E-Learning and its Implications on Teaching Practice in Australia - Literature review Example

E-learning and its Implications on Teaching Practice in Australia Author’s Name Institutional Affiliation Abstract Adult education in Australia continue to gain shape and momentum as the country’s adult population continues to blossom. Most adults in the country have been forced to balance the need to pursue post secondary education and work at the same time. This has led to the emergence of a new generation of learner known as “earner-learner” student. Majority of the students have therefore been forced to look for a learning approach that would lead to reduction of number of hours spent in learning institutions. In this regard, e-learning has offered a perfect platform for the Australian adult students to meet both their education and employment needs. It presents a whole new concept that promises to change the face of education system in the country. Key word: Adult education and e-learning Introduction Australia remains one of the countries in the world with attractive scenic beauty, vacation sports and well educated people. The population of the country is highly diversified due to high cases of cross-marriages. This diverse nature of the country’s population has over the years seen most citizens making numerous demands including the diversification of the education sector. There have been calls by the Australian citizens to the government and other stakeholders in the education sector to adopt new strategies on teaching and learning. One such area in the education sector that has attracted much interest is adult education. The adult education in Australia has increasingly become popular over the years. The increase has been influenced by various prevailing social, economic political factors in the country. Previous findings by past researchers have shown that the average life expectancy among the Australian people has increased over the years. For instance, due to improved lifestyles, most Australian citizens have been able to live longer. This has led to an increase in the numbers of adults in the country. Consequently, the demand for adult education has increased tremendously. According to Tennant and Morris (2001), 41% of Australian university students are adults aged 25 years and above with about 63% of the student population aged above 20 years. Even as the demand for adult education continues to increase Australia, there have been numerous emerging challenges. Researchers like Lipsitz (2003) have observed that the legal definition of who qualifies to be an adult student has been unclear. Another challenge has been the discomfort among the adult learners. Most adult learners find it uncomfortable to share the same learning environment with young students. Another school of though holds that appear to be out of practice with the requisite learning skills due to the break they have had from the forming learning system. This therefore affects their academic performance. In an argument by Tavangarian et al (2004), flexibility could be ranked as the top most challenge for an adult student within the formal learning environment. The proponents of this view observe that most adult students are tasked with the responsibility of attending to family and job matters while at the same time striving to attend to the demands of formal classes. This presents adult students with the challenge of divided attention thus affecting their academic performance. In view of the above schools of thought, this paper take notice of the last argument that the biggest challenge to adult students is inflexibility. In this regard, this paper attempts to identify one of the changes that have been enacted to improve the adult education situation and how the change has impacted on the teaching practice in Australia. The change identified by the paper is the growth and development of flexible learning and e-learning with regard to adult education. Various aspects of this change are to be considered for analysis and discussion. Such aspects include but not limited to impacts of e-learning on employability skills and development, influence of e-learning on the mature age worker, impacts of e-learning on teacher development and the contribution of e-leaning to lifelong learning. It is also worth noting at this stage that the paper is fashioned in a manner that discusses the social, economic and political aspects of Australia’s development while developing a link between the change (e-learning) and government with regard to policy response. Such analysis and discussion also demonstrate the role of the global community in promoting e-learning vis-à-vis adult education and how the changing society has influenced e-learning. History of E-Learning There is no universally agreed definition of E-learning. However, the term is commonly used to refer to the use of technology to enhance convenient learning among learners. I say convenience because with e-learning, a person is able to access learning materials and/or process any where at any time. Harasim et al (2005) agrees that e-learning allows people access to training and learning opportunities by facilitating a timely delivery of information and guidance from experts. E-learning has also been described as a network-enabled learning which relies heavily on various technological media to transfer knowledge and skills from one point to another. E-learning process is often characterized by a total of four components namely; web-based as well as computer learning, digital-oriented collaboration and opportunities presented by virtual education (Allen & Seaman, 2008). The relaying of the content of e-learning is normally done using different media such as the internet/Extranet, TV, satellite, CD-ROM among others. The history of e-learning dates back to the 1960s when two professors of psychology from Stanford University; Patrick Suppes and Richard Atkinson used computers to teach math to young elementary school children in parts of the US such as California. From the beginning, e-learning was heavily dependant on computers to relay information to intended audience. However, in 1993, Graziadei performed a computer-base lecture using an email. From 1997, Graziadei made tremendous efforts to improve his earlier discovery of computer-based learning (Allen & Seaman, 2003). Since then, many technologies have been developed to enhance e-learning in even more larger scales. Such technologies include but not limited to; blog, collaborative software, and virtual classrooms. With the support of these technologies, the concept of e-learning has penetrated the teaching and learning environment at an increasing rate. The concept of e-learning has therefore been incorporated in various education systems of different countries world over. One such country that has embraced