Distance Learning E Learning

Dr Hemant DamleProf Dept Of Obs/Gyn SKNMC Pune

GSMC FAIMER Fellow 2007

June 2014

• Distance Education, distance learning, elearning, or D-Learning is a mode of delivering education and instruction, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom.

• Distance learning provides "access to learning when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or both."[1]

• Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason (including taking examinations) have been referred to as Hybrid or Blended courses of study.

• Massive open online courses (MOOCs), aimed at large-scale interactive participation and open access via the web or other network technologies, are a recent development in distance education.

Historical Aspects

• The first distance education course in the modern sense was provided by Sir Isaac Pitman in the 1840s, who taught a system of shorthand by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on postcards and receiving transcriptions from his students in return for correction - the element of student feedback was a crucial innovation of Pitman's system. This scheme was made possible by the introduction of uniform postage rates across England from 1840.

• This early beginning proved extremely successful, and the Phonographic Correspondence Society was founded three years later to establish these courses on a more formal basis. The Society paved the way for the later formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges across the country.

• University correspondence courses[• The University of London was the first university to offer distance

learning degrees, establishing its External Programme in 1858. • which would act as examining body for the University of

London colleges, originally University College London and King's College London, and award their students University of London degrees. As Sheldon Rothblatt states, "thus arose in nearly archetypal form the famous English distinction between teachingand examining, here embodied in separate institutions.

• With the state giving examining powers to a separate entity, the groundwork was laid for the creation of a programme within the new university that would both administer examinations and award qualifications to students taking instruction at another institution or pursuing a course of self-directed study.

• Referred to as "People's University" by Charles Dickens because it provided access to higher education to students from less affluent backgrounds, the External Programme was chartered by Queen Victoria in 1858, making the University of London the first university to offer distance learning degrees to students.

Open University

• Walton Hall, renovated in 1970 to act as the headquarters of the newly established Open University.

• The Open University in the United Kingdom was founded by the then serving Labour Party government under Prime Minister Harold Wilson, based on the vision of Michael Young.

• Planning commenced in 1965 under Minister of State for Education Jennie Lee, who established a model for the OU as one of widening access to the highest standards of scholarship in higher education, and set up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Assistant Director of Engineering at the time James Redmond, had obtained most of his qualifications at night school, and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programmes.

Current Technology

• The widespread use of computers and the internet have made distance learning easier and faster, and today virtual schools and virtual universities deliver full curricula online.In 1996 Jones International University was launched by Glenn Jones, CEO and Bernard Luskin, Chancellor as the first fully online university accredited by a regional accrediting association in the US.[32]

Synchronous and asynchronous learning.

• Although the expansion of the Internet blurs the boundaries, distance education technologies are divided into two modes of delivery: synchronous learning and asynchronous learning.

• In synchronous learning, all participants are "present" at the same time. In this regard, it resembles traditional classroom teaching methods despite the participants being located remotely. It requires a timetable to be organized.

• Web conferencing, videoconferencing, educational television, instructional television are examples of synchronous technology, as are direct-broadcast satellite (DBS), internet radio, live streaming, telephone, and web-based VoIP. Online meeting software such as Adobe Connect has helped to facilitate meetings in distance learning courses.

• In asynchronous learning, participants access course materials flexibly on their own schedules. Students are not required to be together at the same time. Mail correspondence, which is the oldest form of distance education, is an asynchronous delivery technology, as are message board forums, e-mail, video and audio recordings, print materials, voicemail, and fax.[

Technologies

• The two methods can be combined. Many courses offered by The Open University use periodic sessions of residential or day teaching to supplement the remote teaching.] The Open University uses a blend of technologies and a blend of learning modalities (face-to-face, distance, and hybrid) all under the rubric of "distance learning."

