Singapore had her first taste of eLearning back in 2003, during the SARS outbreak, where all students were all quarantined at home for a week. Subsequently, schools started implementing eLearning weeks to prepare students in the case of future emergencies, epidemics or...zombie apocalypses.
The "e" in "eLearning" doesn't stand for emergency, even though it was what seemed like eLearning started out as. Our generation is fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to grow academically with the aid of computers. Whether it is looking for information online or completing assignments, the Internet has been and will continue being a great help. Having said this, eLearning allows us to make use of the vast amount of information available on the Internet to help us with our assignments.
Educators have always put an emphasis on "understanding" and "applying". Since eLearning requires us to use the Internet, it forces us to open new tabs with the simple click of a button and do our research on the given topic. We can then understand the topic by reading the various perspectives that different studies have on it and apply it to our eLearning assignment. This is more useful than flipping the pages of a textbook, which results in students having the same answers. With textbooks, students also tend to apply less and "lift" more, overlooking the importance of "understanding" and "applying".
I attend Human Nutrition (NTR108) classes once a week, which seems insufficient should students want to clarify anything that they have learnt in a previous lesson (the previous week). When classes are held twice to thrice a week, it makes it easier because the content is still relevant the next lesson which is within the week. Because it makes it difficult for us to communicate face-to-face, my NTR108 instructor has started a discussion board where students are free to post or reply to any questions.
Educators have always put an emphasis on "understanding" and "applying". Since eLearning requires us to use the Internet, it forces us to open new tabs with the simple click of a button and do our research on the given topic. We can then understand the topic by reading the various perspectives that different studies have on it and apply it to our eLearning assignment. This is more useful than flipping the pages of a textbook, which results in students having the same answers. With textbooks, students also tend to apply less and "lift" more, overlooking the importance of "understanding" and "applying".
I attend Human Nutrition (NTR108) classes once a week, which seems insufficient should students want to clarify anything that they have learnt in a previous lesson (the previous week). When classes are held twice to thrice a week, it makes it easier because the content is still relevant the next lesson which is within the week. Because it makes it difficult for us to communicate face-to-face, my NTR108 instructor has started a discussion board where students are free to post or reply to any questions.
There are also folders where we can access videos and additional readings for better understanding. This also makes it easier in the case where she has to go for trainings and won't be able to make it for class. Even though this eLearning platform is not compulsory for all students to take part in, it certainly comes in handy when we are doing our revision (which I am going to start on after this post ends).
The future of eLearning shows that the online classroom will be an interactive one, like that of Second Life Education. There are both audio and visuals (in the form of avatars) to enable students and teachers to interact with each other. Students will be less apprehensive about asking or answering questions because they cannot be judged from behind the computer screen. However, this also means that teachers are not able to pick up on the students' non-verbal cues online, causing them to miss out on their uncertainty or doubts that require clarification. Teachers are also unable to keep track of the students' presence – he could be watching TV while in the virtual classroom and his absence would still go unnoticed! Although teachers have found the solution for that (eg: making students answer questions periodically), the system will be more efficient if the teachers and students get to see each other via webcam. I believe that such virtual classrooms are the future of eLearning.
Here's a video on the benefits of eLearning, chock full of little known facts that might intrigue you. So much time, effort and money is put into teaching in a physical classroom and we don't even realise it!
*the aforementioned situations are descriptive of students from Primary school all the way to University, with the emphasis placed on Primary and Secondary school students, who rarely use the Internet for research purposes.
Here's a video on the benefits of eLearning, chock full of little known facts that might intrigue you. So much time, effort and money is put into teaching in a physical classroom and we don't even realise it!
*the aforementioned situations are descriptive of students from Primary school all the way to University, with the emphasis placed on Primary and Secondary school students, who rarely use the Internet for research purposes.
