e-learning and e-resources

 

E- LEARNING

e- Learning is the abbreviation of electronic learning and it is defined as the communication technology used in providing learning experience to students online through the use of internet service and web technology.

e- Learning refers to the use of electronic media and information communication technology in education.

DEFINITION

Electronic learning in its literal meaning stands for the type of learning carried out, facilitated or supported by some or the other electronic gadgets, media or resources.

               Having a proper look at the nature and use of e-learning dominated by the internet technologies, Rosenberg (2001) tried to define the term e- learning in the following words: “ e-learning refers to the use of the internet technologies to deliver a broad array of solutions that enhance knowledge and performance.”

In this way, if we try to have a broad view of the nature and meaning of the concept e- learning in terms of the hard realities of its functioning and use in our day to day life, we can come to the conclusion that e-learning in an innovative technique or a form of information and communication technology used in providing learning experiences to the students on-line through the use of internet services and web technology of the computers on the same lines as witnessed by us in the form of e-mail , e-booking, and e- commerce in our day to day life.

CONCEPT

The concept and the mechanism of e-learning are very much associated with the use of the internet and web technology delivered to the students via computers or laptops. The users can also make use of the stored information and knowledge of the CDs and DVDs coupled with the internet and web technology.

               In this way we can term the present day e-learning as learning carried out, supported and facilitated by the advanced multimedia facilities as well as internet and web technology delivered to the students via computers, laptops and mobile ICT appliances. At present the learners uses the advanced m-learning technology delivered through web TV , cell phones, pagers, PDA, palms, iPods, etc. for the e- learning.

NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF E- LEARNING

·        E-learning is a generic term used to refer computer enhanced learning.

·        It is carried out with the help of internet or web enabled technology.

·        It can be done m-learning or ubiquitous learning.(any where any time)

·        It improves the performance of the learner.

·        It provides convenience and flexibility to learners.

·        It provides Hypertext links.

·        It provides personal home pages.

·        It facilitate interactivity

·        If helps for Course management

·        It helps for the preparation and delivering of content.

·        Its use should be strictly limited to “on line learning” carried out through the internet or web enabled technology.

TYPES OF E- LEARNING

There are two types of e- learning

·        Synchronous e- learning    and

·        Asynchronous e- learning 

SYNCHRONOUS e- LEARNING   

               In synchronous e- learning communication between teacher and learner directly occurs in an on line chat room or through live audio- video conferencing.

Ø  In synchronous e- learning teacher and students come together at a schedule time.

Ø  Here in synchronous learning both teacher and student had active participation

Ø  There is immediate response in synchronous learning

Ø  Students can clarify their doubts directly from the teacher

Ø  Students can interact with each other

Ø  They can carry on discussions, make arguments, present their view points etc..

Ø  Learning take place in a social atmosphere, exactly like a normal class room.

Ø  There exists a ‘ we feeling’, co-operation, community feeling and social feeling among the learners.

Ø  Students share culture, and value system

Ø  There is a bond between teacher and students.

Ø  In classroom situation, there is a code of ethics or standard rules of behavior.

Ø  The time management is very crucial.

Ø  Here the role of each participant is well defined.

Ø  Before each class the teacher has to provide, a well planned time schedule for every participants.

Ø  High speed internet with web cam and mike is essential for success of e learning classrooms.

ASYNCHRONOUS E- LEARNING

               Here the learning experience passed to the learner through e-mail, web pages, web blogs, recorded CD ROMS and DVDs

Ø  In asynchronous e- learning, learning is highly flexible. Students and teachers do not come together at the specified time.

Ø  Doesn’t require real time participation

Ø  There is no immediate feedback and response

Ø  Participants can work on their own pace.

Ø  In this case cognitive participation is very high and excellent.

Ø  Here the students are self motivated with self freedom.

Ø  Students interact through e-mail and social medias face book, watsup etc.

MODES OR STYLES OF E- LEANRING

               The essential condition for calling a particular learning as e- learning lies in its characteristics of delivering the instructional content through advanced electronic means like computers, multimedia, and mobile ICT appliances. While fulfilling this condition various e- learning situations may be seen to adopt any of the following delivery modes and styles.

1.      Support learning

Teacher and student may use multimedia, internet and web service for their teaching and learning to enhance their classroom activities. Here e-learning play a mere supporting role to the teaching- learning activities organized in the class room. As a result a teacher may make its use for his  better teaching and a learner for his needed learning.

2.      Blended learning

In this mode , attempts are made for making use of a combination of traditional and ICT enhanced e-learning practices. The programmes and activities are so planned and executed as to present a happy combination of both the traditional classroom teaching practices and e-learning based instruction. Thus one can reap the benefits of both the practices of traditional and e-learning.

