As I am currently undertaking some research into comparing eLearning with the more traditional tutor led approach, can anyone provide details of useful and relevant journal articles, books or other references to support my endeavours? Any views or comments would also be very welcome and much appreciated.
Kenneth Deane
13 Responses
Silicone Snake oil
On Classrooms, With and Without Computers; Some Basic Astrophysics for the Intrepid
Silicon Snake Oil, Clifford Stoll (MacMillan, 1995)
Although written 7 years ago this is still very pertinent. Much of what he questions here has still to be resolved.
Corporate View
Try viewing the Corporate Leadership Council http://www.corporateleadershipcouncil.com website.
Select e HR button then trends in e learning. Wealth of resources on Orgs who have implemented e learning and why
You need to register to access but it is free!
Tutorial support still needed
I am administrator of an on-line ICT training course for school librarians. Most of our participants seem to require the same sort of tutorial support as for more traditional methods; they need a quick sympathetic response to problems. Other issues that have arisen include: lack of personal contact with tutors & other participants, isolation (although on-line conference facility alleviates this to some extent), allocating regular time to study.
e-learningvtraditiopnal
I think you are approaching this with the wrong attitude and from the wrong direction. There is no VERSUS: e-learning (almost every form of the 100 varieties) should go hand in gand with other forms of learning to produce an interesting, learning-centred, INTEGRATED learninmg event. I ran rcently a programme with talk, discussion, question/answer, video triggers, a video programme, extracts from three CD-ROMs, and a follow-up reference to an Internet programme. The programme was preced by the learners being sent a CD with information, basic aspects of learning, and questions to bring with them to the programme. = Integration.
e-learning V ILT
We would reccomend the Web-Based Training CookBook by Bradon Hall – http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/hall
which has been an inspiration to our own business. In our experience most research into this area only lacks one element – proof, real data that will give the sort of tangable results that will excite any financial director or organisational board. If you are interesting in viewing such data please e-mail myself of mikeg@lcsgroup.com
Blended Solutions are the most effective approach
E Learning should be used in conjunction with instructor lead training. Use it to complement existing or future courses. I have found it works very well to give background knowledge before a course so every one is at the same level. It can also be useful as a reference tool for after a course. People cannot learn everything without interaction and subjects like negotiation or presenting or anything involving interaction cannot be learnt on-line alone but it can be a great advantage in supporting this.
The e-learning revolution
Try Martin Sloman’s new book ‘The e-learning revolution: from propositions to action’. Sloman has also moderated a recent online debate which you might find interesting at:
http://www.cipd.co.uk/elearning/Board/e-learning/window.asp
There are also details on the book at this site. You can find it in the first orange drop down menu ‘Qualify, train, develop’. You will need to register for a guest account but it is free.
eLearning vs Tutor Led
Hi Kenneth:
As you can see, your question opens a real can of worms. There seems to be as many different answers as there are trainers!
Althought there seems to be some consensus that “blended” learning would be the best approach, actual hard and fast numbers are very difficult to find, perhaps because they don’t exist? I’ve been doing research on e-learning for over two years now, and have still not found an absolute answer to your question. For every article that states there is no signficant difference between the two methods, there will be another citing the exact opposite (usually to the detriment of e-learning).
It is a conundrum, and one with no easy answers, I suspect. However, in my research I have gathered a vast amount of articles and websites that may be of use to you. If you contact me offline, I would be more than happy to send you copies and links (savillek@fifthbusiness.com).
Regards,
Kathleen
comparisons
There can be many distinct comparisons drawn from e-learning v tutor led. However this has to be done on a situation by situation basis and what is the right solution for the right requirement. There are influences within the situation that will create massive differences, for example: content, cost, logistics, objective etc. It cannot be forgotten that e-learning is just one tool within the ‘training mix’ and not the complete solution.
If you could provide any further information on the specific scenario that you are basing this on I am sure it would provide further detailed answers.
E-Learning Opinions
I’ve been undergoing a master’s degree via e-learning, during the past three years. Because I work in the Middle East, it’s been the only practical way of pursuing this qualification. However, I have not enjoyed the experience particularly. In particular, I found that trying to maintain contact with my fellow students, via the course bulletin board, frustrating to the point where I simply gave up! This, due to the slowness of accessing this service via the internet; I really don’t think the technology is there yet, and much faster access is absolutely essential for these sort of features. There’s also a lot of nonesense talked about the ability of ‘e-learning’ to allow one, for example, access to the ‘best teachers’. I suspect, by this, they really mean the ‘authors of successful books’, who are not necessarily good teachers, just successful authors; furthermore, what makes a ‘good’ teacher is usually his or her personality and enthusiasm, and these qualities are not accessible via e-learning. So, my feeling about e-learning is that it offers a practical way of accessing courses at a distance, but cannot really compete with face-to-face learning. Adrian Waygood
E-learn vs the Rest…
Dear Kenneth,
Plenty for you to chew on already!
I was recently at a conference organised by the Scottish Executive on e-learning only open to invited e-learning companies. Because there were no customers it was a very open and honest forum.
The published rate for dropouts in e-learning is 50%+. The actual figure is higher. The reasons given were various. The major ones were:
Lack of interaction with people.
They were just text courses transferred to the internet.
not enough assessment.
This is good news for me as I sell simulation tools and services. The conclusion of various think tanks is that Gaming/Simulation is the way forward in e-learning. The student has to be “engaged” by the content and this is best achieved by interactive simulations or games play. Unfortunately there are very few organisations that can offer these services so the dropout will continue to be high until the quality of courses improves.
Regards,
Neil Cameron
http://www.multiverse.co.uk
Useful sources on e-learning
There is a section of the National Learning Network site which has some relevance.
It’s at http://www.nln.ac.uk/delg
There is also a literature review on the use of IT to widen participation on the same section, with a detailed bibliography, some of which is relevant.
eLearning Vs Tutor led
eLearning MUST be tutor led.
Realistically, you cannot have a totally self directed eLearning system, and those that say you can, will not be in business for too much longer, or they simply do not understand exactly WHAT eLearning is.
It is not and has never been a case of ‘Vs’
There is an eLearning system that allows both classroom + online learning at the same time!
a collaborative approach to the whole thing.
I have some white papers + research material if you would like.
email me theguvner@ntlworld.com