E-learning: Strategies for Creating Effective Learning Opportunities - Research Proposal Example

E – learning : Strategies for creating effective and enhanced learning opportunities. Introduction : The evolution and the usage of internet in the recent past has revolutionized not only global trade, corporate management and world economy but also the educational scenario. The traditional face to face educational methodology has been using certain technological tools to improve the quality of education imparted to the learning community. The present scenario in learning has wide usage of computers which help in presentation of the lectures. Also the easily available internet access enables to prepare for a presentation through supporting material from the internet. All of these past and present learning methods involve the physical presence of a teacher and a classroom. With a high rate of internet users and emerging technological tools, the concept of e- learning is gaining momentum. E–learning aims at using the technological resources for the exchange of knowledge , skills, attitudes. According to Maneschijn. M. M. (2005), E- learning can be defined as the delivery of education through electronic means. In this learning environment, the persons involved in the information exchange process seldom meet personally. They meet each other virtually through internet or other computer networks. Such a system of education has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. The aim of this research is to identify specific strategies that prove that the e-learning methodology successfully satisfies the need of the learning community. The key issues that are to be discussed include What should be the curriculum of the system. What methodology must be chosen for quality teaching. What should be the administrative structure and management. What Planning and implementation techniques should be followed. Expected cost of the e-learning system implementation. How to evaluate and monitor such a system. Existing Literature : As defined earlier e-learning is the method of delivering education through the internet with the aid of IT tools. There are a few types of e-learning methodologies. The first type is self –directed learning which is undertaken by the learner himself. The second type has a mentor who guides the learner and a third type has a group of learners who exchange information among themselves. This third type is also referred to as collaborative e –learning. Latchman et al (1998) says that in all the cases the information or the instructions are delivered through power point lectures, video presentations, web pages, chats, conferencing facilities, etc. Some features of e-learning are interaction, usability , relevance and feedback. Due to the increased usage of internet many universities have opted for E – Learning as a mode of imparting education says Communications and Information Technology Commission - CITC (2007). The technology that supports e - learning may vary according to the situation. Suthers et al (2006) state that any e-learning tool should enhance the collaborative learning of the user. Practical examples like Computer Supported Social Networks (CSSN) act as resources for the instructors and the learners says Okamoto (2003). Many existing programs like WebCT and Blackboard provide facilities for chatting, emailing the lectures, submitting assignments and for posting queries. This enables the learners to track their activities in the learning process says Li et al (2008). Ryan & Mark (2005), state that e-learning has been adopted not only in educational universities but also in corporate training. They say that bringing instructors from other places to train the employees involves increased costs and may be inefficient some times. They also add that corporate training through e-learning seems to be more effective, less expensive and also reduces the time during training. Occasionally there may be difficulties and conflicts when the discussion involves persons of varied skills says Liaw & Huang (2007 ). Also Mykota & Duncan (2007) quotes that another drawback of e-learning is the need for technical skill to use the tools related to e-learning. Zembylas & Vrasidas ( 2007 ) states that due to lack of face to face interaction, it becomes difficult for the instructor to determine whether the learner has understood the concept or not. Thus the e-learning method has certain disadvantages which are chosen to be addressed in this research. Research Objectives : From the above literature it is evident that e - learning is a potential learning environment. This learning environment needs to be effective, consistent and purposeful. Hence this research aims at addressing the key issues that will improve the quality of education provided through e-learning. These issues relate to the online course structure, awareness and training to the staff , mentorship strategies, supporting programs that enhance the activities of e – learning, e – resources, etc. Research Scenario : To find out the strategies for effective and enhanced e-learning, a particular institution has been chosen to get the research data. The research data has been collected from one of the leading online universities named “ ______________”. This university has been practicing e – learning for nearly two years. The