E-Learning… You’ve Come a Long Way Baby…..
While reading chapters nine and ten, I was thinking of blog topics and how I use technology in my classroom as a teacher for the most part. It wasn’t until I happened upon the part discussing distance learning versus e-learning that I began thinking of my own experiences as a student with using technology. I was intrigued by the debate over whether or not the term “e-learning” applies to both instruction delivered over the Internet and content delivered via CDs and DVDs, audio and video recordings, and via satellite broadcast, and interactive television and cable” (Larson and Lockee, 2014, p.193). If, indeed, we include cable and interactive television, my first e-learning course was many years ago when I first started my college career in a community college. Home computers were a rarity, most of my papers were typed on a word processor, and my e-learning class consisted of recorded (via VCR) lectures from the local public television station that I would watch after reading the text and then complete selected classwork to be turned in periodically on campus. We would visit campus a set number of times during the quarter to turn in work and complete tests and that was my first experience with “e-learning.” Basically, the lecture portion of the class was recorded for viewing outside the classroom. Thinking back on this experience, I was surprised when considering the technology at the time, how well it fit the iterative process illustrated by Larson and Lockee (2014, p.194).
The instructional need (#1) at the time (early 90’s) was to make the class schedule more flexible and accessible, so the video lecture did that. The instructional strategy (#2) was exactly the same as the classroom setting would have been, primarily lecture. Consideration of media affordances (#3) there were very little to choose from at the time so the televised lectures to be recorded and watched at the student’s leisure (asynchronous format) was as flexible a format as was available at the time, so this was the selected technology (#4). While it was not as engaging as an actual classroom lecture setting might have been and there was no accompanying thoughts, remarks or group discussions, it did provide flexibility, which, I assume was the main goal. This was my only reference for e-learning which explains my hesitance when taking on an entire degree program based primarily in an online format. Being almost at the halfway point now though, I can truly say, times have changed! I can honestly say the technology being incorporated is “being used to meet a specific need” (Larson and Lockee, 2014, p.184). We have the synchronous chats to create the sense of group familiarity we would have in a face to face environment, we have the asynchronous blog communications to read and reflect on each other’s views and opinions at our convenience. The technology is used a little differently each time as well, so that it doesn’t become monotonous or repetitive. So, for me, in my experience instructional design in e-learning, “you’ve come a long way baby!”
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| Larson and Lockee 2014 p. 194 |
How education has changed in past years?? Teaching and learning at Qpage www.qpagep.com. (2013, June 6). Retrieved July 29, 2015.
Larson, M., & Lockee, B. (2014). Streamlined ID: A practical guide to instructional design. New York, New York: Routledge.
The history of e-learning is interesting. Your reflection of your experience with e-learning spurred my thoughts about my own learning. I cannot remember having a distance learning or e-learning class until I began graduate school, but I do remember the changes in technology throughout my school career. When I was in the tenth grade (1994-1995), I was in the last group of students to actually use typewriters in typing class. The very next year, all business classes were equipped with desktops. I recently found a paper I wrote in a freshman college writing class, and the printer was obviously a dot-matrix, not a laser printer. Technology has most definitely come a long way! In chapter 1, Larson and Lockee (2014) discuss Personal Learning Environments. Personal learning environments refer to how students can "direct their own learning" or "pursue their own learning goals" (pg. 14). The incorporation of e-learning and distance learning encourages the learner's personal learning environment because it allows them the flexibility to learn in ways they can be successful.
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