Introduction to e-Learning

We understand that the term ‘e-learning’ can be confusing. Aimed at practitioners who are just starting out in incorporating e-learning into their teaching, this document will demystify the term, outline key terminology and its relevance, and introduce commonly used e-learning terms.

What is e-learning?

There are many different definitions for the term ‘e-learning’, which can confuse those at the early stages of exploring e-learning. However, Jisc uses a definition whose meaning is deemed to be most accurate:

“e-Learning can be defined as 'learning facilitated and supported through the use of information and communications technology'. It can cover a spectrum of activities from the use of technology to support learning as part of a ‘blended’ approach (a combination of traditional and e-learning approaches), to learning that is delivered entirely online. Whatever the technology, however, learning is the vital element.”
Jisc e-learning definition from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/elearning

The term ‘e-learning’ therefore essentially covers the use of computers and technology as a vehicle for knowledge exchange within teaching and learning.

What does the ‘e’ in ‘e-learning’ represent?

We are often asked this and the answer is that the ‘e’ used to represent ‘electronic’ but nowadays it merely signifies the use of technology. In some circles within the education sector, some refer to the ‘e’ as ‘enhanced’.

Benefits of e-learning

An immediate potential benefit of considering to implement e-learning is that it can be seen as an additional avenue with which to support teaching and learning practice. E-learning covers such a wide sphere that it is difficult to point out any benefit as a given, so any benefits should initially be termed ‘potential’ benefits. However, many cite the following as broad benefits that e-learning supports:

The ability to provide distance learning (learning not on campus)
A blended learning/teaching approach (using face-to-face and technology)
The use of technology to support a wide range of educational activity

Jisc has some useful examples by way of case studies for tangible benefits of e-learning for teachers, learners and institutions. Look at the end of this document for the links.

Learning theory

When talking about e-learning the phrase ‘learning theory’ often crops up. Learning theory in the context of e-learning refers to the use of learning models and/or frameworks that may be used when planning, designing and building work, in order to help define the process of work.

Uses of e-learning

At this point in the document you may be asking what ‘real-world’ uses does e-learning potentially have to offer to the practitioner? The answer is that e-learning provides many opportunities including large scale online delivery of modules and courses.

Each practitioner will have their own goals and so providing an exhaustive list of possibilities is difficult. However here are some uses of e-learning to get you started.

Uses for those very new to e-learning include engaging your students to use the web as:

A source of research material (whilst also building critical literacy skills) to support study
A platform for discussion
A resource for finding and using other people’s educational materials such as those created under the Open Educational Resources initiative or those which you have to ensure you seek permission and/or a licence to use

Uses for the next steps include creating multimedia rich resources to engage your students with. This can include for example:

Producing interactive web pages hosted on your institution’s VLE
Including multimedia elements into teaching materials to add context on a subject to help achieve the learning objective
Using the VLE to build tasks
Offer collaborative opportunities via the VLE
Online assessment

Legal considerations

When producing learning materials, especially where component parts have been sourced from the Internet, practitioners must consider the copyright and other legal ramifications, as well as their own institutional policies on such practices. Jisc is able to advise within this area.

Common e-learning terms/tools

There are countless tools, techniques, people, acronyms and resources associated with e-learning. Below we cover some of the ones we think you are likely to come across.

