http://elearningcurve.edublogs.org/2008/12/11/my-top-25-blogs-for-2008/
These are some of good elearing sites.. which i also love to read...
Brain Rules
John Medina 12 Principles for Surviving at Work, Home, and School
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies Jane Hart Knowledge, Skills and Tools for the Learning 2.0 Age
Clive on Learning Clive Shepherd Clive Shepherd has spent the past 25 years working with computers trying to make learning things happen electronically. He’s still trying to figure it out.
Connecting 2 the World Virginia Yonkers Connecting ideas, cultures, and disciplines
Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development Brent Schlenker Corporate Learning Blogger, Strategist, Consultant exploring the crossroads of Technology and Learning.
Elearning Technology Tony Karrer Tony Karrer’s blog on Elearning trends
elearningpost Maish R Nichani elearningpost provides news and views into the process and practice of e- learning.
Elearnspace George Siemens Explores elearning, knowledge management, networks, technology, and community.
Experiencing E-Learning Christy Tucker Technology Skills for Instructional Designers
Internet Time Jay Cross Internet Time Group helps organizations improve the performance of their people by speeding up their learning.
Learning Circuits Blog ASTD Home of the LCB Big Question
Learning Visions Cammy Bean Musings on e-Learning, instructional design and other tidbits
Leisurely Theorems Bill Brandon Notes about learning and performance.
liquid elearning Michelle Gallen Thoughts on e-learning – what’s new, what works and what’s plain daft
Off Course - On Target Wayne Hodgins Perspectives on human performance improvement, knowledge management, learning, and the general nature of design.
OLDaily Stephen Downes Covers the world of online learning, and as a daily there is an expectation that it will be fresh, that it will contain the news of the day.
Plan B Donald Clark What is Plan B? Not Plan A!
Rapid Elearning Tom Kuhlmann Practical, real-world tips for e-learning success
Rapid Elearning News Ted Cocheu Where common sense is spoken about workplace learning
rElearn Eamon Costello reuse repurpose rElearn
The Bamboo Project Michele Martin Career Development, Technology and Learning Strategies for Personal and Professional Growth
Weblogg-ed Will Richardson Insights into blogs, wikis and podcasts for learning
Workplace Learning Today Brandon Hall Research Daily summary of news and articles about all aspects of employee training
lastly,e-learning blog : the E-Learning Curve Blog...
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Why Mobile ELearning courses
Analysts, reporters, and computing futurists believe that mobile applications are the greatest path for growth in the computing industry. Their focus and enthusiasm centers on applications that can be installed natively on the mobile devices, rather than on the use of the mobile device as a communication gateway. For example, many articles feature software that tells you how many of your "friends and acquaintances" are currently within 500 yards of where you are sitting. However, mobile devices may have a role that is much larger than as a platform for handy applications.
Mobile devices can provide highly portable, low cost Internet access, thereby opening up huge new information consumer bases. Many of the mobile applications being featured are productivity tools like scheduling or notification software or entertainment tools like music players and games. In order to run, these applications need to be purchased, downloaded, and installed on the mobile platform. Each mobile platform/operating system requires its own, natively compiled version of the application. The applications need to be redesigned and rebuilt for each target platform (e.g. Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Android, etc.). While most of the focus on mobile computing has been on specific applications, the most obvious, and potentially most important application has been forgotten: web access.
Most learners are accessing the Internet to take eLearning courses. ELearning courses provide organizations, government, and individuals a training portal to the world where they can provide trainer their learners. An organization's course is accessible to learners through a web browser (e.g Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari), regardless of the operating system (MS-Windows, Mac, etc.) the visitor is using. This access to training is provided without the learner purchasing, downloading, or installing anything since most computers are delivered with a web browser already installed. The same is becoming true for mobile devices. The need to download or install an application before accessing a course is one of the major reasons that learners abandon a course.
In fact, when learners need to install a plug-in in order to view the content, they only do so 10% of the time. This means that the hurdle of installing a plug-in or media viewer is enough to prevent most learners from taking a course. Most eLearning courses currently work well on a desktop computer with a moderate resolution screen, but work poorly on a mobile device. This is primarily because of design decisions course creators have taken when they built the course. Most course creators assume that learners have the same size/resolution display as what they have on their computer.
They only test the course with their computer, at their preferred browser setting. For example most courses only work properly if the display device is at least 700 pixels wide. (Most mobile displays are less than 400 pixels wide). So, to read a line of text, the end-learner will need to scroll horizontally, something very difficult to do on mobile devices that don't have a touch-sensitive screen. Another big reason courses are being designed in unfriendly manners is the rush to Rich Internet Applications. This just means content that requires plug-ins like Adobe Flash or Java in order to display. These applications provide pretty movies, visual stimulation, and responsive content, but add little content value. Currently, most mobile devices (including the iPhone) are unable to play rich media as part of web pages. This means that courses that require plug-ins are inaccessible to mobile consumers.An even bigger problem exists with tests.
Most test questions are built in tools that output flash, are browser specific, or use other rich media formats that are inaccessible to mobile devices
The end result are test where a learner is unable to set the focus on an entry box, and typing doesn't work. Tests are also being designed to use the latest instantaneous feedback mechanisms such as AJAX. These technologies are not yet supported on many mobile browsers. So, when a learner wishes to take a test when they are in a mobile environment they can not do so.If you are building courses, you need to ask some fundamental questions: - Why are you building these courses? - Who is your learner? If you want learners (employees, customers, prospective clients, and partners) to take your courses you will need to ensure that your course works in your learners's environment.
With maturity in cell-phone/mobile device technologies, your learners will be moving away from their desks, and will want to learn when they are mobile. This means that courses that have worked nicely until now will needs to be able to handle the changing learning environment.
Currently about 15% of the cell phones in the US have a web browser. Most people exchange their cell phone for the latest model every two years. This is why Internet accessible mobile device adoption is growing exponentially.Your training strategy need to ensure that you are not repelling learners.
If your courses do not work with mobile devices how many learners will you not be accessing in the future?
If you require that they download and install an application or plug-in so that they can take a course, how many learners have you lost?
The questions you need to ask to see if you should be looking at a mobile training strategy is:· Are your learners sitting at a desk or are they out and about?
Do your learners use cell phones or other mobile devices?·
What do they currently read on their mobile devices (nothing, short e-mails, long messages?)· Do they currently use mobile devices to send e-mail?
Does their mobile devices have a browser (is it a smartphone)?·
Do they have or are they looking at purchasing a mobile device with a browser?·
Would they want to access training when they are away from their desktop computers?·
Are your courses useful to a mobile audience?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes you should consider expanding your course options to support mobile devices.
Courtesy: http://elearningslam.blogspot.com/2008/11/why-mobile-elearning-courses.html
Mobile devices can provide highly portable, low cost Internet access, thereby opening up huge new information consumer bases. Many of the mobile applications being featured are productivity tools like scheduling or notification software or entertainment tools like music players and games. In order to run, these applications need to be purchased, downloaded, and installed on the mobile platform. Each mobile platform/operating system requires its own, natively compiled version of the application. The applications need to be redesigned and rebuilt for each target platform (e.g. Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Android, etc.). While most of the focus on mobile computing has been on specific applications, the most obvious, and potentially most important application has been forgotten: web access.
Most learners are accessing the Internet to take eLearning courses. ELearning courses provide organizations, government, and individuals a training portal to the world where they can provide trainer their learners. An organization's course is accessible to learners through a web browser (e.g Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari), regardless of the operating system (MS-Windows, Mac, etc.) the visitor is using. This access to training is provided without the learner purchasing, downloading, or installing anything since most computers are delivered with a web browser already installed. The same is becoming true for mobile devices. The need to download or install an application before accessing a course is one of the major reasons that learners abandon a course.
