DATO' JAMAL MENCARI AZURA
5 days ago
Thursday, April 9, 2009
BLOG QUEstiOnAiRe- SKBP 1023™
Age : 20 years old
Tutorial group : group 3
Lecturer : Assoc Prof Datin Dr. Norizan Abdul Razak
1. Do you enjoy blogging?
Yes because this is my first experience to have my own blog although it is only for posting my SKBP-1023 assignment and I really enjoy it.
2. Based on your experience what is benefit of blogging?
The benefit of blogging is we can share our ideas or opinions with another people without need to feel guilty and there is no limit.
3. Do you need more assistance to set your blog?
Of course I need more assistance right now to set my blog because this is my first blog. I need someone else to help and explain to me what the function for each gadget is.
4. Do you have any memorable / favorite topic in your blog?
No memorable and favourite topic.
5. List 5 advantages of blogging for you
· The process is more like play and less like work
· Blogging is easy
· Blog can reflect the personality
· Cost efficient advertising
· Blog can be a positive way of getting feedback, and keeping your finger on the pulse, as readers react to certain pieces, suggest story ideas, etc.
6. List 5 disadvantages of blogging
· Most people don’t have very much to say that’s interesting, and or are unable to write down their ideas in a compelling and clear manner.
· I have often found that the people who have most time to write have least to say, and the people who have most to say don’t have enough time to write it. Thus, the real expertise within the organization lays hidden, as you get drowned in trivia.
· Like practically everything else on the Web, blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain.
· It can be quite stressful when you’re overwhelmed with posting schedules, deadlines, e-mails and other mambo jumbo that might intervene. This all ads up and can be damaging to your health.
· There is a risk that an ill-judged comment could be seized upon by the media or disgruntled investors.
7. Will you continue blogging after the course?
Yes because I feel this blog can be medium to contact for each other between my course mate and me, and also between my lecturer and me.
8. Do you think that blogging improve your writing?
Yes.
9. Do you think that we should continue with blogging activity for the next batch of students?
Yes.
10. Will you recommend your friend to blog?
Yes.
11. Can you teach a friend to set up his or her blog?
No by right now and yes for the future.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
CONcorDaNcE™
Posting 5 is about CONCORDANCE. I have found two articles about concordance and its applications in language learning.
FIRST ARTICLE
The first article is about 'Is there any measurable learning from hands-on concordancing?’ by Tom Cobb, Division of Language Studies, City University of Hong Kong. To know more detail, you can read the summary that I have evaluated.
Summary
This article attempts to identify a specific learning effect that can be unambiguously attributed to the use of concordance software by language learners. A base-level hypothesis for learning from concordances is proposed, that a computer concordance might simulate and potentially rationalize off-line vocabulary acquisition by presenting new words in several contexts. To test this idea, an experimental lexical tutor was developed to introduce new words to subjects, either through concordances or through other sources of lexical information. In a series of tests involving transfer of word knowledge to novel contexts, a small but consistent gain was found for words introduced through concordances.
If you want to read more about this article, just link to http://www.lextutor.ca/cv/Hands_on.html
SECOND ARTICLE
The topic of the second article is ‘Giving learners something to do with concordance output’ by Tom Cobb. I hope that you can make the first view about this article by read my summary about it.
Summary
The article is about Hands-on learner concordance that has been regularly described for more than 15 years as an interesting approach in computer assisted language learning. However, it is not clear that concordance is ever used with any but advanced students (while the vast majority of language learners are intermediate), for more than a handful of guided sessions (which rarely lead to subsequent independent use), or that there is any demonstrated learning advantage of concordance over cheaper means of exploring a second language (e.g., dictionaries, grammar books, TV or cassettes).