Tool / Term	Description
Virtual learning environment (VLE)	An online space provided by the institution to support e-learning. All forms of digital media can be delivered using its various tools. There is a wide range of VLEs on the market.
Personal learning environment (PLE)	A concept of understanding that individuals utilise a range of networks – combining both institutional and personal networks and devices to learn.
Blackboard	Example of a VLE that is commonly used in the UK.
Moodle	An Open Source VLE that is commonly used in the UK.
Podcast, either video or audio	A method of delivering multimedia content. The video podcasts are sometimes called vodcasts/vidcasts.
RSS	A method used to push and pull content across the Internet. Particularly useful for subscribing to a podcasthttp://web2practice.jiscinvolve.org/rss-2/
Face-to-face teaching	A method of delivering teaching and learning that is normally used to distinguish between the classroom teaching environment and online.
Learning object	An object such as an audio file. Courses are typically made of many learning objects
Blended learning	A method of delivering teaching and learning that involves both face-to-face teaching and the use of technology together at the same time. For example the internet may be used to support a session that includes interactive tasks for the learner.
Distance learning	Delivering teaching and learning remotely, typically using technology and the internet Multimedia resource are often incorporated to provide context to text-based resources.
Discussion forum	A communication tool for posting messages/work/comments/opinions. Often text-based but some do offer the ability to use multimedia.
Blog	A way of posting educational material online, normally organised by date and topic category. Images, video and audio can be shared in this manner. Blogs typically allow commenting, which can be a useful feature for teaching and learning.
Wiki	An editable tool for working with others that has a trackable history of changes (wikipedia is the most popular example). Much like a blog, its strength is that can be used to share multimedia resource.
Web 2.0	Essentially leveraging some of the more recent developments to support better interaction including social features. Many of these web 2.0 services provide community tools for sharing and commenting on resources, such as video.
Web service	A web delivered service that can be used for many types of activity including the storage and delivery of multimedia. Examples of web services include YouTube and web storage.
Netbook	A laptop that is very lightweight, portable and is often cheaper than most laptops. In order to achieve this, typically size and power are sacrificed. They can be used to create, use, manage and deliver multimedia.
e-book reader	Used to read digital e-books. Many of these readers can play audio books and/or read text out loud.
Flash player	A plug-in piece of software that adds functionality to the browser. Many e-learning resources have been created using Flash and most web videos at present use this technology.
Mobile learning (use of mobile phones and other handheld devices)	Using mobile devices including mobile phones to facilitate teaching and learning.
Open-source software	Software that is provided under a license that permits the user to have access to the source code. Open source software can be used to create, consume and delivery multimedia. An example is the audio editing tool ‘audacity’ which is very popular for creating and editing audio podcasts.
Creative Commons licensing	A way to share copyrighted work within a documented license scheme. Creative Commons licenses are increasingly applied to teaching resources that are typically made available using the internet.
HTML	The structural code that makes websites. Multimedia is typically delivered from websites that are built from HTML. Websites in turn allow us to produce e-learning for teaching and learning.
Scripts	Bits of code that add additional functionality to a website or service. Scripts can be created to support teaching and learning. For example, JavaScript is used to increase the functionality of the browser which can be used to create interactive based activity.
Web browser	A browser is a piece of software that allows us to interact with the web via a computer. Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are two popular examples of web browsers that provide access to e-learning material and multimedia resources
Social media	Social media tools are used to communicate between people on the web and can be used to support teaching and learning. For example it is often desirable to use social media tools to facilitate online community opportunities including learner collaboration.

Support

There is a wealth of technical and research based support surrounding e-learning. Many institutions have some level of e-learning support provision and it is worth seeking this out to better understand your institution’s strategy and policies regarding support. Furthermore it can be helpful to find out if others in your institution or locally are working on similar things. Many locations throughout the UK have regional support groups covering most aspects of e-learning.

Support is also provided on a national basis, with Jisc being the largest group working across all institutions.

Further resources

Jisc, JISC e-learning programme. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Use of VLEs with Digital Media. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Audio and Video Production: Recording Lectures, Seminars and Events. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Pedagogical Uses of Presentation Software. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Image Editing Software. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Using a Budget Digital Camera for Teaching, Learning and Research. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Copyright and Still Images: Frequently Asked Questions. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Finding Images on Flickr. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Screencasting: Broadcasting On-screen Activity. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Audio via Blackboard. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Jisc Digital Media. Creating an Audio Podcast. [Accessed: 23 July 2010].

Published in: Delivering and using

What is E-Learning?

Did you know that almost everyone who uses a computer has completed some type of e-learning? Perhaps it was called web-based training, or online learning, or computer-based training, but it’s all under the same e-learning umbrella. E-learning can encompass a wide variety of online initiatives. So a good, broad way to think about e-learning is as the use of electronic media (computers, tablets, or phones) to educate or train learners.

This article will focus on e-learning in terms of course development and content authoring, and then explore what it is, why we use it, how it’s evolved, and much more. So if you’re interested in finding out more about e-learning in general, you’ve come to the right place. Read on!

How Do We Define E-Learning?

Many people would recognize a basic e-learning course as a slide-based online activity that contains simple navigation buttons (such as Next and Back) and incorporates quizzes with true-false or multiple choice questions. But not all e-learning courses share the same fingerprint. For example, an e-learning course could be a software simulation that demonstrates the click path through an application. Or, it could be a very interactive course that features role playing and complex decision-making. In this article, we will take a deliberately broad view of e-learning, and appreciate its near-infinite and ever-evolving forms.

