this is what you should be trying to do. It's a different way of learning and teaching With learners at a distance, you may never meet them “in the flesh”, and what's more, they may never meet each other or even be online at the same time. The teachers' job is to engage and nurture students in this environment. It's about creating a community Work at getting to know your learners and getting your learners to know each other. Create a community focussed on why you've all come together: the subject of your course. There are new and different skills for teachers to learn.
JISC distinguish between e-Learning and Technology Enhanced Learning. E-Learning has become the use of technology in any way. Technology Enhanced Learning implies the added value of technology to learning.
Examples of how the web has changed in the last 10 years.
What can tutors do to get ready for e-learning? Staff development Course re-design process New and existing courses need to be designed or re-deigned to meet the needs of the online learner and the online environment. Learning technology workshops Use the training provided to learn how to use the technologies, then immerse yourself in them. Learn to touch type
Creates a self sustaining community When it's done effectively a small community is created where its members will support each other – often making the teacher redundant – managing the community amongst themselves. It becomes sustainable this way because the teacher has managed the community to focus on the subject. It's about knowledge creation E-Learning works best when it is activity driven – learners collaborating to achieve an outcome – discovering things for themselves. The teachers' role being that of manager and director. Reflection The mostly asynchronous nature of e-learning, usually through forums, encourages more thoughtful and considered responses and “conversations”. Blogs provide an easy to use reflective journal that enables learners to give selective access to teachers and other learners for comments. The organised nature of blogs makes it easier for learners to revisit their reflections and reconsider them in light of what they've learned since. e-Assessment We need to re-think how we use assessment in this new environment. Think about assessment driven course design with a emphasis on formative and peer assessment. Opens up a vast range of multi-media resources At its worst … At its worst, teachers put a collection of resources and lecture notes in the VLE and call it e-learning. We can do a lot better than that.