 | Issue: | Asia-Pacific II 2003 |
| Article no.: | 12 | |
| Topic: | Opportunities and Challenges of E-learning | |
| Author: | A K Pathak | |
| Title: | President | |
| Organisation: | Computer Society of India, CSI | |
| PDF size: | 200KB |
About author
A K Pathak is the National President of the Computer Society of India, or CSI. Mr Pathak previously held a number of positions in CSI – Chapter Chairman, Regional Vice-president and President – where he has promoted India’s IT Industry, IT Export, developed IT Strategy and planning for the government of India and Maharashtra State and planned IT applications to improve the quality of life. Before CSI, Mr Pathak served as CIO for Cummins India Ltd where he had a long and varied executive career. Mr Pathak has a history of being among the very first to introduce a variety of leading edge ITC technologies in India for public and private applications. Mr Pathak has been extensively involved in training and educational programmes throughout his career, training and developing IT Professionals and developing training programmes. He helped Pune University develop their BCS, MCS, MCM, BE Computer Engineering and IT curriculum and has been an advisor to Symboisis, Indsearch, MIT and IMCC. He is currently a Professor and Head of Computer Engineering and IT at MIT, Pune. Mr Pathak is a first class post-graduate in Mechanical Engineering from University of Pune. He has written many articles and papers for national and international magazines and authored a book in Marathi – ‘Apanhi Prabhavshali Vha!’.
Article abstract
Technology can help educate the world. With the Internet, it no longer makes a difference where teachers or students are located. E-learning can cost-effectively deliver the knowledge and skills of the world’s finest teachers to students anywhere in the world. E-learning programmes require multimedia, interactive course materials developed for the net, broadband availability and academic administrative systems designed to function online. E-learning will be invaluable in vast, populous countries like India where providing an education is a gargantuan challenge.
Full Article
Re-engineering of Education There is a need to re-engineer education in the light of changing trends, technologies and circumstances. The Internet is decisively and irreversibly changing the world in the areas of business, education, entertainment and communication. The traditional educational model is based on a ‘teacher-centred’ education, in a classroom with a limited number of students. Knowledge transfer takes place through lectures, dialogue, practical exercises and lab work. Books are used to transfer knowledge to the reader. There are structured courses that lead to degrees from universities after passing the examinations. These courses call for factual thinking in an isolated manner. Young graduates normally have to spend time as trainees in their first jobs. Future models of education will be based on student-centred learning. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of students undergoing higher education. There is also an emerging need for constant, life long knowledge upgrades to deal with rapidly changing job and skill requirements. New information technology, such as multimedia, simulation and communications, calls for a collaborative work environment, inquiry-based learning and proactive problem solving, decision making. The re-engineering of education and e-learning is needed to cater to these needs. Teaching Learning Process Today’s methodologies for teaching and classroom management will need major changes to cope with the Internet era. In the digital world, e-learning – offering courses over the Web – has emerged as one of the fastest moving trends in higher education. E-learning is a form of distance education using electronic media to connect teachers and learners wherever they may be throughout the world. Information is transmitted as voice, videos, CDs, printouts, pictures, animation and texts using multimedia. It gives students great flexibility since they can learn anytime, anywhere and at whatever pace is convenient. E-learning gives students access to the latest technical ‘know how’. It is a cost effective, efficient and faster way of delivering course material to the masses. New techniques in information and communication technologies make possible constant improvements in the worldwide exchange of information and learning. In recent years, learning theory has gone through a paradigm shift. Today, learners are considered to be active participants in the process of building their own intellectual structures. Knowledge acquisition and the application of knowledge to practical problem solving are fundamental features of effective learning. The availability of electronic media to store and access knowledge makes memorising less important, but learning still calls for training and the ability to understand reality and appropriately abstract the meaning. E-learning There are four major e-learning models: computer-based learning web-based learning virtual classrooms digital libraries. Computer-based Learning Content for computer-based learning must be carefully designed and each page designed to engage the student’s interest. Well organised material – an introduction, an exposition and, at the end, questions for the student to test his/her own understanding are the minimum requirements. E-learning programmes can enrich the learning experience by taking advantage of the computer’s multimedia capabilities, the extensive use of pictures, graphs, sound and live interaction. Contact between faculty and student, though, is still a must. Interactive sessions allow teachers to individually guide students, help them deal with difficulties and engage them – deepen their interest – beyond the prescribed syllabus. Web-based Learning Web-based learning is a popular trend in e-learning. Students need only have a PC and a broadband Internet connection to participate. Education using the Web is highly efficient and the technology can be expected to have an increasing impact upon educational systems throughout the world. The latest technology, such as interactive video conferencing and computer-mediated