You also can read this article by visit this web, http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/conference/papers/Cobb
My Own Personal View
Concordance is a tool or a program (software) that helps to list the words in context. Purpose for concordance is to analyze the text and it’s suitable for those who want to study texts closely or analyze language in depth. We can use concordance to make indexes and word lists. Secondly, we can use it to counting word frequencies. This can help us to make sure our work easier. Other than that, using concordance, we can compare different usages of a word, analyze keywords, find phrases and idioms, and publish it to the web. Applications of concordance, besides language teaching and learning we also can apply concordance as a data mining and data clean-up. Like me, I use it as our literary work and linguistic. Concordances are frequently used as a tool in linguistics that can be used for the study of a text, such as: comparing different usages of the same word, analysing keywords, analysing word frequencies, finding and analysing phrases and idioms, finding translations of sub sentential elements, e.g. terminology, in bitexts and translation memories, creating indexes and word lists (also useful for publishing).
Sunday, March 22, 2009
E-LEARNING
Hype guys, this is my fourth posting for my language and ict blog. For this posting, I have found 2 articles which is related with the topic of E-learning from online databased,EBSCOHost that subscribed by Tun Sri Lanang libraries.
1st article
Designing Asynchronous E-Learning
By Ethan Edwards
A primary area of investment in corporate e-learning development is asynchronous learning. As opposed to traditional instructor-led training or even distance learning that centres on teleconferencing and online presentations, asynchronous e-learning occurs in an environment where a single learner interacts directly with content via a technology system, maximizing flexibility in timing and access for the learner by allowing learner control of pace, schedule, and location.
Success factors
While traditional instructional design principles are still central to creating effective e-learning, they are not sufficient in themselves to create learning in an asynchronous learning environment. Arching over traditional design practices is the need to account for the unique requirements of computer-delivered instruction and interaction through three powerful success factors. While these factors actually apply to all learning, they are absolutely essential when designing asynchronous e-learning.
1. Motivate the learner to learn.
The importance of motivation in the learning process is well-understood. Learners (particularly adults) need to comprehend and value the anticipated outcomes of the learning event but also be energized to engage in learning activities with focused attention.
However, motivation in most traditional learning environments doesn’t come from design, but rather from unpredictable dynamic characteristics of the learning environment—the wit and personality of the instructor, social contact and expectations from peers, and real-time adjustments by students and instructors to the immediacy of the teaching moment. Unfortunately, these motivation factors are frequently absent from asynchronous e-learning. The designer must step outside of the comfortable boundaries of writing objectives and sequencing content and, in addition, design full experiences in which the learner can understand personal relevance, take ownership of incentives to perform (perhaps through risk or urgency), be an active participant in learning, and engage in an emotional context. Any e learning that fails to account for these elements will fail to connect authentically with the learner, and ultimately fail as a teaching tool, no matter how perfectly the content is crafted.
2. Focus on behavioural outcomes.
Teaching is dependent on effective two way communication. While graphics, audio, video, and other media presentation avenues provide a rich channel of information to the learner, designers of e-learning are at a severe disadvantage to create meaningful interactions simply because the methods for gaining information from the learner are so limited. Excepting specialized input mechanisms such as voice recognition or customized control devices, most lessons can only tell if the learner has pointed to something or if they have typed some letters on the keyboard. This leads to ridiculously simplistic questioning techniques.
But we know that learners best master and remember the things they do. When learners are only asked to operate at the level of trivial recall, they invest little of the effort required for meaningful learning. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to then engage in significant meaningful feedback.
Designers must work dedicatedly to overcome these limits by designing challenges in which the learner’s actions require active processing and represent real-world actions. The learning interactions should shift away from simple recall of information and move toward application of information to achieve some valuable outcome.
3. Create meaningful and memorable experiences.
Learners need assistance in attaching meaning and significance to new content. When all content is treated identically, both in media and in teaching strategy, learners have nothing distinctive or relevant to aid them in creating competencies that will persist beyond the learning event. When asked about successful learning experiences, almost all people acknowledge that those learning events were a success more because of how the learning occurred rather than specifically what was learned.
When e-learning is built within strict standards that stipulate absolute uniformity across lessons, it becomes nearly impossible for learners to attach specific meaning to any particular bit of that content. When everything looks the same, it is hard to remember any specific detail. When content is written in the style of documentation rather than as a narrative to engage and draw the reader along, it is challenging to read for meaning.