3.      Complete e- learning

In this mode of earning the traditional class room teaching –learning process is totally replaced by the virtual classroom teaching and learning. There is no existence of classrooms, schools and teaching learning environment as happens in the traditional set-up of school education. The learners are free to take their learning tasks independently with the help of the properly designed e-learning courses.

MODE OF TRANSACTIONS IN E- LEARNING

ü  Text  chatting

ü  voice chatting

ü  e-mailing

ü  voice mail

ü  video mail

ü  live face to face chatting

ü  conferencing

ü  video conferencing

ü  blogs

ü  hyper link text

APPROACHES OF E- LEARNING

·        enhanced approach

·        blended approach

·        online approach

USE OF E-LEANRING IN EDUCATION

·        help to save time and energy of teacher as well as students

·        make the students highly resourceful

·        it help to support backward and highly intelligent students to full fill this additional needs

·        e- Learning ensures the same quality of classroom learning to all students who participate to it.

·        Help to maintain traditional values that are provided by a ordinary classroom

·        Rural area students can learn at a distance.

·        It is highly flexible in terms of delivery media.

·        Students are motivated for self learning.

·        Students have their own option for selecting on line synchronous or asynchronous mode of transaction.

·        It provides audio visual experiences, chances for observation, develops co-operation among the participants.

·        There is adequate opportunity for measurement and evaluation of students.

·        It caters different learning styles among students from different location culture region and countries.

·        It is an effective media for facing the problem of lack of competent and trained teachers

·        It is a kind of variety experience for students through various kinds of techno-pedagogical innovations.

·        It enhances the spirit of learning.

MERITS OF E-LEARNING

• ·        It is very easy and quick mode
• ·        Accessibility of learning from anywhere any time.
• ·        It provides information’s according to the needs of the learners.
• ·        We can distribute very easily all the course materials with the help of technology
• ·        Gives immediate feedback
• ·        Self pacing
• ·        Provides strong cognitive development from the side of the learners
• ·        Teacher is available to the student any time irrespective of time.
• ·        It is very easy to make students tracking.
• ·        It is suitable for giving classes to a large number of students at a time.

LIMITATIONS AND DRAWBACKS

·        E –learning requires a sufficient level of knowledge and skills for the use of multimedia internet and web technology on the part of its users.

·        As a technique and tool on the part of the students e-learning requires that they must have a proper ,easy and timely access to the needed resources requires , tools and equipment like computers, laptops , multimedia facilities, internet and web services, mobile learning tools, etc. In most cases it does not happen so with the individual students and their schools also are not in a position to help them on this account.

·        Our schools are not at all ready, willing and equipped for making use of e-learning in the proper interest of the teachers and students. A few of them are equipped with the computer lab and a negligible few have any existence of the internet and web facilities for the use of their teachers and students. In such a situation, how can we expect from the students and teachers of our school to reap the desired benefits from e-learning?

·        There is no proper provision of equipping he teachers in their pre-service or in- service programmes for getting acquainted with the knowledge and skills required on their part for the use of e-learning at their work places. As a result, the teachers neither have any inclination towards- learning not have any competence for its organization in the school or providing guidance to their students in its use.

·        The feeling of isolation experienced by the users of e- learning is one of the major drawbacks quite visible in any system of distance learning including e-learning.  They are found to be devoid with the face-to face interaction and humanistic touch profoundly available in the traditional class room set-up.

·        The lack of opportunities for co-curricular, social participation and community sharing experiences may prove handicap to the students of e-learning in their proper physical , social and emotional development.

·        An overall attitude of the learners, teachers, parents, educational authorities, and society is usually found quite negative towards the processes and products of e-learning.

M-LRARNING OR MOBILE LEARNING

            While conducting proper e- learning, we need to create learning activities that can be accessed on a verity of devices. Mobiles enables UBIQUITOUS access to information, social networks, tools and much more. Mobiles are becoming increasingly a use’s first choice for internet access.

Features of mobile learning

• ·       We can communicate any where
• ·       We can share any thing
• ·       We can learn from anywhere.
• ·       It is faster
• ·       Thinner and lighter in shape.

Electronic Resource

            Educational technology is concerned with the supply of essential knowledge and skills needed for improving the processes and product of education. It stands for helping the teachers in their teaching and the learners in their learning functions by providing needed theoretical ground and achieving the teaching-learning objectives in the most effective and economical way possible.

E-resources are those resources which include documents in electronic or e- format that can be accessed via internet in digital library environment. The e-resources help you to find the reliable answers you need. E –resources may be delivered on CD-ROM/DVD over the internet and so on.

E-Journals
E journals are scholarly journals or intellectual magazines that can be accessed via electronic transmission. In practice, this means that they are usually published on the web.

They are the specialized form of electronic document; they have the purpose of providing materials for academic research and study ,and they are formatted approximately like journal articles in traditional printed journals The E-journals A-Z list allows you to browse alphabetic lists of the journal titles available online.

Importance of e-journals

·      Easily accessible than printed copy.

