Many teachers from different institutions were asked to publish documents and academic contents to students on e-learning platforms. It is a good initiative, but can it be enough for students in order to progress during self-isolation time? Don't you think that it's time to consider e-distance-learning programs as part of the academic program taught in universities? Are documentation only sufficient, or should we consider multimedia material and interactive activities as well?
Your thoughts are the most welcome!
Meriem L. Aarizou Emergency remote learning is far way better option than delaying education. Considering the unprecedented circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is high time for institutions to reimagine how to deliver quality instruction. The situation seems agile needing an agile response from institutions. A quick, but planned transformation from the traditional classroom to online environment is much of a "need" now. An investment, however, comes with a price. The decision boils down to the capacity of the institutions to survive and thrive during the "new" normal. Should institutions invest, however, they have to secure that education guarantees "inclusiveness". Institutions need to redesign synchronous and asynchrounous teaching and learning practices in such a way that teaching and learning are not compromised because of low bandwidth or internet connectivity, among other issues.
As example, algerian universities' websites have LMS (I think all are with Moodle) integrated and ask lecturers to let courses for their students... but I think the problem will be with some students (may be the majority of them?) because they never visited these virtual spaces and don't know how to use them. The interactivity in e-learning needs more formation for both lecturers and students.
I think that, now, a simple page created by the lecturer in Facebook will be more easy (to create, use and interact) for all and more atractiv for the students already conected in Facebook !
of course we should also consider multimedia material and interactive activities as well
Fateh-Eddine Boumendjel So basically, as a part-time teacher, I do not have access to our university LMS, I don't have an instructor account, so I can not use it to publish any content. I usually use my gitHub account to publish academic contents to my students (Fiches TP, supports, sujets etc.) as you said it is easy to use, no need for any subscription and it can be shared to anybody using social media. Moreover, my students of this academic year can find documents form last year and the year before. But can this be enough for my students so they can progress at home during self-isolation? The main question is: Can "sharing academic documents" be called e-learning program?
Yousif Yaqoob Yousif Yes this question has been raised a lot, this discussion is part of my research program so your opinions is the most welcome.
Özgür Önday What do you suggest as activity? Your opinion is valuable
Thank you all for taking part of this discussion
The Four Rationales for Introducing ICT in Education
Social : Perceived role that technology now plays in society and the need for familiarizing students with technology.
Vocational : Preparing students for jobs that require skills in technology.
Catalytic : Utility of technology to improve performance and effectiveness in teaching, management and many other social activities.
Pedagogical :To utilize technology in enhancing learning, flexibility and efficiency in curriculum delivery.
Source: Cross, M. & Adam, F. (2007). ICT Policies and Strategies in Higher Education in South Africa: National and Institutional Pathways’, Higher Education Policy 20(1), 73–95.
Benefits of ICT in education to the main stakeholders
Students
Increased access,
Flexibility of content and delivery,
Combination of work and education,
Learner-centred approach,
Higher-quality of education and new-ways of interaction.
Employers
High quality, cost effective professional development in the workplace,
Upgrading of employee skills, increased productivity,
Developing of a new learning culture,
Sharing of costs and of training time with the employees,
Increased portability of training
Governments
Increase the capacity and cost effectiveness of education and training systems, To reach target groups with limited access to conventional education and training, To support and enhance the quality and relevance of existing educational structures,
To ensure the connection of educational institutions and curricula to the emerging networks and information resources,
To promote innovation and opportunities for lifelong learning
Source: UNESCO (2002). Open and Distance Learning Trends, Policy and Strategy Considerations, UNESCO.
In some situations they are useful! Let us hope that this will not last for long time!
Real E-learning (I mean: not just using ICT as a tool in a classic process of learning) demands new 'didactics', because both Time and Space (in which learning takes place) need to be re-ordered.
The problem with the so-called e-learning platforms of our universities is that they consider sharing documents and videos alone is sufficient. But there are millions of documents and videos on Youtube, MOOCs platforms, social media..., yet we still have universities, and students still come to universities to learn.
Unfortunately, creating more advanced e-learning platforms need time and effort. It's not easy to prepare a regular course and update it continuously, and it's even harder if we try to create interactive workshops online using simulators, games, or virtual classrooms. As a rough estimate, I think it will take several months for a dedicated team to build those platforms, and we need some powerful servers to host them because interactive content requires a lot of computational power.