While it is important to create standards and processes to make the development of e-learning efficient, the design still needs to create distinctiveness and purpose so that the learner has some hope of taking a long-lasting experience away from the training.
The challenge
The benefits of asynchronous learning often come at the cost of meaningful and memorable learning, though e-learning is often characterized as boring, simplistic, and ineffective. Because there is no instructor present in the learning moment, the design process for asynchronous e-learning must include specific plans for engaging the learner in targeted learning actions in a way that designers of traditional instruction have not had to use.
Results
Incorporating these principles into the design of asynchronous e-learning components is a learner entered (rather than a content-cantered) approach to instruction. Constructivist theories of learning tell us the importance of individual and active processing and assembling new knowledge and skills. Accounting for these success factors in e-learning design will automatically shift the learning environment to one in which the learner is focused on performance outcomes rather than on the simple acquisition of content.
Making It Work
…to motivate the learner
Build on existing learner motivations
Create challenge through risk
Provide intrinsic feedback and progress measures
Adjust level of challenge to learner skills
Expand user control whenever possible
…to focus on behavioural outcomes
Build activities around real-world applications
Avoid canned response mechanisms (for example,
press a, b, c, or d)
Incorporate direct manipulation of elements
when possible
Eliminate trivia-recall tasks (unless, of course, you are
teaching trivia!)
Minimize overwhelming volume of “nice-to know”
distractions
…to create meaningful and memorable experiences
Use graphic elements to create an attractive and
distinctive context
Create challenge through risk
Provide intrinsic feedback and progress measures
Localize the experience to individual learner’s
experiences and goals where possible
Provide sufficient review and practice
Resources:
E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program, 2-day seminar.
Offered online and at locations across North America by ASTD. See http://www/. astd.org/content/education/ certificate Programs for dates and locations
Advanced E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program, 2-day seminar. Offered online and at locations across North America by ASTD. See http://www.astd.org/ content/education/certificate Programs for dates and locations
Allen MW [2002]. Michael Allen’s Guide to E-Learning. Hoboken, New Jersey, Wiley Allen MA [2007]. Designing Successful e-Learning, Michael Allen’s Online Learning Library: Forget What You Know About Instructional Design and Do Something Interesting. San Francisco, Pfeiffer
Summarize
The article discusses the design and construction of asynchronous e-learning instruction systems for use in the corporate environment. Asynchronous e-learning is defined by the author as an environment where a single learner interacts directly with content via a technology system. Such systems maximize flexibility of timing and access for the learner, the author states, by allowing the student to control the schedule, pace, and location of the learning. Besides, it also motivates the learner to learn, focus on behavioural outcomes, and create meaningful and memorable experiences. Do not forget also about their own challenge and results. While it is important to create standards and processes to make the development of e-learning efficient, the design still needs to create distinctiveness and purpose so that the learner has some hope of taking a long-lasting experience away from the training.
By Ethan Edwards
A primary area of investment in corporate e-learning development is asynchronous learning. As opposed to traditional instructor-led training or even distance learning that centres on teleconferencing and online presentations, asynchronous e-learning occurs in an environment where a single learner interacts directly with content via a technology system, maximizing flexibility in timing and access for the learner by allowing learner control of pace, schedule, and location.
Success factors
While traditional instructional design principles are still central to creating effective e-learning, they are not sufficient in themselves to create learning in an asynchronous learning environment. Arching over traditional design practices is the need to account for the unique requirements of computer-delivered instruction and interaction through three powerful success factors. While these factors actually apply to all learning, they are absolutely essential when designing asynchronous e-learning.
1. Motivate the learner to learn.
The importance of motivation in the learning process is well-understood. Learners (particularly adults) need to comprehend and value the anticipated outcomes of the learning event but also be energized to engage in learning activities with focused attention.
