E-Learning Concepts and Techniques

Chapter 3 – E-Learners

3.1 E-Learners

Ann Kieser, Kathy Kollar and Julie Schmidt

An Introduction to E-Learners

According to Iowa State University (2001), e-learning can be defined as web-delivered and/or web-supported teaching and learning using computer, multimedia, and internet technologies. Therefore, e-learners are those students that participate in the e-learning process.

You might be asking yourself, yes, but how prominent is e-learning and how many e-learners are actually out there? The answer is probably more than you think. Some statistical studies have shown that the amount of e-learners drastically increases with each and every school year. For instance: according to a 2000-2001 school year study, 56% of two and four year colleges offered distance education courses. An addition, 12% of those colleges not included planned on starting to offer these e-learning courses within the near future. (Educational technology fact sheet) Keep in mind that this study occurred in the year 2000, which is over six years ago.

E-learners do not just encompass college enrolled students. An astonishing one third of public school districts offered some form of distance education for their students. These school districts include e-learners of the elementary and secondary level. (Educational technology fact sheet)

As you will see throughout this chapter, e-learners exhibit a variety of characteristics and styles. Topics discussed will include gender, age, and location of e-learners. Other areas include characteristics with even a section dedicated solely to, Is e-learning right for you? Also mentioned is netiquette, a commonly ignored, though very important piece regarding successful e-learners.

E-learning is a unique and relatively new concept as far as learning is concerned. Though important, without e-learners, e-learning would not be able to flourish. So much is dependant on e-learners for making this new form of distance learning a success.

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Netiquette

E-learners are faced with many academic challenges, including the act of being highly self-motivated and self-disciplined. E-learners must also demonstrate an ability to be comfortable with participation, open-mindedness, and communication. Netiquette or universally known as internet etiquette is an often overlooked, though extremely important aspect in becoming a successful e-learner.

Netiquette is commonly practiced within group situations, or more specifically during class or small group meeting times. It is the etiquette of the Internet, or what may be a certain practice or tolerable behavior when participating in online situations. Though many have their own idea of etiquette, there are common guidelines that will make your e-learning experience more successful and rewarding for both yourself, and all participants.

Iowa State University states that following these specific netiquette guidelines will aid in your success as an e-learner. (Netiquette for eLearners)

As with any other situation, one must remember the golden rule, or treat others the way you would like to be treated. This can be put in simpler terms; in fact one word may suffice; that word is RESPECT. E-learners must be aware that there will be some, if not many, situations during discussions where they may disagree with what is said or posted. Of course one may not always agree or even pretend to agree, but e-learners must be particularly careful when offering constructive criticism. People can often misconstrue comments or ideas posted if not face to face as in traditional learning situations. For example, an e-learner may make a comment and the respective learners may think nothing of it. However, if that e-learner makes the same comment, but this time uses all capital letters, the comment may be perceived with a totally different tone; usually negative.

As with typing in all capital letters, e-learners must also be careful with inserting humor in online situations. Because of the lack of visual and sometimes audio cues, the intended humor may be interpreted as sarcasm which could result in others becoming guarded or offended. In order to control this foreseeable problem, an e-learner may insert hand-typed icons called emoticons. Some emoticons are as follows:

These emoticons aid in the conveying of various emotions, and can offer some insight into how the e-learner is feeling or what they might want to convey in their post.

E-learners have an extremely wide range of computer and internet accessibility. Some e-learners may be sitting in an actual lab designated for distance learning while others may be participating from their residence in a less controlled environment. With different environments comes a variety of bandwidths. Labs are commonly equipped with the latest technology and internet capabilities, while personal computers may not. This can definitely make a difference when in a group discussion environment. Obviously an e-learner that has a dial up connection will find it very difficult with competing or keeping up with one that has high speed. Keeping this in mind, e-learners must remember to be forgiving or patient in these various group situations. It is also wise to remember to try to keep files at a minimum size.

E-learners are virtually all here for one reason; and that reason is to learn. In order to sustain a smooth e-learning environment with the utmost opportunities for learning, one must exhibit qualities of actual learners. For instance, e-learners should only post relevant information regarding the situation. Though collogues may develop into friends, this distance learning environment's primary focus is education related. E-learners must represent themselves well and may accomplish this through being brief, precise, and clear. As if the e-learning process wasn't difficult enough, a long-winded, broad, fuzzy learner will not fit the type. One must not forget to be quick with posts and words, and never monopolize that chat. In any learning situation, time is valuable and under no circumstances would anyone benefit from an opinionated learner taking over the discussion.

