8.13.2008

Task 1 (Part 1) - Is eLearning the Solution? (revised)

While all teachers and education practitioners are targetting at more effective teaching and learning, ICT appears to be one useful tool to help us achieve our goals. Schools and universities look to technology to help achieve their educational goals. Resources are put into development of elearning, web-based learning, ICT, learning platforms and whatever mode and labels are used.
With the vast input of resources to technical support in teaching and learning, is this the only solution to effective education? Is eLearning THE SOLUTION? Or is it just another fancy and trendy way of teaching? More questions are raised than ever by various stakeholders including the government, the parents, the teachers themselves and the employers. Do the Digital Natives turn out to be more responsible citizens with lifelong learning skills and capabilities?
With the limited experience I have had regarding elearning, I am in no position to draw any views at this stage. Nevertheless I would be most interested to explore and know more about elearning and its effects on the ultimate objective of student learning. The little experience I have had so far on the 6311 course may be taken as an example of how some teachers and students first encounter elearning. Confused perhaps in the beginning, then eventually explore more about it and then find that the fruitful experience in the end worth the time and sweat spent on it.

As we are going through the 6311 course, we are like constructing our own learning. We try to extend beyond what we already know and build new knowledge by extend the "boundaries". Here I see relevance to the cosntructivist approach to learning. We share our blogs and learning among peers. The CITE ILN and the Moodle are all tools to help us achieve this purpose.

However when reading Ellis, Steed and Applebee (2006), I still have to print the article out for reading. I still have to go to the library to find other resource materials. Though much is now in the web, the hard copies still have their appeal to no-so-hi-tech students like me. There is much room for the students who are used to the traditional teaching and learning mode to grasp the beauty of elearning.

Ellis,Steed and Applebee shared their findings on the concepts to elearning and blended learning and teaching of teachers who are experienced in traditional on-campus teaching. Their study showed that despite well-resourced elearning environment, the people who use the resources are to re-vamp their conceptions in order to make the best use of the elearning resources. The surface level approach in adopting elearning does no more than using a tool to deliver information or just replace lecture hours. How to achieve the deep approach is an art that teachers have to learn because they themselves have been brought up differently. The SWOT analysis discussed on 28 May brought out some discussions. The resources to help teachers learn are abundant e.g. in HKU, there is the CITE and CAUT, and in National University of Singapore, there is the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning. Universities are putting a lot of efforts in this development. Schools are supported by funding by the government. The fundamental issue is the need for a shift in the concept of student learning through their own construction of new knowledge and not merely knowledge tansmission by the teachers.
I hope that after more learning and practice, low-tech people like me who wish to use elearning or blended learning will find their efforts bear fruit in students achieving the intended learning outcomes. But in all cases, the technology advance is underpinned by the conceptual advance of teaching and learning.

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