What’s the Value of E-Learning?

E-learning offers a lot of value compared to more traditional training options, like facilitated sessions or lectures. E-learning ...

can be either an asynchronous or synchronous activity: Traditionally, e-learning has been asynchronous, which means there is no predetermined time for the learning to take place. Everyone can go at their own pace, and take their time to learn what they need to know, when they need to know it. However, more synchronous e-learning is now being offered through web conferencing and chat options. The great thing about e-learning is it gives you the option to do one, or both.
has a global reach: E-learning can simply be placed online and easily accessed by people around the world. There is no need for expensive travel or meetings across multiple time zones.
spans multiple devices/mobile: Online courses can work on computers as well as on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. This means e-learning courses can literally be in the hands of the people who need them, at all times.
is just-in-time/needs-based: It’s possible to create, publish, and share a course within a few hours. The software is so easy to use that almost anyone can create engaging courses.
reduces costs: All of the above-mentioned factors result in a cost savings for organizations that use e-learning courses to replace some of their traditional instructor-led training.

As the world becomes more connected and globalized, more people have consistent access to the internet, computers, smartphones, and other technological devices. When we provide people with learning opportunities on these devices, they can use them to access timely resources and training while on the job.

The value of e-learning is that it can save time and money. It can often be more efficient to develop one course that can be distributed electronically and consistently to thousands, versus one that’s delivered in person to training groups, where the message, equipment, and other conditions can vary enough to affect the outcome of the course.

How Has E-Learning Evolved?

The past decade has radically transformed e-learning. In the early days, e-learning courses were typically custom creations, coded by programmers and developers who used highly specialized tools and code to create these courses. In those days, it could easily require an entire team to create a simple, linear e-learning course. Very few people had the skills or knowledge to do so on their own.

Now, with advances in technology, creating e-learning is much more accessible. The course development tools have advanced to a point where just about anyone can create an e-learning course, without any programming or coding knowledge.

Changes in technology have also impacted the types of hardware tools we use. We’ve gone from using desktop computers exclusively to a mix of desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Naturally, e-learning has followed suit to span the array of devices we use. In fact, e-learning developed specifically for mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, is sometimes referred to as as “m-learning,” or mobile learning.

The learner’s experience of accessing e-learning has also evolved. It wasn’t so long ago that learners had to first add custom applications and/or download players before they could view course content. This setup often took time and was fraught with challenges for the learner—even before the course started.

Then, in the late nineties, Adobe Flash became the standard for e-learning, which made it really simple to view and share e-learning content. For nearly a decade, a majority of browsers came with Flash, so learners could play courses through the Flash player in their browser. However, now that many mobile devices and tablets are not Flash compatible, many developers are shifting to HTML5 to publish and share e-learning courses.

What Software Is Used to Create E-Learning?

In the early days of e-learning, only programmers and coders had the complex programming skills to create e-learning courses. Then came applications like Authorware, which still required programming, and Microsoft PowerPoint, which came into play in the late 1980s. PowerPoint quickly became the go-to tool for designing slide-based e-learning courses for much of the 1990s.

A huge leap forward for e-learning development occurred with the advent of PowerPoint-to-Flash tools. With that advancement, developers could convert PowerPoint courses, which were rarely interactive, to Flash, without needing to do any programming. Developers could also use form-based tools like Articulate Engage to push the creative envelope of their content beyond what they could do in PowerPoint.

The new millennium saw even more advancements as new tools were introduced. With these, the average layperson was better equipped to design and build their own e-learning courses. For example, Articulate Storyline offers the ease and familiarity of PowerPoint, yet has the power to build complex interactions, all without the developer writing a line of code.

Today’s e-learning authoring tools are typically broken down into two categories: form-based and free-form development.

Form-based authoring tools:
Using a form-based application means certain aspects of the e-learning course are prebuilt. You simply need to add in the proper text, images, and colors. With different combinations of these, you can vary the look of the interactions created from the same form.

Form-based tools are great for people who want to develop content quickly. They also work well for people who are less technical, or who are newer to e-learning and want less of a learning curve. Articulate Engage (part of the Articulate Studio suite) is a perfect example of a form-based tool. The application comes with 20 prebuilt interactions, from a bulletin board to a circle diagram to a pyramid interaction. All you do is use the form-based tool to add your own information. Here are some examples of form-based e-learning activities created using Articulate Engage ’13:

Form-based authoring offers you simplicity at the expense of some custom programming options. As such, the constraints of the form become evident when you try to do more than what the form is designed to do. It’s a trade-off that most people accept for the gains in authoring speed and ease.