In fact, when learners need to install a plug-in in order to view the content, they only do so 10% of the time. This means that the hurdle of installing a plug-in or media viewer is enough to prevent most learners from taking a course. Most eLearning courses currently work well on a desktop computer with a moderate resolution screen, but work poorly on a mobile device. This is primarily because of design decisions course creators have taken when they built the course. Most course creators assume that learners have the same size/resolution display as what they have on their computer.
They only test the course with their computer, at their preferred browser setting. For example most courses only work properly if the display device is at least 700 pixels wide. (Most mobile displays are less than 400 pixels wide). So, to read a line of text, the end-learner will need to scroll horizontally, something very difficult to do on mobile devices that don't have a touch-sensitive screen. Another big reason courses are being designed in unfriendly manners is the rush to Rich Internet Applications. This just means content that requires plug-ins like Adobe Flash or Java in order to display. These applications provide pretty movies, visual stimulation, and responsive content, but add little content value. Currently, most mobile devices (including the iPhone) are unable to play rich media as part of web pages. This means that courses that require plug-ins are inaccessible to mobile consumers.An even bigger problem exists with tests.
Most test questions are built in tools that output flash, are browser specific, or use other rich media formats that are inaccessible to mobile devices
The end result are test where a learner is unable to set the focus on an entry box, and typing doesn't work. Tests are also being designed to use the latest instantaneous feedback mechanisms such as AJAX. These technologies are not yet supported on many mobile browsers. So, when a learner wishes to take a test when they are in a mobile environment they can not do so.If you are building courses, you need to ask some fundamental questions: - Why are you building these courses? - Who is your learner? If you want learners (employees, customers, prospective clients, and partners) to take your courses you will need to ensure that your course works in your learners's environment.
With maturity in cell-phone/mobile device technologies, your learners will be moving away from their desks, and will want to learn when they are mobile. This means that courses that have worked nicely until now will needs to be able to handle the changing learning environment.
Currently about 15% of the cell phones in the US have a web browser. Most people exchange their cell phone for the latest model every two years. This is why Internet accessible mobile device adoption is growing exponentially.Your training strategy need to ensure that you are not repelling learners.
If your courses do not work with mobile devices how many learners will you not be accessing in the future?
If you require that they download and install an application or plug-in so that they can take a course, how many learners have you lost?
The questions you need to ask to see if you should be looking at a mobile training strategy is:· Are your learners sitting at a desk or are they out and about?
Do your learners use cell phones or other mobile devices?·
What do they currently read on their mobile devices (nothing, short e-mails, long messages?)· Do they currently use mobile devices to send e-mail?
Does their mobile devices have a browser (is it a smartphone)?·
Do they have or are they looking at purchasing a mobile device with a browser?·
Would they want to access training when they are away from their desktop computers?·
Are your courses useful to a mobile audience?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes you should consider expanding your course options to support mobile devices.
Courtesy: http://elearningslam.blogspot.com/2008/11/why-mobile-elearning-courses.html
Designing mobile eLearning courses
Nice article : Courtesy: http://elearningslam.blogspot.com/2008/11/designing-mobile-elearning-courses.html
Before embarking on creation of a mobile accessible course you will want to understand how the learner's experience changes when they view your course through a mobile device. Mobile devices are typically used in a very distraction-filled environment. Learners may be on a bus, on a train, at the store, eating lunch, or at work. The mobile device screen is very small. This limits what the learner can see and can make it difficult to read a large amount of content, view graphics, or see moving graphics.
Course content behaves differently when the display window shrinks. Graphic artists and many course creators like to design eLearning courses so that all aspects of the visual layout are tightly controlled. They like to precisely specify the position of each character. This is called absolute positioning. Absolutely positioned pages work well for printed brochures, but don't work well for environments where the learners have different screen/display sizes. Because the designer has specified positioning for a specific screen size ahead of time, the browser cannot rearrange the content optimally for the end-learner's current screen size. Absolutely positioned content may require horizontal scrolling to read, or may simply be illegible because the font size is too large or too small. Along the same line of thought, many test questions are built with tools that only work on specific browsers. For example, tools assume that the learner uses only Internet Explorer 7 or later or has flash installed. Mobile devices (event those that use Microsoft Windows Mobile) use older, simpler browsers making many web pages and web forms unusable.
Additionally, in a mobile environment your content will be most effective if you only provide a small amount on each page. While learners can scroll horizontally on a mobile device, it may be difficult to follow the content if they have to scroll too much. The rule of thumb, is to provide about twice the amount of content that can be viewed on the screen: If an average mobile screen supports 300 characters, limit your pages to 600 characters. This leads to content that is short, quick, and fast. Mobile devices have different size and capability limitations. Some browsers will resize the fonts, some support zooming, some don't respect style sheets, some have a portrait layout, etc. Avoid multiple columns, since they will require horizontal scrolling.
There are a few simple rules to follow when creating graphics for mobile devices. Avoid placing important text inside graphics. That is, it is possible to put text inside a graphic to serve as a label. The mobile browser may shrink graphics so that they fit on the small display size. Any text that is in the graphic will also be shrunk, potentially to a size that is illegible. On other devices, if the graphic is too large, the visitor will need to scroll horizontally and vertically to see it. This can become frustrating for your learner since horizontal scrolling is annoying and is not supported on all mobile devices. So, graphics should be designed for low resolution screens.
None of the currently available mobile devices support multimedia that is part of web pages. This means that content requiring plug-ins such as Flash, PDF, Java, and most movie formats do not work across the platforms. The movies that are becoming popular on iPod require a proprietary movie application, separate from the browser. This means that rich/multimedia should be avoided.
The overall layout/look-and-feel of your site can also be a challenge. If you plan to use the same content for the desktop and the mobile learners, one option is to have two different style sheets, with the appropriate one loading at run time. In a properly designed site, the style sheet specifies layout, positioning, font sizes/colors, backgrounds, borders, and many other display attributes. It is important to understand that style sheet support is not uniform across mobile devices. Because of the non-uniform support, you might consider creating two separate eLearning courses: one for PC access and one for mobile access. Some basic considerationswhen creating a template for mobile devices:
· Most branding can be done through font and background colors
· Use small or unobtrusive graphics and logos
· Avoid navigation bars that may take up a large percentage of the screen. If you want to include complex navigation, place these at the end of the page content so that learners have access first to the primary content.
· Avoid background graphics.
o The end learners ambient light will vary depending on whether they are indoors or outdoors.
o A background that causes low contrast difference between text and decoration may make content impossible to read.
· Pull-down menus don't necessarily work on mobile devices (because of uneven JavaScript support), so consider using arrows to take learners through a tour of your course.
· Graphic navigation icons should be simple arrows or a descriptive word such as “next” or “back”.
· Navigation frames work well on some devices, but not others. It's best to place them below or after the main content.
When you build your content using recommended web practices it will work effectively on all platforms. Content that follows W3C recommendations including HTML implementation, style sheets, and relative positioning is the most accessible from the largest number of platforms. If you are already using a tool, confirm that it works on all mobile devices. You may need to do your own testing since most vendors have focused on the desktop market.
Also consider the connection speed for your visitor's device. Many mobile devices only have access to low bandwidth services. Your visitor might only have access to download speeds comparable to what most people had in the mid 1990's. Since access speeds vary tremendously, make sure your content can be downloaded quickly.
Tests can work over mobile devices, but they need to be implemented using standard HTML. A big caveat is your LMS. Most LMS's do not work in a mobile environment since they created their environment in tools (AJEX and Rich Media) that do not work on mobile devices
Courtesy: http://elearningslam.blogspot.com/2008/11/designing-mobile-elearning-courses.html
Before embarking on creation of a mobile accessible course you will want to understand how the learner's experience changes when they view your course through a mobile device. Mobile devices are typically used in a very distraction-filled environment. Learners may be on a bus, on a train, at the store, eating lunch, or at work. The mobile device screen is very small. This limits what the learner can see and can make it difficult to read a large amount of content, view graphics, or see moving graphics.