However, motivation in most traditional learning environments doesn’t come from design, but rather from unpredictable dynamic characteristics of the learning environment—the wit and personality of the instructor, social contact and expectations from peers, and real-time adjustments by students and instructors to the immediacy of the teaching moment. Unfortunately, these motivation factors are frequently absent from asynchronous e-learning. The designer must step outside of the comfortable boundaries of writing objectives and sequencing content and, in addition, design full experiences in which the learner can understand personal relevance, take ownership of incentives to perform (perhaps through risk or urgency), be an active participant in learning, and engage in an emotional context. Any e learning that fails to account for these elements will fail to connect authentically with the learner, and ultimately fail as a teaching tool, no matter how perfectly the content is crafted.
2. Focus on behavioural outcomes.
Teaching is dependent on effective two way communication. While graphics, audio, video, and other media presentation avenues provide a rich channel of information to the learner, designers of e-learning are at a severe disadvantage to create meaningful interactions simply because the methods for gaining information from the learner are so limited. Excepting specialized input mechanisms such as voice recognition or customized control devices, most lessons can only tell if the learner has pointed to something or if they have typed some letters on the keyboard. This leads to ridiculously simplistic questioning techniques.
But we know that learners best master and remember the things they do. When learners are only asked to operate at the level of trivial recall, they invest little of the effort required for meaningful learning. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to then engage in significant meaningful feedback.
Designers must work dedicatedly to overcome these limits by designing challenges in which the learner’s actions require active processing and represent real-world actions. The learning interactions should shift away from simple recall of information and move toward application of information to achieve some valuable outcome.
3. Create meaningful and memorable experiences.
Learners need assistance in attaching meaning and significance to new content. When all content is treated identically, both in media and in teaching strategy, learners have nothing distinctive or relevant to aid them in creating competencies that will persist beyond the learning event. When asked about successful learning experiences, almost all people acknowledge that those learning events were a success more because of how the learning occurred rather than specifically what was learned.
When e-learning is built within strict standards that stipulate absolute uniformity across lessons, it becomes nearly impossible for learners to attach specific meaning to any particular bit of that content. When everything looks the same, it is hard to remember any specific detail. When content is written in the style of documentation rather than as a narrative to engage and draw the reader along, it is challenging to read for meaning.
While it is important to create standards and processes to make the development of e-learning efficient, the design still needs to create distinctiveness and purpose so that the learner has some hope of taking a long-lasting experience away from the training.
The challenge
The benefits of asynchronous learning often come at the cost of meaningful and memorable learning, though e-learning is often characterized as boring, simplistic, and ineffective. Because there is no instructor present in the learning moment, the design process for asynchronous e-learning must include specific plans for engaging the learner in targeted learning actions in a way that designers of traditional instruction have not had to use.
Results
Incorporating these principles into the design of asynchronous e-learning components is a learner entered (rather than a content-cantered) approach to instruction. Constructivist theories of learning tell us the importance of individual and active processing and assembling new knowledge and skills. Accounting for these success factors in e-learning design will automatically shift the learning environment to one in which the learner is focused on performance outcomes rather than on the simple acquisition of content.
Making It Work
…to motivate the learner
Build on existing learner motivations
Create challenge through risk
Provide intrinsic feedback and progress measures
Adjust level of challenge to learner skills
Expand user control whenever possible
…to focus on behavioural outcomes
Build activities around real-world applications
Avoid canned response mechanisms (for example,
press a, b, c, or d)
Incorporate direct manipulation of elements
when possible
Eliminate trivia-recall tasks (unless, of course, you are
teaching trivia!)
Minimize overwhelming volume of “nice-to know”
distractions
…to create meaningful and memorable experiences
Use graphic elements to create an attractive and
distinctive context
Create challenge through risk
Provide intrinsic feedback and progress measures
Localize the experience to individual learner’s
experiences and goals where possible
Provide sufficient review and practice
Resources:
E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program, 2-day seminar.
