What’s up with the “e” in e-learning?

By Matthias Sturm, Distance Learning Coordinator, Centre AlphaPlus Centre

E-LEARNING IS A TERM THAT COMES UP A LOT these days when talking about new approaches to literacy programming. However, many people have questions about what e-learning really means.

The “e” in e-learning stands for electronic. People talk about e-learning as if it was the newest invention since chalkboards were mounted in almost every school in the mid-1800s. Because of the creative thinking of instructors, chalkboards soon became the most important learning tool across Canada. Just like chalkboards, e-learning tools, such as computers, change the way we all learn.

What does this mean for learners and instructors? What’s wrong with the way people have been learning? Nothing really. The way we learn changes because they way we live changes. E-learning tools help us to face the challenges of a world that keeps changing.

Why isn’t e-learning called e-teaching? Long before someone put the “e” in e-mail, e-cards and e-learning, instructors were looking for more creative, interactive learning approaches. They wanted learners to participate more actively. They wanted learners to share their experiences and work together with their instructors to achieve their learning goals. Instructors started to teach learners how to find answers to their own questions and how to solve problems on their own. E-learning tools are simply new learning tools. With e-learning, Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programs can continue to put the needs and goals of learners first. E-learning supports this learner-centered approach.

Where did e-learning come from? E-learning is part of the same family as blended learning and flexible learning. This family is all about focusing on learners. Blended learning is learning that employs multiple strategies, methods, and delivery systems.¹ Flexible learning expands the choice on what, when, and how people learn.² Each method focuses on different things. For example, blended learning blends books with technology, and flexible learning tries to be flexible about when to learn and how to learn. E-learning uses technologies like computers and television to connect learners to instructors, fellow learners, and materials. E-learning, blended learning, and flexible learning often work together.

How does e-learning fit with adult learning? Many adults have different experiences and learning goals when it comes to their homes, families, communities, and places of work. When we identify personally with what we learn, we feel more connected to what we need to learn and why we need to learn it. E-learning tools help focus on the needs of learners, and integrate adult learning principles that ensure learning is connected to life experience and personal goals.

References

1. The Node Guide to Blended Learning.
   Source: http://www.thenode.org/publications/
2. Australian Flexible Learning Network.
   Source: http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/