Course content behaves differently when the display window shrinks. Graphic artists and many course creators like to design eLearning courses so that all aspects of the visual layout are tightly controlled. They like to precisely specify the position of each character. This is called absolute positioning. Absolutely positioned pages work well for printed brochures, but don't work well for environments where the learners have different screen/display sizes. Because the designer has specified positioning for a specific screen size ahead of time, the browser cannot rearrange the content optimally for the end-learner's current screen size. Absolutely positioned content may require horizontal scrolling to read, or may simply be illegible because the font size is too large or too small. Along the same line of thought, many test questions are built with tools that only work on specific browsers. For example, tools assume that the learner uses only Internet Explorer 7 or later or has flash installed. Mobile devices (event those that use Microsoft Windows Mobile) use older, simpler browsers making many web pages and web forms unusable.
Additionally, in a mobile environment your content will be most effective if you only provide a small amount on each page. While learners can scroll horizontally on a mobile device, it may be difficult to follow the content if they have to scroll too much. The rule of thumb, is to provide about twice the amount of content that can be viewed on the screen: If an average mobile screen supports 300 characters, limit your pages to 600 characters. This leads to content that is short, quick, and fast. Mobile devices have different size and capability limitations. Some browsers will resize the fonts, some support zooming, some don't respect style sheets, some have a portrait layout, etc. Avoid multiple columns, since they will require horizontal scrolling.
There are a few simple rules to follow when creating graphics for mobile devices. Avoid placing important text inside graphics. That is, it is possible to put text inside a graphic to serve as a label. The mobile browser may shrink graphics so that they fit on the small display size. Any text that is in the graphic will also be shrunk, potentially to a size that is illegible. On other devices, if the graphic is too large, the visitor will need to scroll horizontally and vertically to see it. This can become frustrating for your learner since horizontal scrolling is annoying and is not supported on all mobile devices. So, graphics should be designed for low resolution screens.
None of the currently available mobile devices support multimedia that is part of web pages. This means that content requiring plug-ins such as Flash, PDF, Java, and most movie formats do not work across the platforms. The movies that are becoming popular on iPod require a proprietary movie application, separate from the browser. This means that rich/multimedia should be avoided.
The overall layout/look-and-feel of your site can also be a challenge. If you plan to use the same content for the desktop and the mobile learners, one option is to have two different style sheets, with the appropriate one loading at run time. In a properly designed site, the style sheet specifies layout, positioning, font sizes/colors, backgrounds, borders, and many other display attributes. It is important to understand that style sheet support is not uniform across mobile devices. Because of the non-uniform support, you might consider creating two separate eLearning courses: one for PC access and one for mobile access. Some basic considerationswhen creating a template for mobile devices:
· Most branding can be done through font and background colors
· Use small or unobtrusive graphics and logos
· Avoid navigation bars that may take up a large percentage of the screen. If you want to include complex navigation, place these at the end of the page content so that learners have access first to the primary content.
· Avoid background graphics.
o The end learners ambient light will vary depending on whether they are indoors or outdoors.
o A background that causes low contrast difference between text and decoration may make content impossible to read.
· Pull-down menus don't necessarily work on mobile devices (because of uneven JavaScript support), so consider using arrows to take learners through a tour of your course.
· Graphic navigation icons should be simple arrows or a descriptive word such as “next” or “back”.
· Navigation frames work well on some devices, but not others. It's best to place them below or after the main content.
When you build your content using recommended web practices it will work effectively on all platforms. Content that follows W3C recommendations including HTML implementation, style sheets, and relative positioning is the most accessible from the largest number of platforms. If you are already using a tool, confirm that it works on all mobile devices. You may need to do your own testing since most vendors have focused on the desktop market.
Also consider the connection speed for your visitor's device. Many mobile devices only have access to low bandwidth services. Your visitor might only have access to download speeds comparable to what most people had in the mid 1990's. Since access speeds vary tremendously, make sure your content can be downloaded quickly.
Tests can work over mobile devices, but they need to be implemented using standard HTML. A big caveat is your LMS. Most LMS's do not work in a mobile environment since they created their environment in tools (AJEX and Rich Media) that do not work on mobile devices
Courtesy: http://elearningslam.blogspot.com/2008/11/designing-mobile-elearning-courses.html
Some advantages of eLearning
Here are some advantages of eLearning:
1. Asynchronous content can be available 24 hours/day. This way, in organizations lie hospitals all 3 shifts of staff can view content during their down time. Also, employees can view the content from home, when a live presenter would be unavailable.
2. If done properly, the content can serve as a just-in-time reference. That is, instead of people memorizing all the procedures, they can learn where to look it up (e.g. a search engine on your training site). Then, they can look up the details as they need them. (Avoid PPT converted to web-viewable content - it is not complete enough for self-paced material or as reference material. Trainees will skipthrough it as quickly as possible.)
3. Trainees can view the content over and over until they understand it. Present each topic in 4 or 5 different modalities (e.g. simulation, video, step-by-step procedure, picture sequence, etc.) This way you can reach all different learner. (In face-to-face training the instructor can only address the majority needs.)
4. Content done properly can reach the disabled without needing extrainterpreters.If you only provide information in an eLearning format, it is important that the content use best of breed web approaches in addition to sound instructionaldesign.
Courtesy: http://elearningslam.blogspot.com/2008/04/advantages-of-elearning.html
1. Asynchronous content can be available 24 hours/day. This way, in organizations lie hospitals all 3 shifts of staff can view content during their down time. Also, employees can view the content from home, when a live presenter would be unavailable.
2. If done properly, the content can serve as a just-in-time reference. That is, instead of people memorizing all the procedures, they can learn where to look it up (e.g. a search engine on your training site). Then, they can look up the details as they need them. (Avoid PPT converted to web-viewable content - it is not complete enough for self-paced material or as reference material. Trainees will skipthrough it as quickly as possible.)
3. Trainees can view the content over and over until they understand it. Present each topic in 4 or 5 different modalities (e.g. simulation, video, step-by-step procedure, picture sequence, etc.) This way you can reach all different learner. (In face-to-face training the instructor can only address the majority needs.)
4. Content done properly can reach the disabled without needing extrainterpreters.If you only provide information in an eLearning format, it is important that the content use best of breed web approaches in addition to sound instructionaldesign.
Courtesy: http://elearningslam.blogspot.com/2008/04/advantages-of-elearning.html
The Benefits and Drawbacks of e-Learning
The Benefits and Drawbacks of e-Learning by Kevin Kruse
The vast movement towards e-learning is clearly motivated by the many benefits it offers. However much e-learning is praised and innovated, computers will never completely eliminate human instructors and other forms of educational delivery. What is important is to know exactly what e-learning advantages exist and when these outweigh the limitations of the medium.
Features Unique to e-Learning.
Like no other training form, e-learning promises to provide a single experience that accommodates the three distinct learning styles of auditory learners, visual learners, and kinesthetic learners. Other unique opportunities created by the advent and development of e-learning are more efficient training of a globally dispersed audience; and reduced publishing and distribution costs as Web-based training becomes a standard.
E-learning also offers individualized instruction, which print media cannot provide, and instructor-led courses allow clumsily and at great cost. In conjunction with assessing needs, e-learning can target specific needs. And by using learning style tests, e-learning can locate and target individual learning preferences.
Additionally, synchronous e-learning is self-paced. Advanced learners are allowed to speed through or bypass instruction that is redundant while novices slow their own progress through content, eliminating frustration with themselves, their fellow learners, and the course.
In these ways, e-learning is inclusive of a maximum number of participants with a maximum range of learning styles, preferences, and needs.