The e-learning process involves a great deal of communication and group work in order to be successful. With any learner, being prepared is a priority. However, with e-learning, it is extremely important. As if communicating with peers via technology solely isn't hard enough, one who is unprepared for group situations makes the process virtually impossible. The same is true for individual aspects. If an e-learner is consistently unprepared with assignments and such, the chances of them succeeding will decrease dramatically. Netiquette will aid in dispersing common e-learner difficulties. If following these guidelines and putting forth your best effort, the success of e-learning can be in your reach.

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E-Learning Market

E-learning is being used across different markets to educate individuals. E-learning courses have been developed and implemented in the PreK-12 market, post-secondary education market, government and corporate market. Each of these different markets has different goals and objectives for the use of e-learning. However, a common thread tying these markets together is that e-learning continues to grow and is becoming integrated into the education and training curriculum.

Pre K - 12 Market

One of the "newest" markets in e-learning is the pre K-12 market. While educators continue to debate the benefits and success of e-learning for this age group, growth continues, causing states and public schools to align policies and standards for e-learning.

Students in grades K-12 select e-learning for various reasons. Among the common reasons are being able to take a class not available at their school, retake a failed course, advance at their own level, and take additional classes to graduate early. In addition, states and school districts continue to add e-learning opportunities for students categorized as being at risk, either academically or behaviorally.

Finding exact data on the number of students receiving online instruction is difficult due to the lack of study in this area and the classification of distance education by the state and school district. The important factor is that this market is growing and it is estimated to keep growing.

According to the research published on the website of the US Department of Education Office of Educational Technology:

Post-Secondary Market

Like the pre K-12 market, the post-secondary market is continuing to see growth in the e-learning market. International Data Corporation predicts that the current increase of 33 percent per year in online enrollments will continue into the future (Embrey, 2005). A 2003 survey of 990 educational institutions by the Sloan Consortium revealed that only 18.7% of all institutions and 2.4% of public institutions did not offer some sort of online or blended web-based learning. (Measuring the success in e-learning: The academic perspective) Online course and programs are merging into the mainstream offerings of many educational institutions.

In a publication titled Growing by Degrees, Online education in the United States, 2005 by I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman reported that the number of students enrolled in online classes grew to 2.35 million students in 2004. (p. 3) Additional data from the study revealed that:

While online education is growing among course offerings, the age of the student enrolling in these online programs are older than the traditional college student. According to data from the University of Phoenix online, the average age of an e-learning student is 38. While the traditional college student is still attending face-to-face class, e-learning is growing with the older, non-traditional student who is returning to school to either acquire new skills or as part of life-long learning.

Corporate Market

Businesses in the US are addressing the need of training their employees by developing e-learning programs. Faced with an aging workforce, companies are beginning to prepare to educate their new employees. In fact, it is estimated that corporate America will have to retrain 50 million workers. Companies are taking advantage of the flexibility, cost savings and effectiveness of e-learning to efficiently train employees.

The respondents in E-Learning Trends 2004 study by Learning Circuits (Ellis, 2004) detailed how organizations are using e-learning to train and educate their workforce. The highest ranking courses being delivered via e-learning are: End-user/desktop training, 38.4%; General business skills, 35.7%; task-specific skills, 30.4% and Customer service training, 30.4%.

The format of e-learning is changing in the corporate market. Courses are moving from being delivered in an asynchronous format to a synchronous format. Responses to a 2006 survey by Learning Circuits in conjunction with E-Learning News found that 97% of the respondents had participated in a synchronous e-learning and that 86% expect to participate in synchronous e-learning within the next 6 months.

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Location of E-Learners

The premise of e-learning is that the e-learner can be located anywhere geographically. However, the accessibility barrier plays a significant role in the location of the e-learner.

Global Accessibility

In order for people participate in the e-learning environment, they must have access to the necessary technology. E-learners in countries with developed internet backbones are able to participate and take advantage of e-learning. Countries without a reliable network system, either through telephone or broadband, are not able to participate in e-learning. The lack of a solid internet infrastructure is of great concern for the underdeveloped, and often poorer, nations. These nations worry that their countries economy will be left even further behind due to their lack of accessibility in the e-learning market.

Rural vs. Urban/Suburban Communities in the United States

It is interesting to note that while those living in rural areas in the US lag behind in terms of broadband access, rural internet users were more likely to take a class online for credit as compared to those in an Urban or Suburban setting. Online learners in the rural setting are taking advantage of the Internet as a bridge to eliminate the distance between the learner and institution. (Burns)

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Characteristics of Successful E-Learners

When e-learning was developed, advocates were quick to state that e-learning was for everyone! However, as e-learning has evolved and developed, it is becoming evident those who achieve success in the e-learning environment possess some similar characteristics.

