F A Q
What is an e-learning system? Why are universities buying e-Learning systems? Are e-learning systems easy to use? This page - How do I put my course online? How will e-learning affect my students? What has worked well at other universities? What does all this jargon mean? About this Site Site Maps Search Sources
LINKS to other sites: Computers Don't Teach -- People Teach - Azevedo article. Computers are lousey teachers - check out David Jonassen's web pages. Mindtools - summary of their educational uses. David Brooks' home page
Finding your way around The questions beneath the FAQ heading above link directly to an answer page on this site. The blue underlined links below the questions and immediately above this box link to selected external web sites. Go to the Site Maps for an overview of the site structure.

How do I put my course online?

"In the future, the whole idea of how one prepares for a course is likely to change", Collis, p.340.
". . . successful learning is not driven by content, but by context and activity" Oliver & McLoughlin, p.426.

Don't just upload your lecture notes and presentations

Oliver & McLoughlin criticise "the creation of often passive and disengaging environments for learning", i.e. courses that consist of a series of sequential web pages occasionally punctuated by low levels of interactivity (click and check answer) which students are supposed to read and remember.

The authors of the Special Issue unanimously agree that while e-learning systems can help staff upload syllabi, MCQs, lecture notes and web links they do not fully support "student critical thinking, generation of knowledge and collaborative teamwork" (Bonk & Dennen). The challenge of online education is to use the technology to improve the student learning experience and not to produce the most boring "slide show" you can possibly imagine" (Asevedo, 1998).

Listed below are a few of the ideas from the Special Issue authors (see especially Oliver & McLoughlin, pp. 428-431) together with links to some examples from a variety of sources.

How to improve student learning via an online course?
LEARNING	ACTIVITY	EXAMPLE
Active and Collaborative	Provide relevant and authentic learning tasks and assessments, e.g. project-based work.	Mindtools on David Jonassen's pages
Independent and Student-centred	Allow students to identify and define issues and problems themselves rather than just respond to problems posed by others, e.g. provide web links that encourage inquiry and exploratory forms of learning	Bonk's example syllabus David Brooks' course on Web Teaching
Problem-based	Encourage the development of competence and understanding by posing problems to be solved by electronic discussion or by providing goal-based activities such as simulations	Murder on the Internet: for students learning French and Spanish cited by Robson
Critical	Require the student to to select, evaluate and analyse information with discrimination, e.g. via group discussions, 'jigsaw' tasks or concept maps.	Examples on the WebQuest site (use the Search, Top, Middling and New links from the left- hand menu) and see also Concept Mapping page from the University of Twente.
Reflective	Provide self-assessment, diagnostic tests, peer and/or group assessment and tasks which require students to reflect on their learning via online discussion boards	Module H802 - Applications of Information Technology in Education. Smash Head on Keyboard to Continue... (pdf file)
Appreciation of multiple perspectives	Provide opportunities for the learner to take on new roles: investigator, critic, collaborator and designer or role-play character.	Freeman & Capper's Business Finance role-play cited by Alexander, p.288 Middle East Politics simulation

How to sustain motivation?

In addition authors felt that motivation could be increased by

putting students work on display and
structuring the learning by carefully working out timelines and assigning deadlines (Bonk & Dennen, p.407).

Constructivist Approaches

"We cannot answer a question about the possibility of improving learning without being clear what that learning consists of and what it is for" Goodyear, 1998, p.7.

The student activities and types of learning above are all associated with theories of learning and meaning-making which are all loosely bundled together under the term 'constructivism'. Constructivists believe that learning is a process of meaning-making, not of knowledge transmission. 'Social' constructivists believe that meaning-making is a social process; that learning is a dialogue and that knowledge is not an individual possession but shared among 'communities of practice' (Jonassen & Land, 2000). Meaning-making involves bridging the gap between what we know already and what others know and can be a difficult, confusing process for the learner.

Constructivist?
Although the Special Issue authors all subscribe to a constructivist philosophy there are other theories or models of learning.

This web site was written for a student assessment on the Open University course H802: Applications of Information Technology in Open and Distance Education by Sandra Windeatt.
See About these Web Pages for an explanation and design decisions. Last updated on June 15 2002.