Collaborative Learning
All collaborative learning theory contends that human interaction is a vital ingredient to learning. Consideration of this is particularly crucial when designing e-learning, realizing the potential for the medium to isolate learners. With well-delivered synchronous distance education, and technology like message boards, chats, e-mail, and tele-conferencing, this potential drawback is reduced. However, e-learning detractors still argue that the magical classroom bond between teacher and student, and among the students themselves, can not be replicated through communications technology.
Advantages of e-Learning to the Trainer or Organization
Some of the most outstanding advantages to the trainer or organization are:
Reduced overall cost is the single most influential factor in adopting e-learning. The elimination of costs associated with instructor's salaries, meeting room rentals, and student travel, lodging, and meals are directly quantifiable. The reduction of time spent away from the job by employees may be the most positive offshoot.
Learning times reduced, an average of 40 to 60 percent, as found by Brandon Hall (Web-based Training Cookbook, 1997, p. 108).
Increased retention and application to the job averages an increase of 25 percent over traditional methods, according to an independent study by J.D. Fletcher (Multimedia Review, Spring 1991, pp.33-42).
Consistent delivery of content is possible with asynchronous, self-paced e-learning.
Expert knowledge is communicated, but more importantly captured, with good e-learning and knowledge management systems.
Proof of completion and certification, essential elements of training initiatives, can be automated.
Advantages to the Learner
Along with the increased retention, reduced learning time, and other aforementioned benefits to students, particular advantages of e-learning include:
On-demand availability enables students to complete training conveniently at off-hours or from home.
Self-pacing for slow or quick learners reduces stress and increases satisfaction.
Interactivity engages users, pushing them rather than pulling them through training.
Confidence that refresher or quick reference materials are available reduces burden of responsibility of mastery.
Disadvantages to the Trainer or Organization
e-learning is not, however, the be all and end all to every training need. It does have limitations, among them:
Up-front investment required of an e-learning solution is larger due to development costs. Budgets and cash flows will need to be negotiated.
Technology issues that play a factor include whether the existing technology infrastructure can accomplish the training goals, whether additional tech expenditures can be justified, and whether compatibility of all software and hardware can be achieved.
Inappropriate content for e-learning may exist according to some experts, though are limited in number. Even the acquisition of skills that involve complex physical/motor or emotional components (for example, juggling or mediation) can be augmented with e-learning.
Cultural acceptance is an issue in organizations where student demographics and psychographics may predispose them against using computers at all, let alone for e-learning.
Disadvantages to the Learner
The ways in which e-learning may not excel over other training include:
Technology issues of the learners are most commonly technophobia and unavailability of required technologies.
Portability of training has become a strength of e-learning with the proliferation of network linking points, notebook computers, PDAs, and mobile phones, but still does not rival that of printed workbooks or reference material.
Reduced social and cultural interaction can be a drawback. The impersonality, suppression of communication mechanisms such as body language, and elimination of peer-to-peer learning that are part of this potential disadvantage are lessening with advances in communications technologies.
Do the Benefits Outweigh the Drawbacks?
The pro's and con's of e-learning vary depending on program goals, target audience and organizational infrastructure and culture. But it is unarguable that e-learning is rapidly growing as form of training delivery and most are finding that the clear benefits to e-learning will guarantee it a role in their overall learning strategy.
Courtesy: http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art1_3.htm
The vast movement towards e-learning is clearly motivated by the many benefits it offers. However much e-learning is praised and innovated, computers will never completely eliminate human instructors and other forms of educational delivery. What is important is to know exactly what e-learning advantages exist and when these outweigh the limitations of the medium.
Features Unique to e-Learning.
Like no other training form, e-learning promises to provide a single experience that accommodates the three distinct learning styles of auditory learners, visual learners, and kinesthetic learners. Other unique opportunities created by the advent and development of e-learning are more efficient training of a globally dispersed audience; and reduced publishing and distribution costs as Web-based training becomes a standard.
E-learning also offers individualized instruction, which print media cannot provide, and instructor-led courses allow clumsily and at great cost. In conjunction with assessing needs, e-learning can target specific needs. And by using learning style tests, e-learning can locate and target individual learning preferences.
Additionally, synchronous e-learning is self-paced. Advanced learners are allowed to speed through or bypass instruction that is redundant while novices slow their own progress through content, eliminating frustration with themselves, their fellow learners, and the course.
In these ways, e-learning is inclusive of a maximum number of participants with a maximum range of learning styles, preferences, and needs.
Collaborative Learning
All collaborative learning theory contends that human interaction is a vital ingredient to learning. Consideration of this is particularly crucial when designing e-learning, realizing the potential for the medium to isolate learners. With well-delivered synchronous distance education, and technology like message boards, chats, e-mail, and tele-conferencing, this potential drawback is reduced. However, e-learning detractors still argue that the magical classroom bond between teacher and student, and among the students themselves, can not be replicated through communications technology.
Advantages of e-Learning to the Trainer or Organization
Some of the most outstanding advantages to the trainer or organization are:
Reduced overall cost is the single most influential factor in adopting e-learning. The elimination of costs associated with instructor's salaries, meeting room rentals, and student travel, lodging, and meals are directly quantifiable. The reduction of time spent away from the job by employees may be the most positive offshoot.
Learning times reduced, an average of 40 to 60 percent, as found by Brandon Hall (Web-based Training Cookbook, 1997, p. 108).
Increased retention and application to the job averages an increase of 25 percent over traditional methods, according to an independent study by J.D. Fletcher (Multimedia Review, Spring 1991, pp.33-42).
Consistent delivery of content is possible with asynchronous, self-paced e-learning.
Expert knowledge is communicated, but more importantly captured, with good e-learning and knowledge management systems.
Proof of completion and certification, essential elements of training initiatives, can be automated.
Advantages to the Learner
Along with the increased retention, reduced learning time, and other aforementioned benefits to students, particular advantages of e-learning include:
On-demand availability enables students to complete training conveniently at off-hours or from home.
Self-pacing for slow or quick learners reduces stress and increases satisfaction.
Interactivity engages users, pushing them rather than pulling them through training.
Confidence that refresher or quick reference materials are available reduces burden of responsibility of mastery.
Disadvantages to the Trainer or Organization
e-learning is not, however, the be all and end all to every training need. It does have limitations, among them:
Up-front investment required of an e-learning solution is larger due to development costs. Budgets and cash flows will need to be negotiated.
Technology issues that play a factor include whether the existing technology infrastructure can accomplish the training goals, whether additional tech expenditures can be justified, and whether compatibility of all software and hardware can be achieved.
Inappropriate content for e-learning may exist according to some experts, though are limited in number. Even the acquisition of skills that involve complex physical/motor or emotional components (for example, juggling or mediation) can be augmented with e-learning.
Cultural acceptance is an issue in organizations where student demographics and psychographics may predispose them against using computers at all, let alone for e-learning.
Disadvantages to the Learner
The ways in which e-learning may not excel over other training include:
Technology issues of the learners are most commonly technophobia and unavailability of required technologies.
Portability of training has become a strength of e-learning with the proliferation of network linking points, notebook computers, PDAs, and mobile phones, but still does not rival that of printed workbooks or reference material.
Reduced social and cultural interaction can be a drawback. The impersonality, suppression of communication mechanisms such as body language, and elimination of peer-to-peer learning that are part of this potential disadvantage are lessening with advances in communications technologies.
Do the Benefits Outweigh the Drawbacks?
The pro's and con's of e-learning vary depending on program goals, target audience and organizational infrastructure and culture. But it is unarguable that e-learning is rapidly growing as form of training delivery and most are finding that the clear benefits to e-learning will guarantee it a role in their overall learning strategy.