In a survey of the Department of Instructional Technology's E-Learning Concepts and Techniques Spring 2006 online class, participants were asked to respond to what factors and/or skills contribute to being a successful student in an e-learning class? The responses included:

  1. Self-discipline
  2. Patience
  3. Self-motivation
  4. Communication
  5. Asking questions
  6. Knowledge of how e-learning works
  7. Familiarity with the software
  8. Time management
  9. Ability to work independently
  10. Ability to communicate with groups via distance
  11. Active participation in the class
  12. Being able to compromise and communicate effectively
  13. Ability to multitask

When asked which one of the factors and/or skills was the most important 39% responded that self-motivation was the most important, followed by communication at 23%.

Additional studies have found that those who are successful in the e-learning environment also tend to be comfortable with computers, can use the Internet to find information, learn through reading, see the teacher in the role of facilitator and are independent learners.

There are many short surveys available online to help a person decided if he or she is ready for an online class. One such survey can be found at eLearners.com. This survey questions a potential e-learner in regards to Technology Access; Personal Factors such as personality, time, scheduling, meeting deadlines, personal goals; Technical Skill; and Learning Style.

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Is E-Learning For You?

People all over the nation and even the world are increasingly turning to e-learning to provide their professional development and training needs. But how do you know if e-learning is right for you? The most frequently cited resource tool to determine e-learning readiness is the survey found at the eLearners.com website. Potential e-learners are asked about access to technology; personal factors such as personality, time, scheduling, meeting deadlines, personal goals; their own technical skills; and learning style.

Bagnato (2006) discusses e-learning benefits from the corporate perspective, highlighting global companies that have successfully integrated e-learning into their training curriculum. Variables that corporations need to consider include balancing scheduling issues across time zones, understanding the time and fiscal commitment of e-learning's implementation, determining which format to employ (asynchronous, synchronous, or blended approach), and which system to use. Bagnato (2006) quotes Denise Link, ... On its own or blended with other training methods, such as classroom sessions or periodic seminars, e-learning has the power to: increase product knowledge, simplify compliance training, build technical skills, sharpen soft skills, foster company culture, communicate complex messages, and all the while, save us time and money! Koskela et al (2005) found that the higher education environment is also suitable for virtual learning. Highlights for students include the ability to control their own pace of learning, the flexibility to move back and forth amongst learning modules without others knowing they had to review or having to wait for others to complete a section, and the fact that VLEs [virtual learning environments] can be used to standardize the teaching of a large number of students in their early step of studies.

A number of different factors help individuals, corporations and educational institutions determine whether e-learning is the right tool for their training needs.

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Questions for Reflection

  1. Name five characteristics of successful e-learners.
  2. List three skills that successful e-learners possess.
  3. Netiquette recommends that e-learners "treat others as you'd want to be treated". Share three common netiquette errors and explain why they are disruptive to learning online.
  4. In which market is e-learning the most prevalent? Why?
  5. Do you agree that e-learning is more widely used in rural rather than urban areas? Defend your answer.
  6. With the number of e-learners increasing each year, how do you foresee this affecting the way public K-12 schools operate in the future?
  7. According to one survey, 30% of customer service training is being conducted through e-learning. Do you believe communication and people-skills can be effectively taught through e-learning? Explain your answer.
  8. The Sloan Consortium study noted that currently 65% of schools with graduate face-to-face courses also offer graduate courses online and 63% of schools offering undergraduate face-to-face courses also offer undergraduate courses online. With more than half (56%) of schools identifying online education as a critical long-term strategy, how will the colleges and universities be different in 20 years? What will happen to the brick-and-mortar ivory towers of old?
  9. Discuss how the lack of a solid internet infrastructure in underdeveloped, and often poorer, nations contributes to the digital divide for e-learners.
  10. States and school districts are providing e-learning opportunities for students categorized as being at-risk either academically or behaviorally. Is e-learning being used as a reward for poor behavior? Should troubled high school students be left at home to navigate the e-learning process without teachers' guidance? Defend your answer.

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3.1 References

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3.2 Julie Schmidt: Success in E-Learning

Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you will get the result. - Oscar Wilde

So what are the conditions? Unfortunately, the answer is not as simple as one might think. If one knew of the conditions, wouldn't e-learning be successful all of the time?

E-learning can frequently be viewed as a more varied approach to learning, which in turn may have an increased difficultly with obtaining success. As with traditional learning environments, the success with e-learning depends on both the instructor and learner itself. However, people often agree that e-learning requires a certain type of learner and even instructor. The demands may be greater and the ability to fall behind is as well. Overall, the conditions to ensure success simply revolve around two necessary parties; the learner and instructor.