e-learning is Australia. E-Learning and Adult Education in Australia The history of e-learning in Australia is a deep and rich one. So deep has been the concept that it has led to the reorganization of the Australian education system to address the needs of the country’s education needs. The reorganization has been characterized by among other things restructuring among universities in the country to tap opportunities presented by e-learning. As noted earlier in the introduction of this paper, the number of adult students in Australia continues to increase significantly. It gas also been stated in the course of introducing this paper that the main challenge facing the adult education in Australia is the problem of inflexibility. While defining e-learning, it has emerged that its major characteristic lies in its ability to enable the learner to access knowledge and skills anytime, anywhere and in a convenient manner. In this sense, e-learning has been considered by the Australian government and other stakeholder in the adult education sector as a key remedy to the challenge of inflexibility. Nature of E-learning Environment in Australia Australia is one of the countries with a larger landmass with a population density of about 2 persons per square kilometer as at the year 2002 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). Distant education has over the years been one of the predominant forms of education in the country. Post secondary school students had to cover long distance to access education. However, this phenomenon has changed significantly with most students embracing the fact that they could access distant learning without having to cover very long distances. This notion has paved way for the growth and development of e-learning in the country with most students opting for the internet-enabled learning processes. The concept of distance education has taken a different dimension with most post secondary students adopting an on-campus approach to undertake distant education. The increased growth and development of e-learning in Australia particularly in post-secondary education cycles has been boosted by a number of factors ranging from computer literacy and access to computers by pot secondary school students (adult students). For instance a survey conducted in 2000 indicated that computer literacy among adult students in the country stood at 66% with about 50% of these students having access to the internet thought the year. The survey also indicated that 67% of the students had significant knowledge of the internet and relied heavily on this media for meeting their education needs (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). A bigger part of the Australia’s adult population embraces the use of technology in transacting different tasks such as carrying out assignments at work places or educational assignments. The use of ICT in the country is significantly high among the adult population. This phenomenon has even been witnessed in the country’s enormous GDP growth. A 2001 report by the OECD pointed out that the Australian GDP had registered an increase due to the increased use of ICT in performing economic, social and political activities. Online economy is currently a common phenomenon in Australia with most families affording to perform most of their economic activities such as shopping online. As the e-learning continues to assert its influence in the country, a whole new generation of students has emerged with most post secondary students now undertaking work and studies simultaneously. This has led to the emergence of what is called the “learner-earner” student (Allen & Seaman, 2003). Due to the flexibility that comes with e-learning, most students in Australia are therefore able to undertake full time studies while at the same time working and taking care of their families. This kind of learning has significantly contributed to the countries economic output and social improvements. Consequently, the demand for e-learning continues to rise especially among the post secondary students, who have to work while at the same time undertaking their educational responsibilities. Supply of E-learning in Australia The supply of e-learning in Australia is still largely a preserve of universities and colleges. Most universities are in a position to offer different awards such as degrees, diplomas and certificates in various disciplines using e-learning. Well established universities such as Charles Sturt University and the University of South Queensland have since moved to repackage the courses to accommodate distant learning by integrating e-learning in delivery of academic services. With the world increasingly becoming a global village, most institutions of learning in Australia are in a rush to connect with the outside village and increase access to learning and opportunities. E-learning has provided a perfect platform on which to carry out this connection. Even as universities and students continue to embrace the concept of e-learning in Australia, concerns continue to be raised regarding the quality of e-learning and its impact on the future prospects of the country’s education system. Critics of e-learning hold that the supply of e-learning by most universities is necessitated by the need to grab the opportunities presented by this mode of learning and the high demand occasioned by students who would want to learn and at the same time earning. In this regard, the critics argue that the repackaging of e-learning by learning institutions is not quality driven but supply driven (Karmel & Jones, 2001). Another concern that has been raised is the issue of sustaining the cost of e-learning. History has it that funding of education in Australia has not been for a long time, a responsibility of the learner. With the introduction of e-learning, most students are destined to funding their education contrary to the traditional practice. Even though most students are able to pay for their education, the concern remains whether the momentum with which e-learning has come will be sustained in the course of time. E-learning arguably presents a perfect opportunity to increase economic growth, improve social wellbeing while at the same time boosting political accountability. In view of this notion several interventions have been and continue to be made to help alley the fears that continue to surround the concept of e-learning in Australia. A number of areas regarding e-learning still need to be addressed, even as this mode of learning continues to take a center stage in the country. Apart from the issues of quality and cost, the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (2001) has noted that there is need to develop a culture of independency among the learners. This is necessary since the previous education systems in Australia have seen