university has many students from all around the world enrolled in the different courses offered. The university has some facilities for e –learning such as online registration, online fees collection, online virtual classroom, mentorship scheme, online submission of assignments and tutorials, online distribution of course materials, online presentations of lectures through power point, online examination scheme, membership to online library including a book shopping site, online feedback scheme to improve the quality of e-learning. Research Methodology : To collect the research data both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. The qualitative approach has been adopted for interviews and the quantitative method has been used for questionnaires. For reliable answers the interview questions need to be open in nature says Mc Murray et al (2004). To have reliability in the questionnaire method, each question must be related to only one specific problem and they should be in multiple choice pattern. The questions and interviews are to be focused on issues related to the e-learning in practice and the ways to improve them. The answers for these interviews and questions are to be collected from the teachers or mentors and form the students of various courses. Sample questions can be Is the online fee payment system secured? Is the quality of the tools used to deliver lectures adequate? Suggest some other tools . Is the response time sufficient? Is the online library useful and adequate? Are the lecture materials posted in the collaborative forum? Are there problems in taking up tests? Not only these, but a large number of questions need to be considered for collecting the data that are required the research. Research - Data Interpretation and Analysis : To analyze the data collected, we need to go for a mathematical representation of them. We can opt for a frequency distribution or percentage calculation for each question. Then these can be subjected to mean and standard deviation calculation. The mean plot can be constructed to find the correlation between the data collected. Based on these calculations some critical findings can be consolidated. These findings will have to be considered for the successful implementation of the e-learning environment. These findings can be even used to find a perfect business or enterprise model to implement the system. Bernus et al (2003) states that the enterprise architecture can be used to get a full description of the various processes that should be adopted to implement the critical findings in a more appropriate manner. Research Outcome – Proposed Strategies : As discussed earlier, the analysis of the data from the qualitative and quantitative methods lead to certain findings, that help in making decisions and formulate the required strategies. Some examples for the proposed strategies may be Implementing programs for the staff development. Methods to improve infrastructure. Improvements in the administration procedures. Identifying financial resources. Conclusion : Thus the above research proposal outlines the research scenario of e-learning and proposes certain strategies for creating effective and enhanced e-learning opportunities. The required data for the research have been collected by both qualitative and quantitative methods. References : Bernus. P, Nemes.L & Schmidt. G , 2003, Handbook on Enterprise Architecture, Springer Publications. CITC, 2007, Communications and Information technology Commission (CITC), . Latchman. H.A., Salzmann. C., Thottapilly. S. & Bouzekri. H., 1998, Hybrid Asynchronous and Synchronous Learning Networks in Distance Education., International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE 1998., ref : LA – CONF -1998-007. Li. Q, Lau. R.W.H., Shih. T.K. & Li. F.W.B., 2008 , Technology supports for distributed and collaborative learning over the internet. Transaction On Internet technology ( TOIT), Vol.8, issue 2, ACM. Liaw. S & Huang. H. , 2007, Developing a Collaborative e-Learning System Based on Users’ Perceptions, LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, Vol. 4402, p. 751. Maneschijn. M.M., 2005, THE E-LEARNING DOME: A COMPREHENSIVE E- LEARNING ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT MODEL. Research work, University of South Africa. Mc Murray. A. , Pace. R. W. & Scott. D. , 2004 , Research: A Commonsense Approach, Thomson Learning Nelson. Mykota. D. & Duncan. R., 2007, Learner Characteristics as Predictors of Online Social Presence, Canadian Journal OF Education, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 157- 70. Okamoto. T. , 2003, E-collaborative learning technologies and e-pedagogy, , 2003. Proceedings. The 3rd IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, Issue 9 – 11 , pp. 516- 517. Ryan. C. & Mark. L., 2005, Successful eLearning Strategies - Interactive eLearning for an Interactive Age, Entelisys Technologies LLC / 877-473-5300 / www.entelisys.com Suthers. D.D., Vatrapu. R., Joseph. S., Dwyer. N. & Medina. R., 2006, Representational effects in asynchronous collaboration: A research paradigm and initial analysis, Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii. Zembylas. M. & Vrasidas. C., 2007, Listening for Silence in Text-Based, Online Encounters, Distance Education, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 5-24. Read More