Courtesy: http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art1_3.htm
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
e-learning market size is $27 million or Rs 105 crore
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/investing-in-elearning-proves-to-be-lucrative/314400/0
Poor infrastructure in the country has proved to be a boon for companies offering e-learning courses and solutions. Although several companies, and some varsities have been offering web-based learning, plenty more are in the arena as it is proving to be lucrative.
Even thought the Internet penetration is 4% in India, still the e-learning market size is $27 million or Rs 105 crore. It is projected to grow to $280 million or Rs 1,092 crore by 2012, according to an education sector report by the reputed brokerage firm CLSA Asia Pacific markets.
Says Vijay K Thadani, co-founder and CEO, NIIT Ltd, “In 1983, when we started offering e-learning material, we were using own network to deliver the material—so it was largely computer-based training at the time.” Currently, NIIT services 5,00,000 students in 32 countries and 750 centres. It has a library of 3,500 courses ranging from vocational courses including computer languages, English language and soft skills to suit all pockets. Thadani mentions that in the US, the e-learning market size is currently $4 billion or Rs 15,600 crore. However, the Indian market, despite a 4% market penetration shows promise. The reason happens to be due to the size of the Indian population (100 crore)—the absolute Internet users are over 4 crore, which is bigger than the population of many developed countries.
Says Vivek Gupta, vice-president, business operations, finance & strategy, StudyPlaces.com, an e-learning firm, “In India, rise of even 0.1% gives an additional volume of 10 lakh because of sheer size of population.” Started last year, StudyPlaces.com is an education portal in India that wishes to serves as a comprehensive one-stop-shop for education search. StudyPlaces got venture capital funding worth $3 million (Rs 12 crore) from Sherpalo Ventures, KPCB and Info Edge each contributing $1 million in last November.
Says Gupta, “We also have some products like online test preparation where we intend to charge from students in future. Currently, all the services are free for students.” The market size of competitive exams preparation in India is currently $1.6 billion (Rs 6,200 crore), according to industry experts.
With CAT projected to go online from next year, much of this would move to computer-based or e-learning, it is felt. Computer-based learning still has a market size of $150 million (Rs 590 crore), which is expected to grow to $750 million (Rs 2,900 crore) by 2012, according to the CLSA Asia Pacific market report.
Says Shantanu Prakash, MD, Educomp Solutions Ltd, “Over the years, we has worked with over 7,000 schools across India, serves over 40 lakh students and trained close to 8 lakh teachers.” Educomp was established in 1994 and aimed to use technology to enhance teaching-learning process in the school sector. Today, the company has expanded its scope to service emerging areas like online, vocational and core education (K12 schools), pre-schools, offline tutorial centres and social-learning networks.
Meanwhile, the current e-learning global market size is over $20 billion (Rs 78,000 crore)—grown ten-fold since 2000). E-learning market is expected to surpass $52.6 billion (Rs 2,05,000 crore) by 2010. Online tutoring is a $4 billion (Rs 15,600 crore) industry and is growing at a rate of 10%-15% per annum.
Worldwide market for online tutoring is estimated to be in the region of $12 billion (Rs 46,800 crore). India now earns around $15 million (Rs 60 crore) per year from online tutoring—10% of the total market share. Aptech, for instance, has had long experience in preparing content computer-based training (CBT) and web-based training (WBT). Says Nilesh Vani, executive vice-president, Aptech Ltd, “We are offering corporate training in multiple formats through internet and computers. Our corporate customers buy a course from our library with a licence. If a company buys a course for a base price of Rs 2 lakh, it can use it to train 300 users. So it proves cost-effective.” The corporate training market worldwide is expected to be $25 billion (Rs 97,500 crore).
Rajiv Aurora, COO, Gurukul Online Learning Solutions (GOLS), has partnered with the Amity—India’s leading private business school. This tie-up offers eMBA courses. He says, “Our focus is now B2B and offering e-learning solutions for the corporate sector, especially tier-II cities.” Info Edge (India) Ltd, parent company of Naukri.com, for instance, recently launched Shiksha.com, an education portal. It aims to be the most comprehensive one-stop resource for information on education. The company plans to invest $5 million-$10 million in the portal over the next 3 years, while the publishing house MBD Group recently launched MBD Alchemie an e-learning and tutorial project in the country for school students.
Meanwhile, the founder and CEO of Tutorvista, K Ganesh says, “For e-learning, education is the single largest growth sector in India, owing to our large population and the potential for the use of technology in education and training. Technology penetration in education is less than 10% currently, which is very low compared to a place like Korea where it is 90%.” According to him, a 100% e-learning model would not work for India. “India’s Internet penetration levels are very low and computers are very expensive here. A hybrid model, and not a 100% e-learning model, would work better here,” Ganesh added.
In India, Tutorvista offers e-learning for school students through Edurite, and has set up 50 physical centres to offer technology-enabled training through a classroom model. “We plan to set up another 250 centres across India during the next year, and 80% of these would be in villages,” he says. Among its services, Edurite offers computers to schools, with e-learning content including multi-media, animation, quizzes and even virtual experiments. For Rs 1 lakh, an entire lab can be set up for a school in a village. Tutorvista runs online tuition services globally, involving 600 teachers across 30 Indian cities.
Tarang Software CEO, V Rama Kumar says, “The industry is largely fragmented, one will not find any substantially large players. The existing companies range in revenues between $2 million to $30 million.” Kumar feels that the industry has not yet taken off to its full potential in India, owing to the high cost of classrooms and lack of faculty. “The potential is huge for e-learning in companies, given that businesses are expanding, and that training is a huge focus across industries. Prevalent attrition is also a big factor contributing to the growth,” he said.
Tarang offers end-to-end services including learning management systems in the e-learning space, with focus on IT and BPO sectors in particular. The company also works with sectors like manufacturing, automobiles and banks.
Kumar says that for corporate, e-learning modules are priced on an hourly basis. “Depending on the quality of the module, the prices can vary between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. The quality is gauged by the kind of content that you offer. For instance, pricing would be higher if you have used graphics, animation, interactive medium and so on.”
Universities like Delhi University and Amity University, UP, feel an online focus is necessary. DU that recently launched lessons in 10 subjects including physics, maths and English, with an initial budget of Rs 1 crore hopes that it will be useful to students. Says Deepak Pental, vice-chancellor, DU, “The 2,40,000 students who pursue open-learning have very poor connectivity. However implementation will be uneven unless we develop top-class content material.”
However cost of courses pursued on line is reduced. Says Amity University, deputy director, centre for e-learning, “We have been pursuing web-based learning actively since 2006. If the average fee for a management course is Rs 4.5 lakh, it comes down to Rs 45,000 in an online module and is therefore popular and they can pay in instalments. About 1,000 students in India and abroad pursue our on-line courses.” E-learning, perhaps is the way ahead for a country that lacks basic infrastructure—where schools and colleges are concerned.
Poor infrastructure in the country has proved to be a boon for companies offering e-learning courses and solutions. Although several companies, and some varsities have been offering web-based learning, plenty more are in the arena as it is proving to be lucrative.
Even thought the Internet penetration is 4% in India, still the e-learning market size is $27 million or Rs 105 crore. It is projected to grow to $280 million or Rs 1,092 crore by 2012, according to an education sector report by the reputed brokerage firm CLSA Asia Pacific markets.
Says Vijay K Thadani, co-founder and CEO, NIIT Ltd, “In 1983, when we started offering e-learning material, we were using own network to deliver the material—so it was largely computer-based training at the time.” Currently, NIIT services 5,00,000 students in 32 countries and 750 centres. It has a library of 3,500 courses ranging from vocational courses including computer languages, English language and soft skills to suit all pockets. Thadani mentions that in the US, the e-learning market size is currently $4 billion or Rs 15,600 crore. However, the Indian market, despite a 4% market penetration shows promise. The reason happens to be due to the size of the Indian population (100 crore)—the absolute Internet users are over 4 crore, which is bigger than the population of many developed countries.