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E-Learners

Though an e-learner may succeed with a variety of different learning styles, one must exhibit qualities such as self-determination and an overall strive for excellence. With these qualities being absent, the e-learner may struggle to move forth throughout the experience due to the many high demands.

According to the article, Ten strategies for a successful eLearning experience, there are ten learner controlled strategies for a successful e-learning experience. These strategies are as follows.

1. Time Management

Designate a certain amount of time each week to dedicate to e-learning experiences. The time may vary each week, though make sure enough is allotted.

2. Web Experience

E-learners should have an adequate background in computers and be comfortable with various computer tasks. If one has little or no experience in this area, reference books are available to make the internet-related tasks more simple.

3. Awareness of Written Tones

When corresponding with peers or educators, the e-learner must recall that visual cues are not evident. If not careful with the written language, one may misconstrue the implied meaning.

4. Frequent Study Group Formation

As with designating time to complete various tasks, the e-learner must also take initiative in developing study groups or opportunities for peer interaction. Doing this will keep confusion and questions about the experience at a minimum.

5. System Requirements

Without the appropriate technology, the e-learning experience will be unsuccessful from the start. Appropriate software may be required as well as internet access and multimedia plug-ins.

6. High Motivation

As stated earlier, motivation is one of the most important qualities and e-learner may possess. It is essential for e-learners to be highly motivated and is the key to e-learning success.

7. Interest in the Subject

Keeping an open mind and developing an interest regarding the fascinating world of e-learning will keep negativity at bay.

8. Controlled Learning Environment

As with any learning situation, the environment in which the learner chooses will have an indication of to whether they will be successful. Be aware that a focused, controlled environment will foster a greater amount of learning than a distracting one.

9. Ability to Take Breaks

Taking short frequent breaks away from the computer will decrease headaches and fatigue.

10. Avoidance of Procrastination

Keep procrastination at a minimum. Where procrastination is not beneficial to traditional learning environments, the same is true for e-learning experiences.

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E-Instructor

Would you accept the idea that the success of e-learners is not solely based on the e-learner themselves? The answer may surprise you as some believe it has a lot to due with the e-learning instructor.

According to eLearning, Teaching and Training: A First Look at Principles, Issues and Implication, Ryan (2001) states that successful e-learning is based on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This specific internet-based environment is based on four pieces of criteria.

Ryan states that other components that are an extension of the learning environment include: course outlines, syllabuses, exercises, links to resources and learning packs.

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3.2 Conclusion

As with any situation, whether it be distance-learning-based or not, success is based upon determination and experiences. If given the opportunity for utilizing the correct tools, both by the e-learner and e-instructor, success can be within your reach.

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3.2 References

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3.3 Social Networking - A Growing Phenomenon

Brian Heisman

There is a growing phenomenon of social networking sites on the Internet with young teens and young adults that are being labeled as a warning to parents. Social networking on the net has been around since the days of IRC, ICQ, AOL instant messenger (IM) and many others chat programs. Individuals would go into a chat room or speak with someone through private channels, it was a way for someone to expand out of their community and meet someone new. At that time it was all text-based with the ability to send images as file transfers.

The term globalization could be used when an individual wants to learn what is happening in the world around them and expanding their knowledge base outside of the community in which they live. Social networking allows this to happen on the Internet 24 hours a day. We are no longer locked in our tiny world, hence a new world dawns for us to experience and learn from along with a few cautions.

Globalization and social networking can open your eyes to other experiences as well as meeting other individuals with common interests all over the world. The Internet has no boundaries in the realm of social networking, and sites such as MySpace, Flogz, Facebook, Xanga along with many others allow users to begin their online experience.

Social networking sites are primarily set up for a purpose or a particular area of interest for a user. Sites such as Flogz or Digg are set up for financial and investment purposes. Flogz (www.flogz.com) , in particular is a personal finance and investing website that allows users to submit links that are voted on by other users, and promoted to the main page based on their popularity. The goal of Flogz is to eliminate the need to visit multiple websites for personal finance and investing news. ("New social networking site allows users to decide what personal finance and investing news is important", 2006)

The fastest growing social networking site is MySpace (MySpace.com) , they boast more than 57 million users and 160,000 new users a day (Smith, 2006). MySpace was originally created for musicians, artists and individuals who wanted to be known in the online community. It has changed drastically in its growth; it resembles an online dating or matchmaking service that allows registered users to add anything their heart desires; music, slideshows, pictures, blogs, etc. MySpace has become a terrific social networking site that encourages globalization of individual users by creating friend lists and discussion groups. Everyone becomes linked to one another and it appears to grow as one large family community.

