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Benefits
Of eLearning
Learners
appreciate the following qualities of eLearning:
eLearning fosters interaction
among students and instructors. Interaction stimulates understanding
and the recall of information.
Accommodates different
learning styles and fosters learning through a variety of activities
that apply to different learning styles.
Fosters self-paced learning
whereby students can learn at the rate they prefer.
Convenient for students
to access any time, any place.
Reduces travel time
and travel costs for students.
Encourages students
to browse information through hyperlinks to sites on the worldwide Web
and there by find information relevant to their personal situations.
Allows students to select
learning materials, or to be directed to content that meets their level
of knowledge, interest and what they need to know to perform more effectively
in their particular activity.
Provides context sensitive
help (Electronic performance support systems) to computer users and
helps them complete tasks on-the-fly.
Develops knowledge of
the Internet that will help learners throughout their careers.
Encouraging students
to take responsibility for their learning and succeeding builds self-knowledge
and self-confidence
Instructors value the following
strengths of eLearning:
eLearning permits instructors
to develop materials using the world-wide resources of the Web.
Allows instructors to
communicate information in a more engaging fashion than in text-based
distance education programs. eLearning offers a wide-range of text,
diagrams and images with video and sound, including virtual reality
technology that in the future will improve the effectiveness of the
approach even further.
Convenient for instructors
to access any time, any place.
Allows instructors
to package essential information for all students to access. Instructors
can then concentrate on high level activities.
Retains records of discussion
and allows for later reference through the use of threaded discussion
on bulletin boards.
Generates more personal
gratification for instructors through quality student participation.
Reduces travel and accommodation
costs associated with training programs.
Advantages
of eLearning for training and education administrators include the
following:
eLearning accommodates
automated, continuous assessment of student progress.
Reduces capital costs
associated with traditional bricks and mortar schools and training facilities.
Can be accessed by a
variety of platforms such as Windows, UNIX and Mac because they all
read html files.
Template approach to
developing online learning engenders consistency.
Allows institutions
to build the eLearning modules from courses of leading instructors.
Eight
issues with eLearning
1.
Students may be required
to purchase or rent new computer equipment.
2. Technical
difficulties or operator error may hamper students and instructors.
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3.
Students and instructors
may have gaps in their computer knowledge in such areas as Windows,
so they will require training in computer basics before they can
start the online learning training.
4. Using
telephones lines and Internet service providers to access Internet
services, when required, leads to high user fees in many parts
of the world.
5. Initial
costs of developing courses may be considerable, depending on
the approach taken.
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6.
Instructors may need
to become familiar with electronic text books; Internet-based research
material, copyright, and other e-learning related topics.
7.
Internet bandwidth may
not be robust enough to support the desired level of multimedia.
8.
People working in the
eLearning field at an individual location may be pioneers and not have
the support of a network of more experienced colleagues.
Instructors
value the following strengths of eLearning:
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