Says Vivek Gupta, vice-president, business operations, finance & strategy, StudyPlaces.com, an e-learning firm, “In India, rise of even 0.1% gives an additional volume of 10 lakh because of sheer size of population.” Started last year, StudyPlaces.com is an education portal in India that wishes to serves as a comprehensive one-stop-shop for education search. StudyPlaces got venture capital funding worth $3 million (Rs 12 crore) from Sherpalo Ventures, KPCB and Info Edge each contributing $1 million in last November.
Says Gupta, “We also have some products like online test preparation where we intend to charge from students in future. Currently, all the services are free for students.” The market size of competitive exams preparation in India is currently $1.6 billion (Rs 6,200 crore), according to industry experts.
With CAT projected to go online from next year, much of this would move to computer-based or e-learning, it is felt. Computer-based learning still has a market size of $150 million (Rs 590 crore), which is expected to grow to $750 million (Rs 2,900 crore) by 2012, according to the CLSA Asia Pacific market report.
Says Shantanu Prakash, MD, Educomp Solutions Ltd, “Over the years, we has worked with over 7,000 schools across India, serves over 40 lakh students and trained close to 8 lakh teachers.” Educomp was established in 1994 and aimed to use technology to enhance teaching-learning process in the school sector. Today, the company has expanded its scope to service emerging areas like online, vocational and core education (K12 schools), pre-schools, offline tutorial centres and social-learning networks.
Meanwhile, the current e-learning global market size is over $20 billion (Rs 78,000 crore)—grown ten-fold since 2000). E-learning market is expected to surpass $52.6 billion (Rs 2,05,000 crore) by 2010. Online tutoring is a $4 billion (Rs 15,600 crore) industry and is growing at a rate of 10%-15% per annum.
Worldwide market for online tutoring is estimated to be in the region of $12 billion (Rs 46,800 crore). India now earns around $15 million (Rs 60 crore) per year from online tutoring—10% of the total market share. Aptech, for instance, has had long experience in preparing content computer-based training (CBT) and web-based training (WBT). Says Nilesh Vani, executive vice-president, Aptech Ltd, “We are offering corporate training in multiple formats through internet and computers. Our corporate customers buy a course from our library with a licence. If a company buys a course for a base price of Rs 2 lakh, it can use it to train 300 users. So it proves cost-effective.” The corporate training market worldwide is expected to be $25 billion (Rs 97,500 crore).
Rajiv Aurora, COO, Gurukul Online Learning Solutions (GOLS), has partnered with the Amity—India’s leading private business school. This tie-up offers eMBA courses. He says, “Our focus is now B2B and offering e-learning solutions for the corporate sector, especially tier-II cities.” Info Edge (India) Ltd, parent company of Naukri.com, for instance, recently launched Shiksha.com, an education portal. It aims to be the most comprehensive one-stop resource for information on education. The company plans to invest $5 million-$10 million in the portal over the next 3 years, while the publishing house MBD Group recently launched MBD Alchemie an e-learning and tutorial project in the country for school students.
Meanwhile, the founder and CEO of Tutorvista, K Ganesh says, “For e-learning, education is the single largest growth sector in India, owing to our large population and the potential for the use of technology in education and training. Technology penetration in education is less than 10% currently, which is very low compared to a place like Korea where it is 90%.” According to him, a 100% e-learning model would not work for India. “India’s Internet penetration levels are very low and computers are very expensive here. A hybrid model, and not a 100% e-learning model, would work better here,” Ganesh added.
In India, Tutorvista offers e-learning for school students through Edurite, and has set up 50 physical centres to offer technology-enabled training through a classroom model. “We plan to set up another 250 centres across India during the next year, and 80% of these would be in villages,” he says. Among its services, Edurite offers computers to schools, with e-learning content including multi-media, animation, quizzes and even virtual experiments. For Rs 1 lakh, an entire lab can be set up for a school in a village. Tutorvista runs online tuition services globally, involving 600 teachers across 30 Indian cities.
Tarang Software CEO, V Rama Kumar says, “The industry is largely fragmented, one will not find any substantially large players. The existing companies range in revenues between $2 million to $30 million.” Kumar feels that the industry has not yet taken off to its full potential in India, owing to the high cost of classrooms and lack of faculty. “The potential is huge for e-learning in companies, given that businesses are expanding, and that training is a huge focus across industries. Prevalent attrition is also a big factor contributing to the growth,” he said.
Tarang offers end-to-end services including learning management systems in the e-learning space, with focus on IT and BPO sectors in particular. The company also works with sectors like manufacturing, automobiles and banks.
Kumar says that for corporate, e-learning modules are priced on an hourly basis. “Depending on the quality of the module, the prices can vary between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. The quality is gauged by the kind of content that you offer. For instance, pricing would be higher if you have used graphics, animation, interactive medium and so on.”
Universities like Delhi University and Amity University, UP, feel an online focus is necessary. DU that recently launched lessons in 10 subjects including physics, maths and English, with an initial budget of Rs 1 crore hopes that it will be useful to students. Says Deepak Pental, vice-chancellor, DU, “The 2,40,000 students who pursue open-learning have very poor connectivity. However implementation will be uneven unless we develop top-class content material.”
However cost of courses pursued on line is reduced. Says Amity University, deputy director, centre for e-learning, “We have been pursuing web-based learning actively since 2006. If the average fee for a management course is Rs 4.5 lakh, it comes down to Rs 45,000 in an online module and is therefore popular and they can pay in instalments. About 1,000 students in India and abroad pursue our on-line courses.” E-learning, perhaps is the way ahead for a country that lacks basic infrastructure—where schools and colleges are concerned.
Online Elearning -UAE
http://intouch.emeraldinsight.com/dissertation/page/elearning+in+the+middle+east
article on elearning:
[Restricted] Online Learning in the Arab World By Nidhal Guessoum, American University of Sharjah, UAE
Online learning in the US is prospering and becoming more entrenched each year. However, the situation is very different worldwide—particularly in the Arab world. Online education depends strongly on digital infrastructure, PC and Internet penetration, and connection costs, all of which vary hugely from one Arab country to another. The situation is most advantageous in the Arab Gulf and least favorable in countries like Sudan and Yemen. It is not surprising then to find various levels of progress in the implementation of the e-learning paradigm in the Arab region. Some Arab countries have made good starts in online learning while others remain at the concept stage.
Some reasons for this state of affairs are readily apparent. First, the region's population relies largely on Arabic as a learning language (especially at the primary and secondary levels), and Arabic has made limited inroads in the digital information landscape. Secondly, the educational system has not prepared students for an active, independent, lifelong-learning approach to education, a prime prerequisite for participating and succeeding in the online-learning world. Thirdly, although it is true that the digital infrastructure is well developed in some regions (the Arab Gulf, in particular), its actual penetration into homes and actual usage in workplaces and schools remain very limited.
Surveying the Educational SceneDespite the varying degrees of digital readiness in different parts of the Arab world, a quick survey of the educational scene in the region shows substantial interest in online learning and several attempts at starting programs in this new paradigm. The e-learning market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone is currently estimated at $14 million and is expected to increase to $56 million by 2008. In the Arab Gulf (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman, in decreasing order of edu-economic importance) total spending on e-learning was estimated at $72 million in 2004. This figure is well below the average in the much of the world, but it's growing at a 27 percent compound average rate. Online education spending in the Arab Gulf region will thus reach $240 million by the end of 2009, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE representing about 80 percent of the total. With its large student population, Saudi Arabia dominates in academic e-learning, while the UAE leads in business e-learning services.