·      Multiple access-same resources can be used at the same time by a number of users.

·      People :all around the world can read it using internet connectivity

·      Hyper links can be provided

·      Less chance for damage.

E-Books

        E-books are books that are available to be read electronically on a variety of devices, including traditional computers, iPads, iPhones, tabs, smart phones and more.

The "How do I find E-Books" page provides links to the Library's major E-Book databases and historical collections, to Google Book Search, and to other E-Book collections. The majority of these books are cataloged, and can be accessed via the 

E-GOVERNANCE

          E-governance is the evolutionary binding of government structures and functions with internet technologies to serve citizens, virtual constituents and the public good. Governments of today are feeling the need to reinvent the very process of governance. There are various challenges faced by the governments in proper implementation of the e-government infrastructure major among them are issues like cultural differences, digital divide and low level of ICT infrastructure.

DIGITAL LIBRARY

A Digital Library (also referred to as digital library or digital repository) is a special library with a focused collection of digital objects that can include text, visual material, audio material, video material, stored as electronic media formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media), along with means for organizing, storing, and retrieving the files and media contained in the library collection.

"A potentially virtual organization, that comprehensively collects, manages and preserves for the long depth of time rich digital content, and offers to its targeted user communities specialised functionality on that content, of defined quality and according to comprehensive codified policies."^[5]

                    Most digital libraries provide a search interface which allows resources to be found. These resources are typically deep web (or invisible web) resources since they frequently cannot be located by search engine crawlers. Some digital libraries create special pages or sitemaps to allow search engines to find all their resources. Digital libraries frequently use the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to expose their metadata to other digital libraries, and search engines like Google Scholar, Yahoo! and Scirus can also use OAI-PMH to find these deep web resources.^[8]

Advantages

·        No physical boundary. The user of a digital library need not to go to the library physically; people from all over the world can gain access to the same information, as long as an Internet connection is available.

·        Round the clock availability A major advantage of digital libraries is that people can gain access 24/7 to the information.

·        Multiple access. The same resources can be used simultaneously by a number of institutions and patrons. This may not be the case for copyrighted material: a library may have a license for "lending out" only one copy at a time; this is achieved with a system of digital rights management where a resource can become inaccessible after expiration of the lending period or after the lender chooses to make it inaccessible (equivalent to returning the resource).

·        Information retrieval. The user is able to use any search term (word, phrase, title, name, subject) to search the entire collection. Digital libraries can provide very user-friendly interfaces, giving click able access to its resources.

·        Preservation and conservation. Digitization is not a long-term preservation solution for physical collections, but does succeed in providing access copies for materials that would otherwise fall to degradation from repeated use. Digitized collections and born-digital objects pose many preservation and conservation concerns that analog materials do not. Please see the following "Problems" section of this page for examples.

·        Space. Whereas traditional libraries are limited by storage space, digital libraries have the potential to store much more information, simply because digital information requires very little physical space to contain them and media storage technologies are more affordable than ever before.

·        Added value. Certain characteristics of objects, primarily the quality of images, may be improved. Digitization can enhance legibility and remove visible flaws such as stains and discoloration.^[13]

·        Easily accessible.

Disadvantages

Digital libraries, or at least their digital collections, unfortunately also have brought their own problems and challenges in areas such as:^[28]

·        Equity of access – the digital divide.

·        Interoperability between systems and software.( Interoperability is a property of a product or system, whose interfaces are completely understood, to work with other products or systems)

·        User authentication for access to collections. (Access control)

·         

·        Information organization.( information organizing systems  used to organize documents, document representations and concepts.)

·        Interface design.(  is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing the user experience.)

·        Digital preservation 

·        Training and development.( activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups)

E CONTENT

          E- Content is the general term for all digital teaching materials that meet the e-content-decree specifications. it is the digital content that can be transmitted over a computer network such as the internet .

The e-content should be in the following type:-

a.    Short course/unit/module.

b.   Full course.

Features of e- content

·      Technologically friendly so as to downloaded and used on any computer either independently or in a LAN situation.

·      Learner friendly for easy navigation.

·      Lerner centric to be useful in self- instructional mode.

Significance

·      E-content is valuable to the pupil and also helpful to teachers of all individual instruction system.

·      The ultimate aim of the e-content is abolish the disparity among the learners through effective education.

·      It is enhancing the learner knowledge level which leads to creative thinking.

Advantages

• ·      Responsibility
• ·      Information management
• ·      Team work
• ·      Self management
• ·      Motivation
• ·      More interesting

Drawbacks

• ·      Gaming the surfing
• ·      Cheating
• ·      Technical problems

Quality

          An e-content should have to keep some qualities, such as ;

• ·      It should be correct
• ·      Structured
• ·      Emotional
• ·      Adaptive
• ·      Communicative
• ·      Reflexive
• ·      Explorative
• ·      Standardized
• ·      Should not be a copy right of another