My point is that universities should have considered creating these platforms and their content way before this pandemic started, in order to get a viable e-learning user experience that can adapt to different students learning pace. Don't forget that motivating students to learn is part of our job. The kind of arguments saying that "students don't want to learn even if we share with them the documents and videos" are too simplistic, motivation and procrastination are complicated processes that even most brilliant psychologists have difficulties handling them.
However, since we already are in a crysis situation, we should consider other ways of teaching online, such as one-to-one or one-to-many conference calls, creating videos demonstrating how we solve some problems...etc. This may be less efficient than virtual simulated workshops, but at least can keep the students somewhat motivated during this period.
Putting educational content online is not yesterday news, there have always been institutions (like the MIT) or individual teachers who put their academic documents and multimedia contents on YouTube or different platforms. As you mentioned Amine Bendahmane the main purpose was not to substitute academic teaching, but to give students permanent access to the material, or to help others to get better understanding.
On the other hand, putting complete academic high educational program on the internet, is something new that started in the last decade. I think that some universities, like ours in Algeria, didn't care about creating academic programs online, because high education is already free for everyone, no need for free content on the internet, lectures are already free. Besides, all universities have basically the same programs to teach, so nobody would care to check for a video content which is already available in campus. Or nobody would care to attend a lecture, which is already available online.
In my opinion, regardless the outbreak situation, "real" e-learning experience would have many benefits on different aspects in our educational program (I agree with Dick Wursten ). Our universities have always faced high numbers of students, less classrooms, less pedagogical devices and non-coordinated educational content. E-learning process would have been a good experience to many institutions to give complementary teaching content, a platform for practical home works and real following up from instructors. With this type of platforms teaching hours can be extended and more activities can be created. This means, on the other hand, that students must have permanent access to the internet, which is problematic in some areas. We know that Internet speed is not stable, not everybody has access to the internet and 4G services are expensive as well. (I personally can not attend a webinar during the outbreak, because of the internet quality)
Using e-learning now with no experience whatsoever before the outbreak, and with no actual plan, would be a waste of time. If we want to have a start in this domain, we have to begin by dropping the old archaic teaching methods, and use technology more effectively in classrooms, and as a way of communication as well.
Whatever the title may be, e-learning, distance learning, vitual learning, or mobile learning, the warrented pandemic immersion has lead to seriously evolve into a university that is capable of both in campus and online delivery. But, the capability doesn't pose any issue because it is mostly related to equipping oneself, the real challenge is in smoothly transitioning or migrating to online curricula that is well mapped for measurable course and program compentencies while allowing interchange of information among the students and teachers; wherein, teachers' role shouldn't just be the monological transmiter of information that is mostly borrowed from internet sources (i.e. YouTube, Vimeo, Wiki, SlideShares, etc.) and vastly plagiaried. As the Chairman of E-learning at the University of Buraimi, I believe insitutions should set up one platform and design deliverable courses around it rather than just using ubiquituous tools from all over the internet that tends to make the students gain intelligible understanding about different the software, web-applications and mobile applications. No doubt, students are intelligent, but their know-how about the tools is limited. Hence, induction is necessary at every level of where a new software, or application is engaged for online delivery. In its entirety, online education is the most demanded alternative and doable but it needs time and proven trials to match with the in campus teaching methodologies to plausibly make it a perfect alternative rather than a choice.
This Covid-19 pandemic brought in a lot of challenges for teachers, students and academic administers alike. However, it opened up a lot of opportunities as well. We are now exploring different ways to engage students during their online sessions. In order to ensure learning, we need to transfer information, test student learning, give them feedback and engage them with meaningful activities that facilitate their learning. It is the responsibility of the teacher to identify/utilize suitable methods and online tools/applications to ensure the learning objectives are sufficiently attained. A suitable webinar platform with discussion / chat room options can make a session sufficiently interactive (e.g. Blackboard collaborate ultra, GoToMeeting, etc.).Using the same platform, we can test student learning and provide them with feedback. If we integrate that with real-time quizzes, customized videos and meaningful assignments (to be completed and submitted at a later time), we can create a learning environment that is comparable to a classroom. As rightly mentioned, necessary induction programs are very important. At the same time, willingness of the faculty to bring in a change is equally important too.