E-learning now receives more attention in the Arab world than ever before. The League of Arab States issued a Draft Declaration of Principles in 2003 endorsing e-learning as a tool that can help eliminate illiteracy, achieve universal primary education, and help improve both the training of teachers and the delivery of lifelong education for honing professional skills. But that declaration remained largely abstract and did not spell out any concrete programs to help achieve those goals; most importantly, the League of Arab States ignored the issue of budgets and costs of implementing such programs. And one must note that e-learning is still being confused with distance education, with the latter often replacing the former, particularly when the infrastructure and dearth of content (again, particularly in Arabic) prevent the actual implementation of e-learning.
Recent efforts in the field of online education in the Arab world can be divided into the following categories: governmental efforts to create structures for complete programs; online programs of professional development and training for employees; and higher education efforts, both individual projects and collective exchange efforts.
Governmental EffortsForemost among governmental efforts is the Syrian Virtual University (SVU), which was created in 2002 by the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education. SVU aims to serve the entire Arab region and market; its strategy is to partner with foreign universities that have strong experience in online education so that programs can be offered fully online, in either English or French. The program is envisioned to consist initially of courses already created by the partner universities, but later to offer courses devised by SVU faculty exclusively. These new courses would take into account the specific needs of the targeted student populations: Arab, Armenian, Iranian, etc.
It is perhaps paradoxical that such an ambitious project would surface in Syria, where the Internet was only introduced in 2000, and which by 2004 was still ranked 12th among 18 Arab countries in Internet penetration, though it has been quickly improving (overtaking Egypt, for instance, in the past year). Because PC and Internet usage in Syria are limited, and even enrolled students lack easy access to online programs, SVU quickly established telecenters across the country that allow free-of-charge access while serving as "Certified Testing Centers" where students sit for their proctored examinations during the year. SVU's progress has been very slow: It has reported 702 students, including 331 in the preparatory year (representing 13 nationalities) in its enrollment figures. The preparatory year is intended to help students develop language proficiency (English or French, depending on the intended international partner), as well as computer and Internet skills.
A similarly ambitious project is the Arab American eUniversity System (AAeU), which plans to provide higher education at satellite campuses across the region (and beyond to Asia and the Americas) by first establishing online programs as academic and business services. Later, the plan stipulates, blended (hybrid) learning will be made possible when physical campuses are erected. No documentation could be found on the progress of this project so far.
Another governmental project, although of much more limited scale, is the e-TQM college (electronic Total Quality Management), which was launched in September 2002 in Dubai by the local government in the aim of providing world-class e-learning programs to the community, as well as to public and private sector employees. e-TQM aims to offer two-year course programs in the field of total quality management; at present, however the project is focusing on "Executive Development Programs." No assessment has been made of this program yet.
Corporate TrainingThe utilization of online programs for corporate training is also receiving substantial attention and interest in the Arab Gulf, especially in the UAE. Businesses have begun to realize the cost-efficient nature of e-learning programs, as well as the need for continuous training in this globalized, fast-evolving (and in this region, fast-growing) economic world. This is also true for professionals looking to upgrade their degrees and salary profiles. One must keep in mind that this particular region is largely populated by expatriates; indeed up to 90 percent of the Arab Gulf workforce is comprised of expatriates, who realize that they must keep their skills sharp and their profiles high for when they move to another region of the world (once their contracts expire in the region). Large-scale programs that target this market specifically have yet to appear in the region.
Higher EdUniversity efforts in implementing online education programs are also significant, even though one can discern no general trend or approach even within a given country. For instance, Sana's University in Yemen (one of the largest in the Arab world with 70,000 students and staff) has signed a deal with Microsoft to deploy the latter's Learning Gateway Solution e-learning platform, which includes course content as well as interaction and examination tools. It will constitute the largest such undertaking in the region. Another concrete sign of ebullient interest in online education in the Arab world is the fact that WebCT alone (until it became part of Blackboard) had more than 45 customers in the region.
Serious efforts have been made in recent years to train faculty for online education. The UNESCO Cairo office has been conducting training workshops for Arab faculty of the region mainly in collaboration with the University of Illinois Online Network (UION), one of the pioneering US institutions in online education. The latest such effort was the March 2006 Capacity Building Workshop for Teachers in ICT, which undertook hands-on training for 20 participants representing 12 Arab countries. The first EBEL (E-Business and E-Learning) International Conference, organized by the Princess Sumaya University for Technology (Jordan) in March 2005, was an event that clearly signaled the emergence of e-learning (and e-business) as a permanent archetype in the Arab world.
Online Learning in the UAEWith its state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, the UAE has set the stage for rapid advances in e-learning (not to mention e-business and e-government). Bi-annual "E-ducation Without Borders" conferences have been organized in the UAE since 2001; these global "by the students, for the students" conferences attract as many as 500 students from over 50 countries.
Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology have also held a series of semi-annual one-day workshops on e-learning over the past several years in the UAE, regularly drawing some 200 participants. The UAE's national University (UAEU), by far the largest university in the country, has also been making significant strides in the adoption and implementation of online learning. The number of active Blackboard users jumped from about 1200 in fall 2002 to about 4000 in spring 2003, and has steadily increased to about 8000 today.
In 2003, the American University of Sharjah (AUS) co-organized (with the UNESCO Cairo Office), a week-long hands-on interactive workshop on online teaching in which about 30 participants from Gulf universities were trained in creating, managing, and delivering online and Web-enhanced courses. Since then, dozens of AUS instructors have added online components to their courses, now making the hybrid (blended online and in-class) format of teaching the dominant paradigm across the university. In fall 2005, the university established "ilearn," a unified platform for online learning, where all university courses automatically receive space for pedagogical interaction.
The Big PictureThe only known study of faculty attitudes and experiences with online teaching in the Arab world was conducted by Abouchedid and Eid in 2004. The findings showed a general acceptance and disposition toward online learning as a tool, but two major concerns surfaced immediately: distrust of online examination schemes, and the likening of large-scale online learning to a "mass-production assembly line process, where a division of labor between educators and communications specialists replaces the more craft-oriented approach of face-to-face education." Critics also question the efficiency and effectiveness of online tools. And faculty often find themselves forced to handle large portions of online teaching operations, without proper support and assistance from technical and pedagogical specialists.
I personally have observed students who are completely transformed from passive to very active participants by the advantages of the online world, especially in places where students are brought up to accept whatever their wise and all-knowing teachers transmit to them. But ventures in online education ventures do not succeed easily, especially at the larger scales. It will be very interesting to observe and follow the development of e-learning projects in the Arab world in the years to come, particularly such ventures as the Arab American eUniversity System and the hybrid versus fully online schemes now underway at various Arab universities.
Acknowledgments Thanks to UmmeSalma Mujtaba for providing a copy of the paper she presented at the Online Educa Berlin 2005 international conference last November "The Future of E-Learning in the Arab World" and to Walid Abdel-Hakim El Din for useful information on the volume of online teaching activity at AUS and at UAE University.
article on elearning:
[Restricted] Online Learning in the Arab World By Nidhal Guessoum, American University of Sharjah, UAE
Online learning in the US is prospering and becoming more entrenched each year. However, the situation is very different worldwide—particularly in the Arab world. Online education depends strongly on digital infrastructure, PC and Internet penetration, and connection costs, all of which vary hugely from one Arab country to another. The situation is most advantageous in the Arab Gulf and least favorable in countries like Sudan and Yemen. It is not surprising then to find various levels of progress in the implementation of the e-learning paradigm in the Arab region. Some Arab countries have made good starts in online learning while others remain at the concept stage.
Some reasons for this state of affairs are readily apparent. First, the region's population relies largely on Arabic as a learning language (especially at the primary and secondary levels), and Arabic has made limited inroads in the digital information landscape. Secondly, the educational system has not prepared students for an active, independent, lifelong-learning approach to education, a prime prerequisite for participating and succeeding in the online-learning world. Thirdly, although it is true that the digital infrastructure is well developed in some regions (the Arab Gulf, in particular), its actual penetration into homes and actual usage in workplaces and schools remain very limited.