Offered online and at locations across North America by ASTD. See http://www/. astd.org/content/education/ certificate Programs for dates and locations
Advanced E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program, 2-day seminar. Offered online and at locations across North America by ASTD. See http://www.astd.org/ content/education/certificate Programs for dates and locations
Allen MW [2002]. Michael Allen’s Guide to E-Learning. Hoboken, New Jersey, Wiley Allen MA [2007]. Designing Successful e-Learning, Michael Allen’s Online Learning Library: Forget What You Know About Instructional Design and Do Something Interesting. San Francisco, Pfeiffer
Summarize
The article discusses the design and construction of asynchronous e-learning instruction systems for use in the corporate environment. Asynchronous e-learning is defined by the author as an environment where a single learner interacts directly with content via a technology system. Such systems maximize flexibility of timing and access for the learner, the author states, by allowing the student to control the schedule, pace, and location of the learning. Besides, it also motivates the learner to learn, focus on behavioural outcomes, and create meaningful and memorable experiences. Do not forget also about their own challenge and results. While it is important to create standards and processes to make the development of e-learning efficient, the design still needs to create distinctiveness and purpose so that the learner has some hope of taking a long-lasting experience away from the training.
2nd article
Education for Primary Care (2008) 19: 547–8 # 2008 Radcliffe Publishing Limited
The e-learning site
Plagiarism is cheating. This message is becoming increasingly important in the academic world and there has been a recent high-profile GMC case. It has never been easier and it is often ignored by learners and their tutors. It may be something else that we can blame on the rise of the internet.
There is downright deceit and lying but are these instances rare? A quick look on Google or any other search engine will quickly show websites that offer the magic answer to writing an essay. A few hours (and the expense of a few pounds) later, the deceitful student can obtain the essay of their dreams. The astute educator may recognise the same essay being presented by several students but thankfully spotting the cheat is easier with the widespread use of services such as Turnitin.1 This web based service can instantly identify essays that contain unoriginal material by comparing the uploaded essay not only with material already published on the web but also with what has been previously submitted to Turn tin. The service can be integrated with all of the major VLEs (virtual learning environments) that are found in higher education. It is worthwhile seeing what is available if you are a tutor on any course in this context. A second-best approach is to pick a random piece of text from a student’s essay and search for this in Google. You may be surprised!
Most plagiarism is unintentional and simply due to being sloppy. The University of Leeds has an excellent website that is well worth visiting to update your views.2 The site notes the common and often unrecognised practice, when a piece of work is created by cutting and pasting various sections of text and/or images found on the internet into a document without referencing the sources. Does this sound familiar? I often see mini excerpts from Wikipedia or Google appearing in assignments. I suggest that all educators should become more aware and set an example themselves and also to quickly identify bad practice in their colleagues and learners.
An interesting spat has recently occurred at Toronto’s Ryerson University. 3 A student set up a Face book page in which he encouraged fellow students to send in and share answers to various chemistry problems. The student’s argument was that this was analogous to a virtual study group that students did already, including face to face. However, the university took a different stance and regarded the action as misconduct since there was swapping of answers and the online approach was ‘inappropriate’. The commentary by Ivory To sell notes the apparent paranoia that educational institutions have when faced with new technology, especially when they are not in control and it is outside the formal VLE.
This nicely leads into the current debate about control in e-learning.4 John Drone provides an eloquent discussion of the need for freedom to be given to learners to use a wide variety of web-based resources as part of their education rather than being provided with one pre-digested chunk of information on a VLE. The concern is always about the quality of the web-based resources but this can be assured by the educator previewing the content. The tutor becomes a guide rather than sole provider. The learner benefits by developing a rich learning experience that can be personalised to the learner. This process is analogous to creating your own spaghetti bolognaise from your favourite ingredients instead of something more bland from the supermarket. It takes time but the process of learning is important in becoming a life- long learner. It’s a bit like learning to cook for yourself! The challenge for all educators is to develop their teaching using this approach.