From my point of view, interactive formats are very important, especially for the medium and lower performing students.
You can also give lessons online as well as face-to-face (via zoom, Google classroom, etc.), students can also interact by asking questions.
Good point! Interactive and multi-media resources are very important, enrich the educational process, and lead to quality learning outcomes.
Could be consider like another approach to leaning in school.
This pandemy periode is a opportunity to test this approach.
After two or three months of using e-learning platforms, I think that there are some initial results which are encouraging. At our university, we opted for Moodle as an online teaching platform (free and open source) with more features (quiz, homework, multiple choice questions, etc.). In addition, a virtual classroom tool was adopted through the integration of BigBlueButton. Other tools can be used for virtual courses like Zoom Meeting. This will allow students to stay always in touch with their teachers even in virtual manner.
text, pictures, videos, posters, infographics,....multimedia content, are the best for interactive learning, so we used blackboard platform for that.
I agree with E-learning platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. But not all course contents need online live teacher-student interaction or video meet. Some course contents and learning objectives can be attained through streaming similar to what we do in RG. For me I will examine the curriculum and determine the appropriate delivery mode of instruction for the curriculum contents. I will use blended learning, combination of online instruction and face-to-face instruction. Similarly, I will also determine online and face-to-face assessments. Distance Education should be approached with flexibility base on the outcome of teaching-learning process. One of the major concern is how to make the students motivated to learn at home.
Meriem L. Aarizou Emergency remote learning is far way better option than delaying education. Considering the unprecedented circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is high time for institutions to reimagine how to deliver quality instruction. The situation seems agile needing an agile response from institutions. A quick, but planned transformation from the traditional classroom to online environment is much of a "need" now. An investment, however, comes with a price. The decision boils down to the capacity of the institutions to survive and thrive during the "new" normal. Should institutions invest, however, they have to secure that education guarantees "inclusiveness". Institutions need to redesign synchronous and asynchrounous teaching and learning practices in such a way that teaching and learning are not compromised because of low bandwidth or internet connectivity, among other issues.
Well, I guess, as schools/institutions prepare the reopening of classes, we need to consider most the marginalized sector- students in this e-learning-distance education programs. In these challenging times, schools or institutions need to reimagine how schools should deliver quality learning to students in their respective localities/contexts. I hope that my idea/opinion somehow contributed to this question, Maam Meriem L. Aarizou 😃
E-learning is the ultimate in the 21st century once we have full blown IT revolution. Posting documents and online interaction is not different from sitting in bricks and mortar infrastructure for lectures since many countries lack infrastructure (lecture halls and accomodation). The only teething problem with e-learning especially in many African countries is the non-existence of internet connectivity in rural areas. If internet is available and reliable, e-learning is ultimate to go by.
Interactive activities and discussions are not only recommended but a must in E-learning; not only in medical teaching or scientific specialities but also in all forms of teaching even theoretical studies like literature or philosophy, otherwise, the process will not be teaching but only lecturing. However, we should admit that the decision makers need to take an action forward by preparing well trained staff for this mode of learning particularly in developing countries.
It is really the time to think over the approach and importance of e-learning / distance learning once again.
Yes. It's time to think differently.. We can used blended learning..Along with online learning , e-distance-learning programs can also be considered.
In this time of crisis, the education system is also affected in terms of instruction. Our school resorts to other learning modalities to cater to all kinds of students. From full use of the LMS, and partial use of the LMS to modular (soft copy), and modular (hard copy) provided for the students. As a maritime professor, it is important to conduct a performance-based assessment in every professional course at end of the course outcomes that requires Face to Face (F2F) learning approach to validate their actual performance on certain competencies needed onboard. To respond with this concern, at the same time not to jeopardize the safety of the students, proper planning in the conduct of assessment must be acted upon with a limited number of students present in the assessment vicinity.
I think the way to mediate knowledge in these times of pandemic, you have to adopt new strategies, and of course the more interaction with students the better chance that they will be able to build the concepts more effectively. Therefore, students need to be actively involved in knowledge building, and interactive strategies and materials are needed.
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