Surveying the Educational SceneDespite the varying degrees of digital readiness in different parts of the Arab world, a quick survey of the educational scene in the region shows substantial interest in online learning and several attempts at starting programs in this new paradigm. The e-learning market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone is currently estimated at $14 million and is expected to increase to $56 million by 2008. In the Arab Gulf (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman, in decreasing order of edu-economic importance) total spending on e-learning was estimated at $72 million in 2004. This figure is well below the average in the much of the world, but it's growing at a 27 percent compound average rate. Online education spending in the Arab Gulf region will thus reach $240 million by the end of 2009, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE representing about 80 percent of the total. With its large student population, Saudi Arabia dominates in academic e-learning, while the UAE leads in business e-learning services.
E-learning now receives more attention in the Arab world than ever before. The League of Arab States issued a Draft Declaration of Principles in 2003 endorsing e-learning as a tool that can help eliminate illiteracy, achieve universal primary education, and help improve both the training of teachers and the delivery of lifelong education for honing professional skills. But that declaration remained largely abstract and did not spell out any concrete programs to help achieve those goals; most importantly, the League of Arab States ignored the issue of budgets and costs of implementing such programs. And one must note that e-learning is still being confused with distance education, with the latter often replacing the former, particularly when the infrastructure and dearth of content (again, particularly in Arabic) prevent the actual implementation of e-learning.
Recent efforts in the field of online education in the Arab world can be divided into the following categories: governmental efforts to create structures for complete programs; online programs of professional development and training for employees; and higher education efforts, both individual projects and collective exchange efforts.
Governmental EffortsForemost among governmental efforts is the Syrian Virtual University (SVU), which was created in 2002 by the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education. SVU aims to serve the entire Arab region and market; its strategy is to partner with foreign universities that have strong experience in online education so that programs can be offered fully online, in either English or French. The program is envisioned to consist initially of courses already created by the partner universities, but later to offer courses devised by SVU faculty exclusively. These new courses would take into account the specific needs of the targeted student populations: Arab, Armenian, Iranian, etc.
It is perhaps paradoxical that such an ambitious project would surface in Syria, where the Internet was only introduced in 2000, and which by 2004 was still ranked 12th among 18 Arab countries in Internet penetration, though it has been quickly improving (overtaking Egypt, for instance, in the past year). Because PC and Internet usage in Syria are limited, and even enrolled students lack easy access to online programs, SVU quickly established telecenters across the country that allow free-of-charge access while serving as "Certified Testing Centers" where students sit for their proctored examinations during the year. SVU's progress has been very slow: It has reported 702 students, including 331 in the preparatory year (representing 13 nationalities) in its enrollment figures. The preparatory year is intended to help students develop language proficiency (English or French, depending on the intended international partner), as well as computer and Internet skills.
A similarly ambitious project is the Arab American eUniversity System (AAeU), which plans to provide higher education at satellite campuses across the region (and beyond to Asia and the Americas) by first establishing online programs as academic and business services. Later, the plan stipulates, blended (hybrid) learning will be made possible when physical campuses are erected. No documentation could be found on the progress of this project so far.
Another governmental project, although of much more limited scale, is the e-TQM college (electronic Total Quality Management), which was launched in September 2002 in Dubai by the local government in the aim of providing world-class e-learning programs to the community, as well as to public and private sector employees. e-TQM aims to offer two-year course programs in the field of total quality management; at present, however the project is focusing on "Executive Development Programs." No assessment has been made of this program yet.
Corporate TrainingThe utilization of online programs for corporate training is also receiving substantial attention and interest in the Arab Gulf, especially in the UAE. Businesses have begun to realize the cost-efficient nature of e-learning programs, as well as the need for continuous training in this globalized, fast-evolving (and in this region, fast-growing) economic world. This is also true for professionals looking to upgrade their degrees and salary profiles. One must keep in mind that this particular region is largely populated by expatriates; indeed up to 90 percent of the Arab Gulf workforce is comprised of expatriates, who realize that they must keep their skills sharp and their profiles high for when they move to another region of the world (once their contracts expire in the region). Large-scale programs that target this market specifically have yet to appear in the region.
Higher EdUniversity efforts in implementing online education programs are also significant, even though one can discern no general trend or approach even within a given country. For instance, Sana's University in Yemen (one of the largest in the Arab world with 70,000 students and staff) has signed a deal with Microsoft to deploy the latter's Learning Gateway Solution e-learning platform, which includes course content as well as interaction and examination tools. It will constitute the largest such undertaking in the region. Another concrete sign of ebullient interest in online education in the Arab world is the fact that WebCT alone (until it became part of Blackboard) had more than 45 customers in the region.
Serious efforts have been made in recent years to train faculty for online education. The UNESCO Cairo office has been conducting training workshops for Arab faculty of the region mainly in collaboration with the University of Illinois Online Network (UION), one of the pioneering US institutions in online education. The latest such effort was the March 2006 Capacity Building Workshop for Teachers in ICT, which undertook hands-on training for 20 participants representing 12 Arab countries. The first EBEL (E-Business and E-Learning) International Conference, organized by the Princess Sumaya University for Technology (Jordan) in March 2005, was an event that clearly signaled the emergence of e-learning (and e-business) as a permanent archetype in the Arab world.
Online Learning in the UAEWith its state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, the UAE has set the stage for rapid advances in e-learning (not to mention e-business and e-government). Bi-annual "E-ducation Without Borders" conferences have been organized in the UAE since 2001; these global "by the students, for the students" conferences attract as many as 500 students from over 50 countries.
Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology have also held a series of semi-annual one-day workshops on e-learning over the past several years in the UAE, regularly drawing some 200 participants. The UAE's national University (UAEU), by far the largest university in the country, has also been making significant strides in the adoption and implementation of online learning. The number of active Blackboard users jumped from about 1200 in fall 2002 to about 4000 in spring 2003, and has steadily increased to about 8000 today.
In 2003, the American University of Sharjah (AUS) co-organized (with the UNESCO Cairo Office), a week-long hands-on interactive workshop on online teaching in which about 30 participants from Gulf universities were trained in creating, managing, and delivering online and Web-enhanced courses. Since then, dozens of AUS instructors have added online components to their courses, now making the hybrid (blended online and in-class) format of teaching the dominant paradigm across the university. In fall 2005, the university established "ilearn," a unified platform for online learning, where all university courses automatically receive space for pedagogical interaction.
The Big PictureThe only known study of faculty attitudes and experiences with online teaching in the Arab world was conducted by Abouchedid and Eid in 2004. The findings showed a general acceptance and disposition toward online learning as a tool, but two major concerns surfaced immediately: distrust of online examination schemes, and the likening of large-scale online learning to a "mass-production assembly line process, where a division of labor between educators and communications specialists replaces the more craft-oriented approach of face-to-face education." Critics also question the efficiency and effectiveness of online tools. And faculty often find themselves forced to handle large portions of online teaching operations, without proper support and assistance from technical and pedagogical specialists.
I personally have observed students who are completely transformed from passive to very active participants by the advantages of the online world, especially in places where students are brought up to accept whatever their wise and all-knowing teachers transmit to them. But ventures in online education ventures do not succeed easily, especially at the larger scales. It will be very interesting to observe and follow the development of e-learning projects in the Arab world in the years to come, particularly such ventures as the Arab American eUniversity System and the hybrid versus fully online schemes now underway at various Arab universities.
Acknowledgments Thanks to UmmeSalma Mujtaba for providing a copy of the paper she presented at the Online Educa Berlin 2005 international conference last November "The Future of E-Learning in the Arab World" and to Walid Abdel-Hakim El Din for useful information on the volume of online teaching activity at AUS and at UAE University.
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