tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22055982.post6814269458921429902..comments2024-03-16T02:39:39.781-07:00Comments on eLearning Technology: eLearning or Learning? - More to ItTony Karrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15408035995182843336noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22055982.post-17209698272329593392007-06-12T09:56:00.000-07:002007-06-12T09:56:00.000-07:00Great post Tony, very practical information. Chec...Great post Tony, very practical information. Check out our <A HREF="http://www.syberworks.com/mediacenter.htm" REL="nofollow"> Online Media Center</A> here at <A HREF="http://www.syberworks.com " REL="nofollow"> SyberWorks, Inc. </A> With valuable e-Learning educational tools, past success stories, podcast series, and so much more I promise you won’t be disappointed!KH@SyberWorkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15276859561014379179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22055982.post-57171043714180512332007-05-28T09:11:00.000-07:002007-05-28T09:11:00.000-07:00Great points Michael and thanks for weighing in.Great points Michael and thanks for weighing in.Tony Karrerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15408035995182843336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22055982.post-76090370403169862102007-05-27T09:01:00.000-07:002007-05-27T09:01:00.000-07:00Tony,It's serendipidous that you should post this ...Tony,<BR/>It's serendipidous that you should post this question; I addressed the same topic in my recently-submitted MSc in Learning & Technology. <BR/><BR/>Here's an (edited) extract from the thesis text:<BR/><BR/>“Elearning” means different things to different people. When you consider that you can call the discipline “e-learning”, “elearning” or even “eLearning”, it’s no surprise that there is a range of definitions of the subject, as “we prefer to define things according to how we use them” (Morrison, 2004, p.4). Clark and Mayer (2003) consider the “how, why and what” of elearning: that the “e” in e-learning refers to the “how” - the course is digitised so that it can be stored. The “learning” refers to the “what” - the course includes content and ways to help people learn it, and the “why” - that the purpose is to help learners achieve educational goals or to help organisations build skills related to improve job performance (pp.13-14). The assumptions in their definition are telling: note the use of the term “course” and references to organisational skill-building – there is an inherent, unspoken claim on elearning (what ever <I>that</I> is!) to be part of the corporate, human resources development arena. <BR/><BR/>Now consider Will Richardson’s <I>Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms</I>, published only three years later. In the elearning context, a quick scan through a text’s table of contents, introduction, or index will usually orient the reader to the author’s perspective on what they think elearning is: not in this text. The very first point Richardson makes is that “this may look like a book about technology, but it’s really a book about …connections” (p.vii). With a nod to Jonassen, the author discusses “cool tools”, “collaborations and conversations” and “creatively motivating students to learn more deeply” using a teaching and learning “toolbox” (p.9). He’s obviously talking about elearning, but does not see the need to define what it is. So, elearning has become a common if imprecise term used to refer to technology-enhanced learning. The two views described above signify the breadth and the richness of the terrain that elearning encompasses, and I contend highlight its importance of the context of learning generally."<BR/><BR/>My own opinion on the nomenclature of the the discipline is that use defines shape; as the discipline becomes more pervasive in the culture, I think we shall see a move away from the hyphenations and proper- and quasi-proper noun spellings, it will be left with "elearning." <BR/><BR/>There are a number of reasons for suggesting that this will be the case; in the last few years, for example, the BBC sent out an edict to standardise the use of the term "internet" as a common noun descibing a thing (and maybe in this instance, also a place) in all its publications and websites. It's not important that it was the Beeb did this <I>per se</I>, but it was an institutional acknowledgement that the term had entered common parlance. <BR/><BR/>From a practical perspective, there is a very good reason why the term will standardise (and I know this from authoring a 35 000-word report): 'elearning' has less keystrokes than the alternatives.Michael Hanleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07213504001447084845noreply@blogger.com