Free-form authoring tools:
While form-based tools offer prebuilt key functionalities, free-form software does just the opposite. A free-form tool generally starts you out with a blank slide, and you then build the entire functionality and design for yourself. This gives you more options for customizing the look, and is better suited to someone who is comfortable with the technology. Free-form applications are often used to create highly customized, complex e-learning modules.

Here are examples of free-form e-learning content created using Articulate Storyline:

The trade-off with free-form authoring is that you have to make every little decision, which requires more planning. For example, say you wanted to create a tabs interaction. If you used the form-based tool in Engage, you’d be finished in minutes. If you wanted to use a free-form tool, you’d need more time to determine the screen layout, colors, interactive elements, and logic of how the tabs work.

In short, free-form gives you more power and more options, but it also requires more skill and time.

So when you’re looking at authoring tools, always start by determining the underlying production process. Is it form-based or free-form? If you’re interested in finding out more, check out this list of questions to consider when choosing an authoring tool.

How Is E-Learning Shared?

Once you’ve created an e-learning course, you need to distribute it to learners. There are many ways to do this, and—like everything else related to e-learning—those ways are constantly evolving and improving. Here, I’d like to look at two ways to share content: informal distribution and formal distribution.

Informal distribution

Informal distribution of e-learning content typically means users are trusted to view the e-learning course, and are not tracked or scored for completion. One way to informally share an e-learning course is to put it on a web server, then send participants the link and have them view the course. You don’t really have a systematic way of knowing whether learners have completed the course, but sometimes that’s not necessary.

Formal distribution

Sharing an e-learning course formally means there’s a need to track and record learner results. Most organizations that have a need for formal distribution of e-learning have specific systems and standards in place for this.

Tracking is usually done in what is called a Learning Management System (LMS). Certain standards are in place to report the information to the LMS, including AICC, SCORM, and, more recently, Tin Can.

Here are a few important terms to understand related to the distribution of e-learning:

LMS: LMS stands for Learning Management System and refers to software used to administer, track, report, and document the delivery of your e-learning courses.
SCORM: A Shareable Content Object Reference Model is a collection of specifications and standards for e-learning, which allows communication between the e-learning content and the LMS. There are several versions of SCORM.
AICC: The Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee is a set of specifications designed so learning technology vendors can spread their costs across multiple markets.
Tin Can: Tin Can API (Application Programming Interface) is a new specification for e-learning, which is not tied to an LMS and collects data about a person’s learning experiences across various devices. These devices are able to communicate with each other using this new spec.

What Makes an E-Learning Project Successful?

Many factors contribute to a successful e-learning program, but the top two are: 1) a production process that uses good tools; and 2) solid instructional design.

Tools

Good form-based or free-form tools let you create the functionality and interactivity that you want for your learners. They help you make e-learning that looks and works great, which goes a long way toward a successful e-learning course.

The easier the programming, the less time you have to spend on technical issues. This frees you up to commit to the instructional design to craft a great learning experience.

Instructional design

One way organizations measure the success of an e-learning project is by how much the learner’s knowledge and skills have improved after they’ve taken the course. To provide your learners with the best odds, you should have content that is designed in an instructionally sound manner. Instructional design is all about creating educational and instructional experiences that maximize learning and present knowledge and content in the most effective, efficient way.

Consider reading about some instructional design basics for e-learning to help you create courses that are instructionally sound with solid learning objectives. You can have the most fabulous-looking course in the world, but if there isn’t good, quality content within the course, it’s not going to have the impact you desire.

The key thing to remember about e-learning, and specifically e-learning course development, is that it is a constantly-evolving field. From the tools you use to create it, to the applications learners use to view it, the technology behind creating and sharing e-learning changes daily. The tools you have will continue to improve; however, your focus should remain on using those tools to create the best e-learning possible.

In its relatively short history, e-learning has come so far, and offers immeasurable opportunity to help people learn better. I hope this overview of e-learning was useful, and inspires you to push your own creative envelope beyond slide-based or click-next courses.

Teacher Education

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Monday, October 5, 2015

What is E-Learning?