Technology in my context

I am looking at e-learning/online training, as this is my current role and these are questions that I don't always ask myself so there could be some useful issues I raise for my own development.


Likely impact on the students’ perceptions of the quality of their courses, their approaches to studying and their academic performance?


Certainly, from a historical point, e-learning within my organisation has never been well received. Most of the mandatory training that is delivered online is provided by a third party provider. The issues that delegates have simply logging into their system are widespread, and for a student attempting to log in, on shift, outside of normal hours there is little if no support. The result is that the course is not done and the perception of e-learning has been lost before the student has even reached the course itself - bringing us back to the now aging chestnut of 'accessibility'.
Once in the course the students approach is obviously different from that of a classroom session. Having negotiated the time to complete the course with a line manager the student must then find an environment conducive with being able to concentrate on the training. This again is not always easy.


The course is not being looked at unfavourably - regardless of the quality of the course itself, which are actually of a very good standard and the objectives within them, once met through completion of the course lead to students who are able to complete their roles better.


Likely impact on the teachers’ perceptions of their teaching context and their approaches to teaching?


I work in an office of trainers and their perception of e-learning is equally dimmed by the accessibility issues that have happened in the past. "What have you got on today?", "Oh, I've got to facilitate the diversity e-learning", not happy bunnies. The outcomes again are effective and I think the trainers acknowledge this, they would however argue that they could deliver the material just as effectively in a traditional classroom scenario.


When I joined the diversity training was done in a classroom and the ability to discuss some of the finer points with those present to get views/experiences is invaluable in this context. The e-learning was then bought in to replace the classroom and completed 'solo', this was not so successful. The blended learning approach has now been initiated where the trainer facilitates the package in a classroom allowing for debate - the best of both worlds? The results are only comparable to those obtained from the course as a solo exercise as the classroom session was a pass if you attended. The blended sessions have yielded better results.


Embodies particular assumptions about the nature of teaching and learning in higher education?


E-learning taken on it's own I would say embodies a large number of assumptions. To name a few; that it will solve issues with getting education to remote areas, that it will save large amounts of money by offsetting costs of classrooms, that training can take place 24/7/365. The reality of course shows this not to be the case although there are benefits that e-learning can bring to a blended learning program.


Taking H800 as an example of a blended experience, where classroom is completely negated, I have found that the different methods of technology we have used to be very effective in delivering the material. I think in this case there has obviously been a lot of thought given to the design of the material and to the method best suited to deliver each part. That said one of the issues that arose early in the course was with the amount of time shown as appropriate for each activity - these timings in practice were different for different people - plans I often find are perfect until you include people.


Assumptions likely to promote more positive perceptions, more desirable approaches to studying and better performance on the part of the students?


E-learning is still relatively 'young', certainly relative to existing methods of learning delivery and so there is still a need to find where it fits best within the structure of course delivery. There is a lot of proving to be done to give e-learning/online learning a more positive perception both from students and tutors but in my perception there has been large advances in the decade that I have been involved. If those advances continue and the benefits both educationally and financially can be proved then the inclusion of online material will undoubtedly increase. Beyond that there will be an improvement in accessibility and therefore some of the assumptions associated with e-learning may come to fruition. The result would be to allow students to tailor their learning approach to fit better with their commitments, would this ultimately lead to a better performance? A happy student is probably one who will study better/deeper, and deeper learners achieve better results.