Other similar sites such as Facebook or Xanga draw other crowds of individuals that focus on particular groups of diversity such as college students, social or interest groups. All social networking sites are essentially designed to bring people together in one large electronic neighborhood.

The dilemma and controversy that has arisen out of these social communities is nothing new; the larger the company or site the larger the problems become. Recently, it has been documented in the news, magazines and even on TV about the concerns of this growing nightmare. Parents are to be on the alert, law enforcement is said to be working on overtime, and added reports of misbehavior and misconduct have been displayed time and time again across the world. The hottest stories seem to revolve around teens and their stalkers, or inappropriate intentions online.

When an individual registers with a site such as MySpace, they have to be 14 years of age or they are prohibited from registering. The problem occurs when the teens lie and do not register with their correct age. They usually pose as an older individual and have no realization of the consequences of what they are posting. You can find personal information such as their full name or when they lost their virginity, what drugs they like, where they go to school, what cars they drive, pictures of them in lingerie & handcuffs, and sexually explicit positions. I have found images of nudity, cell and phone numbers, locations of their homes, pictures of teens holding hand guns or alcohol.

This is just the start of what these individuals can post if they are creative enough. Commander Michael Rayball of Phoenix, AZ says, They're putting out everything a potential pedophile or stalker needs to find them. Anyone can signup and that's just what we did within seconds of searching MySpace by school and age group. We found hundreds of profiles. (Teen Web warning: My Space.com, 2006)

Teens think that, what they do on the Internet is anonymous and no one will have access to the information... (Stollings, 2006). Kids and young teens don't believe strangers are looking at their sites. They think it's all protected. They think that only their friends are looking at it. In fact, my daughter said it was an invasion of her privacy, that I had no right looking at her site, she thought that it was protected by other viewers.

Athletes and future employees are also effected by what they post online and have had numerous reports about their behavior and discussions of whether their freedom of speech rights have been violated. Athletes have been suspended or removed from playing the sport as a result of inappropriate pictures of themselves drinking alcohol or even at a party which has alcohol present.

Three McMinnville High School athletes received athletic suspensions when someone - a teacher and/or coach by some accounts - presented school administrators with copies of photos posted there following a party where drinking and smoking occurred. Athletes are required to sign a pledge in which they promise to avoid situations involving underage drinking and smoking, triggering disciplinary action. (Rowland, 2006)

There are other articles as well where college athletes are removed from sports due to images of their exploits on Facebook or MySpace. It is not only the images that hurt these individuals it is what they say online to the world about their college. Two Louisiana State swimmers were kicked off the team last spring for criticizing their coaches on Facebook. (USA Today, 2006)

Private institutions are and have been removing individuals from attending their institution due to their actions online. In USA Today on March 9, 2006, it was reported that a student was kicked out of John Brown University after officials saw pictures of him in drag.

Educators say the explosion of web activity at Facebook and other sites has forced them to respond. And that is raising a new set of free speech concerns. In, general students at private schools or universities are bound by the rules of their institution and not protected by the First Amendment right of speech. (USA Today, 2006)

Future employers of individuals have logged on to perspective employees' profiles and have found some disturbing images or textual behavior that would cause the future employee not to be hired stated in USA Today.

To this point social networking is sounding like a nightmare, but common sense should tell you a few things, the first would be to use common sense. Do not post anything whether it is an image or text that you would not want to see on the 6 o'clock news or would be embarrassed about. Most teens could stop some of their online shenanigans if they used common sense and their parents had a careful eye on their technology use. Most parents feel too ignorant to even start this conversation because they know less than their kids. (Smith, 2006)

Nearly nine out of 10 teens aged 12 to 17 use the Internet, according to a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a nonprofit research organization. Kids can get scammed, bullied, solicited by marketers and scoped out by pedophiles - all while sitting in front of the family computer. (Smith, 2006) According to wiredsafety.org, parents need to place the computer in a visual and open place where it can be monitored. Parents need to set guidelines and teach their kids the dos and don'ts of the Internet. If parents aren't aware of technology or need help there are trainings, seminars and awareness programs out there.

Online activity and social networking sites can be insightful and fun for all ages. The learning that could occur from a positive encounter can be immense. Online friends and groups can work together on projects, e-books, socialization, writing and communication in general. What better way to learn about a topic then to talk directly to the source. The possibilities of this globalized phenomenon of online experiences and learning are endless, just a little common sense and knowledge goes along way.

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3.3 References

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Last updated April 20, 2007

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