the learner depend almost entirely on the teacher. E-learning calls for independency and development of a significant amount of motivation on the part of the learner. From the beginning of this paper, e-learning has been described as a form of learning that takes place anytime anywhere. However, critics have likened this to asserting that e-learning advocates for the learning of anything. It is therefore the concerns of these critics that if not checked, e-learning may provide the learner with access to information that do not add quality to the learning process. They (critics) have therefore called for called for the restructuring of the e-learning process to only include the transmission of knowledge and skills that add value to the learning process. Other issues that need to be addressed according to the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (2008) are the costs to be incurred in developing support materials for e-learning and how to integrate e-learning with existing education system in the country. The existing Australian education system is view as student friendly as it addresses the question of costs. Therefore, most students in the country would therefore view the e-learning as more expensive in terms of cost, save for its flexible nature. It is in this context that stakeholders have called for the development of an understanding and friendly attitude towards the concept of e-learning. Having realized the importance and the opportunities that are presented by e-learning, several efforts are being made at local and global level to ensure that e-learning is implemented and developed in the country in a more sustainable manner. Such efforts have included among other things, policy responses from the government and the global community. Local and Global Interventions From the outset, this paper has pointed out the lack of a universal definition of what constitutes e-learning. Suppliers of e-learning appear to be having their own understanding of the concept. This has presented a major challenge in the design of structure and content of e-learning among universities in Australia. It is therefore not easy to appropriately document and profile e-learning courses in these universities. As a response to this anomaly, the government of Australia through the Department of Education, Training, and Youth Affairs has since launched a system for monitoring and managing statistical information regarding e-learning. It is hoped that this move will help address the ambiguities that have witnessed in the documentation of e-learning courses offered by Australian universities. The move has also led to the development of mechanisms for describing different units and courses adopted for study among the country’s universities. In this regard, three modules of description have been adopted these include; mode A-Web supplemented, mode B-web dependent, and mode C-fully on-line. In the first category (mode A), student’s online participation in the learning process is optional. E-learning in this context is therefore used to supplement the country’s traditional learning system. The second category (mode B), student are expected to use e-learning entirely for communication with the teaching staff as well as to interact with their colleagues in the learning process. However, there are still requirements that with this mode, students still participate in on-campus learning exercises. In the third and last category (fully on-line), there does not exist on-campus engagements among the students. Students are required to engage in the learning process online (Allen & Seaman, 2008). Apart from this categorization of e-learning and introduction of a mechanism to enhance course and unit documentation, the government has also developed different regulations and quality assurance mechanisms for e-learning. The learning and teaching method in Australia has been conducted for along period of time using a general quality assurance mechanism. The concern has been on whether the teaching method being adopted is convenient for both the teacher and the learner. However, with the introduction of e-learning and subsequent interests it has generated among learners, the government of Australia has introduced policy interventions to check on quality. The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) has since approved the establishment of a quality assurance body to monitor the educational quality offered in the market by the Australian universities. Notably is the establishment of the Australian Universities Quality Agency and the setting up of a National Protocols for higher education approval process. The establishments have been undertaken with extreme cautions being paid on the internationally agreed principles regarding the constitution of a university. The educational quality assurance component involves different activities such as structuring, funding, monitoring and evaluation. This has called for the partnership and corporation of several government agencies, private sector and other relevant bodies in the country. Some of the key players in the educational quality assurance have been and continue to be the Commonwealth of Australia, the States and Territories. Conclusion In view of the above analysis and discussion, it can be concluded that e-learning in Australia stand to change the face of the country’s education system by replacing the traditional education approach with a web-base learning method. It also stands to increase the country’s economic development, improves the quality of and access to education, while at the same time improving the people’s social wellbeing. E-learning is also posed to significantly transform the traditional teaching practices such as face-to-face learning, and/or paper-based distant education. With the two categories of e-learning (web-based and fully on-line modes), students are able to reduce the time spent in seeking access to learning. Teachers are also able to conduct their teaching exercises from a designated point through the use of different media such as video conferencing. This enables the teacher to reduce the costs and inconveniences incurred during movements. In my view, this form of teaching would therefore introduce efficiency and effectiveness if adequately monitored and controlled. References Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2008). Staying the Course: Online Education in Australia. Needham MA: Sloan Consortium. Allen, I.E. & Seaman, J. (2003). Sizing the Opportunity: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the Australia. Wellesley, MA: The Sloan Consortium. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2010). Use of the Internet by Householders. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009). Australian Social Trends 1999. 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