Challenges of e-learning

THE BUZZWORDS for the 21st century are "Globalisation" and "Telematics" (computers connected to networks). They denote the emergence of new global cultural forms, media, technologies of communication and most significantly, the telematic revolution.

Both globalisation and computer communication technology have caused and resulted in the growth of each other &151; they have emerged as two sides of the same coin and have impacted one another in complex and multiple ways. New trends in education have also come about, and new challenges have been thrown up to reckon! At the same time there is an indisputable need to maintain continuity, change and growth, all at once!

The entailing discussion is devoted to analysing the impact of globalisation and the telematic revolution on the educational world and discussing the relevance of the changes against the context of time and space, and the concerns that have emerged in consequence. The core purpose of education has been to ensure that our citizens had the skills they needed to actively participate in a democratic society. As we complete the 20th century and prepare for the 21st, it is important to realise that the world is far different from the one, which existed alongside an emergent industrial economy, powered by muscle, water and steam.In the past where access was limited, information was treated as a scarce resource, and educators had the task of imparting this information for the benefit of learners. We used to live in a world where `content' was king. That world no longer exists. Content is abundant, and is therefore a poor basis for an educational system. What is scarce today is context and meaning. It used to be the mark of an educated person to have a vast reservoir of facts on which to rely. Today this skill is of much less value. The life of information seems to be shrinking. While some of the things we learn last forever (literacy, numeracy), other topics change so rapidly that much of what we are taught in school is rendered obsolete by the time we enter the workforce.

The emergence of a continuous learning model contrasts sharply with the traditional notion that school (learning) is followed by work, which is then followed by retirement. The rapid changes of our era have ensured that work and learning will be closely aligned with each other throughout our lives.

The educational system of today needs to impart to all learners three new foundational skills: to make learning a relevant and life-long process &151; a process of continuous growth change and evolution and adaptation. These are: How to find information? How to determine if what is found is relevant to the task at hand? And how to determine if the relevant information is accurate?

The schools of the 20th century were clustered around the idea that time would be constant and learning would be variable. Students were presented with subject matter over a fixed period of 180 days and then their ability to master the content in that period of time was tested. It was accepted that some can master certain content quickly and others need more time. Simply replacing one fixed time model of education with another is futile. It is now believed that time is not important: gaining mastery or excellence in a skill is. Schools of the past were essentially filtering institution, separating those who learnt quickly from those who did not.

Today with computers taking over, jobs that can be done with minimum education are fast diminishing. Skilled jobs and the need for lifelong education are on the increase. Schools of the future should therefore be institutions, which will provide whatever support is needed to achieve excellence. The idea of schools as a fixed time activity is being replaced by the concept of continuous learning built around a variety of tools and techniques. The 21st century classroom will be wherever the learner is located &151; at school, on the bus ride home, in the park, at a museum, or in the playground.

Traditional tools (e.g., books, pens and paper) will co-exist with the high-tech tools of the telematic era. The teacher's role in this distributed setting will be quite different from that of content presenter and test giver. A more productive role will be that of co-learner &151; an expert guide who helps students navigate the subjects being explored.

The teacher in this setting will operate in a system based on four components: campfires, watering holes, caves, and life. The campfire is the informational space associated with lectures and other methods of direct instruction. The watering hole is the conversational space occupied when learners converse among themselves or with their teachers about a particular topic. The cave is the conceptual space where ideas are developed in relative solitude and where student projects are designed and built. Life is the contextual space where the things have been learned are applied in the world outside of school.

Learning has always taken place in these four spaces, yet 20th century schools often failed to provide the right balance and learning suffered as a result. Through the telematic revolution, multimedia and telecommunication applications can be made to both the direct teaching method that emphasises individualised work and to the constructivist method that focuses on group learning. These four learning spaces provide a framework for the community at large that can envision educational opportunities. Flexibility is the key concept for the effective definition of the roles. Modern technologies are space collapser's, time shifters and creative tools that extend our reach. Technology deployed in education can help remove inequities between the schools of developed and developing nations, between inner cities and suburbs, between urban and rural areas. Technology can become the force that equalises the educational opportunities of all children regardless of location and social and economic circumstances.

The Internet eliminates geography as a limiting factor. A child in a remote hamlet can have the same access to the same reference materials as one located in the cosmopolitan city. Time is transcended by telematic tools. Technology will have an increasingly positive impact on the student's creativity. Access to multiple expressive modalities in important. As Howard Gardener's theory of multiple intelligence has shown, each of us has multiple pathways to learning, only a few are valued in the schools.

Resources like this not only help learners gain mastery of subject, but also help them develop a deeper relationship with the topic being studied. By placing a human face on the academic topics, web-based access to primary source materials can make learning come alive for many students.

Educators are also great beneficiaries of the telematic revolution. It opens up new opportunities for casual dialogues on a wide range of topics, and helps overcome the sense of isolation sometimes felt by educators whose areas of interest have few local enthusiasts. In addition to conversing with peers, communication with learners, their parents, the community at large is facilitated with the same tools. Parents who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend a student's study team meeting at school can take part through video conferencing. A major concern about the telematic wave that is sweeping the educational world is the question, whether technology is truly essential to support overall educational goals? Though technology promises the panacea to better learning, sales hungry decision makers have exploited it. Now it is faced with the challenge of maintaining the delicate balance between quality and quantity.

Society has been credited with creating technology, but technology is simultaneously creating society. These observations would also suggest that technology is beginning to exercise a benevolent tyranny over human kind. People have become "compulsive information consumers" who favour the passive reception of information as a form of entertainment over the more challenging act of thinking.

Education researchers have to face the voices of assent and dissent leading to the Hamletian questions of "to be or not to be?" "to do or not to do?",when it comes to integrating technology into educational settings. The answer to this pragmatic viewpoint is in designing effective educational models based on computer technology with in built quality checks.

Maintaining quality presupposes building a code of ethics into the telematic infrastructure, just as science without responsibility is like a sword without a sheath; so too, telematic education without ethics will lead to gross debasement of human energies.

The ethical values to bear in mind cannot be isolated from human values and responsibilities. It should also provide built in evaluative means that protect internal human ecological aspects.

Primarily quality checks must respect human rights to privacy, to avoid intrusion and abuse of these rights, and to avoid placing all information on equal levels.

Any e-learning program needs an in built quality check for it to function efficiently. At every phase it should be made and validated. To achieve the above objective a number of specific safeguards must be undertaken.

Each programme of study should result in learning outcomes appropriate to the rigor and breadth of the degree or certificate awarded. At every phase of the program a check should be made and validated.

The programmeshould be consistent with the institution's role and mission.

The institution should provide for the assessment and documentation of student achievement in each course and award certificates at the completion of the programme. The institution should demonstrate a commitment to ongoing support, both financial and technical, and to the continuation of the programme for a period sufficient to enable students to complete the degree/certificate.

The institution should evaluate the programme's educational effectiveness, including the assessments of student learning, and the outcomes, student retention, and student and faculty satisfaction.

The use of technology in education is highly positive but the caveat is to avoid falling through the looking glass. The true challenge is for education to freeze a model that captures quality and computer technology into an integrated communication system. Such a blend will zoom educational goals to dizzy heights of sublimity.

If we bear the key idea in our mind that the true power of educational technology comes not from replicating things that can be done in other ways but when required, do things that could not be done without it, we realise that most of our concerns are resolved.

Technology is no doubt the revitalising antidote for a stagnating educational system, but the ideal situation would be a judicious blend that optimises the advantages of both the traditional and telematic educational systems.

VASANTHI VASUDEV

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