communication, are used to provide a high degree of interactivity. Using the Web, it makes no difference where either the teachers or the students are located. The world’s finest professors can teach students in the world’s remotest backwaters as easily as they can at the world’s finest university – the courseware is the same and the interaction might even be greater. Online technology provides the means to evaluate, examine and certify student performance; diplomas can be issued online. Virtual Classrooms In India, leading educational institutions have been developing and experimenting with the curriculum for use in virtual classrooms. To some extent, the experiments have been successful, but since virtual classrooms require an expensive infrastructure and broadband communications for videoconferencing, in the near future it will only be practical in a limited number of locations. Nevertheless, with time, this will become a very effective e-learning tool, providing high quality interactive learning to groups of students – wherever they may be. Digital Libraries Digital Libraries are proving to be a cost-effective way to preserve and distribute information. They give students and teachers universal access to information from the widest possible variety of sources through a single, multifunctional, workstation. Digital libraries enable users, anywhere in the world to manage tremendous amounts of information, conduct research, distribute and retrieve relevant information – in any format – within a fraction of second. What is Needed for E-learning? We need not wait until better technology arrives. Developing quality course content is a critical and time intensive exercise, but simple technologies such as MS Word, Power Point, Excel and 3D studio for animation – all readily available – are sufficient. Sound can be added with a microphone, speakers and a sound card. To add pictures no more is needed than a scanner, video clips and an AGP (accelerated graphics port) card. Software packages can be developed for ‘question banks’ and evaluation. Using these resources, one can develop lessons and host them on the Web. Lessons can be exchanged between institutes to obtain the best courseware. Courseware is especially welcome in rural areas where there are few, if any, expert teachers and many students cannot attend the available classes. Courseware is also an opportunity for the best teachers to create top-notch courses and earn well doing so. It would not be a surprise if, in the not so distant future, a course becomes a global best seller and makes its creator a millionaire. Literacy through IT E-learning can be a very effective way to promote mass literacy in countries such as India. A cost-effective, rapid way to spread literacy would bring untold benefits to the country’s masses. This is especially challenging in India where, in different regions more than 22 languages are spoken. Good teachers are in short supply; at times, there are no teachers willing – or available – to work in remote villages. To deal with such cases, India is experimenting with computer-based systems using multimedia techniques to accelerate public education. Challenges and Issues The successful implementation of e-learning will depend upon the availability of the appropriate infrastructure, special software, content and broadband Internet access. Equally important is the need for a change in the mindsets of both students and teachers regarding the new educational system. Traditional learning systems provided the opportunity to learn from peers; e-learning replaces this experience with a series of new technologies. Distance education requires new ways of dealing online with such common administrative issues as: accreditation student services tuition Fees transfer of Course Credit. A system to accredit e-learning institutions will be needed in order to guarantee quality and to provide trustworthy references for e-students entering the job market. Learning packages will have to provide, among others, a series of services for both schools and students including note taking, school calendar maintenance, attendance register, course schedules, tuition and fee payment and control, administrative forms, discussion group facilities and display boards. E-learning programmes will have to have competitive fee structures and possibly subsidies, so that poorer students can afford them. Many institutions, no doubt, will have to be not-for-profit ventures. Systems will also have to be devised to flexibly administer the transfer of credit between courses, institutions and universities. Conclusion Instructional practices are often outdated, do not employ the best methodology and tools now available and are often not suited to today’s needs. Teachers need training regarding the ways to best use Web technology. The national curriculum needs to be developed for each discipline and updated at regular intervals. Progress can also be facilitated by extensive networking and faculty exchanges among educational institutions, the sharing of resources through the Web and the shared development of short-term training programmes, such as those for continuing education. Projects should be designed to maximise student thinking and learning skills. Encouraging the students’ passion for learning, encouraging the use of knowledge for personal development and the good of society should be the educators’ primary goals. Success in a knowledge-based society depends upon the capacity and desire to make learning a lifelong quest. Consequently, the educational environment has to focus not only on core knowledge, skills, problem solving and creative thinking, but on how to make learning an enjoyable, lifelong process. The Internet revolution calls for the total revamping of curriculum content, teaching and learning methodologies and evaluation processes. Convention educational methodology is not yet up to the challenges it is facing. Hence, the re-engineering of education is of supreme importance. This re-engineering will also have to concern itself with developing an effective means to share organisational visions; an organisation’s ability to translate knowledge into action is its ultimate competitive advantage.