Ronald Harden recently wrote a thought-provoking commentary in Medical Teacher.5 He notes that the aspiration of e-learning is to make existing approaches to teaching and learning more effective and efficient but he highlights that much of e-learning is ‘an amateurish forrago that is neither an inspiring or rewarding learning experience’. He proposes a more fundamental shift in e-learning so that it becomes more personalised to the needs of individual learners, with a greater choice of a range of different learning resources. He also suggests that there should be greater investment in peer assisted and collaborative learning to create online communities of practice.
This vision of e-learning in the future is quite threatening to many educators. It will require fundamental changes in the way that educators conceptualise and subsequently provide e-learning experiences. My experience is that many educators simply repackage handouts and presentations onto a webpage or set up an online discussion board. The skill of an ‘e-educator’ is the creation of a learning journey that is relevant to the needs of the learner. This journey must have a clear endpoint but, like any journey, needs to be made interesting to each individual. As any parent will testify, not all kids are the same.
If you are thinking of developing your teaching and using more e-learning it is important to be clear about what you are hoping to achieve but more importantly, it is essential to consider how you expect the learner to achieve the desired outcomes. Do you want a learner that unthinkingly downloads pre-digested information sheets? Do you want a learner that is fully engaged in the learning process who looks at a range of different resources, from blogs written by patients and doctors to podcasts produced by world-class experts, and then assimilates the information to present it as a blog that can be shared with other learners?
The future vision of e-learning is within the grasp of all educators and hopefully will be provided to all learners. Technology has never been easier to use but the future is not technical. It is the fundamental pedagogy that needs to change. That is the challenge.
References
1 www.turnitin.com/ (accessed 02/07/08).
2 www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism/index.php
(accessed 02/07/08).
3 Tossell I (2008) Is it sharing? Is it cheating?
Either way, it’s the future of studying. The
Globe and Mail, 14 March 2008, www.theglobe
andmail.com/ (accessed 02/07/08).
4 Dron J (2007) Control and Constraint in ELearning:
choosing when to choose. Idea Group
Publishing: Hershey PA
5 Harden RM (2008) E-learning – caged bird or
soaring eagle? Medical Teacher 30: 1–4.
JOHN SANDARS
j.e.sandars@leeds.ac.uk
Summarize
The article reports on the significance of electronic-learning (e-learning) to medical students in the U.S. These e-learning site is advantageous to medical students especially in writing essays and reports because one can get great ideas on the site. But one should avoid copying and pasting the exact text provide on the site because it is a form of plagiarism or cheating. It may be something else that we can blame on the rise of the internet. A second-best approach is to pick a random piece of text from a student’s essay and search for this in Google. You may be surprised! I suggest that all educators should become more aware and set an example themselves and also to quickly identify bad practice in their colleagues and learners. The challenge for all educators is to develop their teaching using this approach.
There is downright deceit and lying but are these instances rare? A quick look on Google or any other search engine will quickly show websites that offer the magic answer to writing an essay. A few hours (and the expense of a few pounds) later, the deceitful student can obtain the essay of their dreams. The astute educator may recognise the same essay being presented by several students but thankfully spotting the cheat is easier with the widespread use of services such as Turnitin.1 This web based service can instantly identify essays that contain unoriginal material by comparing the uploaded essay not only with material already published on the web but also with what has been previously submitted to Turn tin. The service can be integrated with all of the major VLEs (virtual learning environments) that are found in higher education. It is worthwhile seeing what is available if you are a tutor on any course in this context. A second-best approach is to pick a random piece of text from a student’s essay and search for this in Google. You may be surprised!
Most plagiarism is unintentional and simply due to being sloppy. The University of Leeds has an excellent website that is well worth visiting to update your views.2 The site notes the common and often unrecognised practice, when a piece of work is created by cutting and pasting various sections of text and/or images found on the internet into a document without referencing the sources. Does this sound familiar? I often see mini excerpts from Wikipedia or Google appearing in assignments. I suggest that all educators should become more aware and set an example themselves and also to quickly identify bad practice in their colleagues and learners.