• Distance learning can also use interactive radio instruction (IRI), interactive audio instruction (IAI), online virtual worlds, digital games, webinars, and webcasts, all of which are referred to as eLearning. Media psychology and media studies have evolved as the research area in the study of media effects. Each has grown into important academic areas with graduate degree programs now providing professional research, teaching and field staff to help build understanding of the behavioral implications of media. The first MA, PhD and EdD programs in Media Psychology and Media Studies were launched in 2002 by Bernard Luskin at Fielding Graduate University.

Distance e-Learning

• Distance e-Learning or DeL, is the combination of Distance Education and e-Learning which is characterized by the extensive use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the delivery of education and instruction and the use of synchronous and asynchronous online communication in an interactive learning environment or virtual communities, in lieu of a physical classroom, to bridge the gap in temporal or spatial constraints. Distance e-Learning combines the strengths and advantages of Distance Education and e-Learning. "The focus is shifted to the education transaction in the form of virtual community of learners sustainable across time."[63]

• The Distance Education model has its traditional focus on content delivery or correspondence, and emphasis on independent learning. Distance e-Learning has its roots on computer conferencing and collaborative constructivist learning approach; it encourages collaboration in an interactive learning environment. Distance e-Learning is also different from e-Learning. Distance e-Learning goes beyond the use of ICT as tools to access information which primarily characterizes e-Learning use in classroom teaching or in the residential setting.

• By the end of 2013, most top universities had started to offer some sort of MOOC (massive open online course). Now, we are starting to see the MOOC product move into both the corporate and the private realm. Companies like Google and Tenaris are using MOOCs for training their employees, MongoDB is educating developers through the MOOC medium and thousands of private instructors are teaching classes on sites like Udemy.

• If you are considering a MOOC for yourself or your organization, you’ll first need to determine which tool you will use to build the course. The following is an assessment of five popular free MOOC (and MOOC-like) platforms.

• edX• EdX is an open-source platform offered by edX.org. It is the same platform that

universities such as Harvard and MIT use to offer courses to 100,000+ students. It was released as open source in March 2013, and the goal was to act as the WordPress for MOOC platforms, allowing users to use plug-ins to expand the core functionality. edX has a fast, modern feel, with the ability to accommodate large enrollments.

• edX is suitable for organizations that want a modern, flexible, robust course-management platform. Although it is open source, investment will need to be made in both installation and some maintenance. But the return will be a platform that can provide best-in-class content to thousands of students.

• Moodle• Moodle is an open-source learning management system (LMS) that allows users to

build and offer online courses. It was built for traditional online classrooms rather than MOOCs, which attract a large number of students. It tends to be easier to install than edX, and there are hosted or one-click install options available.

• Moodle is suited for organizations that want a full-featured, customizable LMS. The platform offers more than edX in terms of educational tools, analytics and SCORM compliance. The trade-off is that the platform is over 10 years old. The number of configuration options can be daunting, and system performance suffers with larger numbers of students.

• Moodle has been around for over ten years and is one of the most popular open-source Course Management Solutions available. As such, it is not specifically a MOOC platform but a competent online course platform which can handle large classrooms, and a lot of the open online classes you may have seen that are not affiliated with the major platforms were built on Moodle.

• The great strength of Moodle is its combination of full functionality with extensive customization options. Moodle offers all the basic course elements plus fairly advanced elements like SCORM compliance and group permissions. Because Moodle is open source, users have the ability to customize nearly everything within their implementation if they know where to look.

• Moodle requires a self-hosted installation, but building simple courses is fairly intuitive and requires no coding knowledge. Because of its robustness, the advanced options can be daunting at times. Luckily, the Moodle community is extremely active, and most questions can be solved via a quick search in the instructor forums.

• Strengths• Open source• Highly expandable and customizable• Weaknesses• Performance intensive• Requires setup and maintenance investment• Most appropriate for• Schools or small/medium organizations that want a full-featured Learning Management System

• Coursera is a proprietary software. Only educators who are teaching on theCoursera.org website can use it.

Use In Medical Education

• Use for administration like attendance• Complimentary to Traditional Teaching

Learning• Use for assessment , performance , grading• Use for feedback and analysis• Use of social interactive platforms for group

activities• Use for building resources and database

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