What is E-Learning?
EDUCATORS
have been very innovative and quick to adopt new means and technologies
to promote education. For instance the printing press in the sixteenth
century made it possible to afford personal copies of books, opening new
opportunities to acquire knowledge. The developments of the postal
services in the nineteenth century lead to the growth of education by
correspondence. The electronics revolution in the twentieth century,
lead to the use of radio and television in the promotion of distance
education.
New technologies such as audio and video
recordings further strengthened the distance education. The most recent
development is due to the revolution in the information and
communication technologies (ICT), the Internet in particular. Cell
phones allow one to communicate any time and usually anywhere, as long
as one has a properly configured phone. To a certain extent the same is
true of E-Learning.
E-Learning enables one to learn anywhere
and usually at any time, as long as one has a properly configured
computer. E-Learning is defined as, “the use of new multimedia
technologies and the Internet to improve the quality of learning by
facilitating access to resources and services as well as remote
exchanges and collaboration”. E-Learning can also refer to educational
websites such as those offering learning lessons, worksheets and
interactive exercises for children.
E-learning can be CD-ROM-based,
Network-based, Intranet-based or Internet-based. It can include text,
video, audio, animation and virtual environments. E-Learning allows one
to choose how and when one studies. E-Learning can be used by learners
in traditional, face-to-face educational settings or at a distance as
they connect from home, workplaces, Internet cafes or public libraries.
Computer-literate individuals will have an advantage over others in
benefiting from E-Learning.
E-Learning can bring a strong focus on
adult education especially in higher education and industrial and
vocational training. It can help students with disabilities. Digital
technology can: convert speech to print and print to voice, increase the
size of print, vary the contrast of print against background, and send
broadband video signals to specific audiences via a telephone line. As a
result, greater access to information is occurring for people who are
deaf or hearing impaired, blind or vision impaired, or who have reading
difficulties or speech difficulties.
E-Learning has the potential to
revolutionise the way we teach and how we learn. This is possible only
if there are adequate technological resources. One needs fast Internet
at a low prize to fully utilise the potential of E-Learning. The
worldwide E-Learning industry is estimated to be worth over forty
billion euros. The need to acquire knowledge and education has never
been as urgent as it is now.
An effective E-Learning strategy is vital
to any institution/nation wishing to create and maintain a culture of
lifelong learning. Regardless of the challenges, E-Learning is
attracting a growing number of academic and corporate institutions.
Dr Sameen Ahmed Khan
Engineering Department, Salalah College of Technology (SCOT)
Salalah, Sultanate of Oman, rohelakhan@yahoo.com,
http://rohelakhan.googlepages.com/,
http://www.geocities.com/rohelakhan/