An interesting spat has recently occurred at Toronto’s Ryerson University. 3 A student set up a Face book page in which he encouraged fellow students to send in and share answers to various chemistry problems. The student’s argument was that this was analogous to a virtual study group that students did already, including face to face. However, the university took a different stance and regarded the action as misconduct since there was swapping of answers and the online approach was ‘inappropriate’. The commentary by Ivory To sell notes the apparent paranoia that educational institutions have when faced with new technology, especially when they are not in control and it is outside the formal VLE.
This nicely leads into the current debate about control in e-learning.4 John Drone provides an eloquent discussion of the need for freedom to be given to learners to use a wide variety of web-based resources as part of their education rather than being provided with one pre-digested chunk of information on a VLE. The concern is always about the quality of the web-based resources but this can be assured by the educator previewing the content. The tutor becomes a guide rather than sole provider. The learner benefits by developing a rich learning experience that can be personalised to the learner. This process is analogous to creating your own spaghetti bolognaise from your favourite ingredients instead of something more bland from the supermarket. It takes time but the process of learning is important in becoming a life- long learner. It’s a bit like learning to cook for yourself! The challenge for all educators is to develop their teaching using this approach.
Ronald Harden recently wrote a thought-provoking commentary in Medical Teacher.5 He notes that the aspiration of e-learning is to make existing approaches to teaching and learning more effective and efficient but he highlights that much of e-learning is ‘an amateurish forrago that is neither an inspiring or rewarding learning experience’. He proposes a more fundamental shift in e-learning so that it becomes more personalised to the needs of individual learners, with a greater choice of a range of different learning resources. He also suggests that there should be greater investment in peer assisted and collaborative learning to create online communities of practice.
This vision of e-learning in the future is quite threatening to many educators. It will require fundamental changes in the way that educators conceptualise and subsequently provide e-learning experiences. My experience is that many educators simply repackage handouts and presentations onto a webpage or set up an online discussion board. The skill of an ‘e-educator’ is the creation of a learning journey that is relevant to the needs of the learner. This journey must have a clear endpoint but, like any journey, needs to be made interesting to each individual. As any parent will testify, not all kids are the same.
If you are thinking of developing your teaching and using more e-learning it is important to be clear about what you are hoping to achieve but more importantly, it is essential to consider how you expect the learner to achieve the desired outcomes. Do you want a learner that unthinkingly downloads pre-digested information sheets? Do you want a learner that is fully engaged in the learning process who looks at a range of different resources, from blogs written by patients and doctors to podcasts produced by world-class experts, and then assimilates the information to present it as a blog that can be shared with other learners?
The future vision of e-learning is within the grasp of all educators and hopefully will be provided to all learners. Technology has never been easier to use but the future is not technical. It is the fundamental pedagogy that needs to change. That is the challenge.
References
1 www.turnitin.com/ (accessed 02/07/08).
2 www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism/index.php
(accessed 02/07/08).
3 Tossell I (2008) Is it sharing? Is it cheating?
Either way, it’s the future of studying. The
Globe and Mail, 14 March 2008, www.theglobe
andmail.com/ (accessed 02/07/08).
4 Dron J (2007) Control and Constraint in ELearning:
choosing when to choose. Idea Group
Publishing: Hershey PA
5 Harden RM (2008) E-learning – caged bird or
soaring eagle? Medical Teacher 30: 1–4.
JOHN SANDARS
j.e.sandars@leeds.ac.uk
Summarize
The article reports on the significance of electronic-learning (e-learning) to medical students in the U.S. These e-learning site is advantageous to medical students especially in writing essays and reports because one can get great ideas on the site. But one should avoid copying and pasting the exact text provide on the site because it is a form of plagiarism or cheating. It may be something else that we can blame on the rise of the internet. A second-best approach is to pick a random piece of text from a student’s essay and search for this in Google. You may be surprised! I suggest that all educators should become more aware and set an example themselves and also to quickly identify bad practice in their colleagues and learners. The challenge for all educators is to develop their teaching using this approach.
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