Integrated E Learning

This book forms a serious, in-depth study of the subject and proposes that e-learning is not simply a matter of 'digitizing' traditional materials, but involves a new approach, which must take into account pedagogical, technological and organizational features to form a well-designed education system.

Students’ Experiences of e-learning in Higher Education helps higher education instructors and university managers understand how e-learning relates to, and can be integrated with, other student experiences of learning. Grounded in relevant international research, the book is distinctive in that it foregrounds students’ experiences of learning, emphasizing the importance of how students interpret the challenges set before them, along with their conceptions of learning and their approaches to learning. The way students interpret task requirements greatly affects learning outcomes, and those interpretations are in turn influenced by how students read the larger environment in which they study. The authors argue that a systemic understanding is necessary for the effective design and management of modern learning environments, whether lectures, seminars, laboratories or private study. This ecological understanding must also acknowledge, though, the agency of learners as active interpreters of their environment and its culture, values and challenges. Students’ Experiences of e-learning in Higher Education reports research outcomes that locate e-learning within the broader ecology of higher education and: Offers a holistic treatment of e-learning in higher education, reflecting the need for integrating e-learning and other aspects of the student learning experience Reports research on students’ experiences with e-learning conducted by authors in the United States, Europe, and Australia Synthesizes key themes in recent international research and summarizes their implications for teachers and managers.

This book investigates e-learning practices at American and Australian institutes of higher learning, their status quo, best-practice examples, and remaining issues. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, it combines three studies – two using quantitative methods and a third using qualitative methods – in order to gauge the status quo of e-learning. The first study addresses the dominant cultural dimensions, revealing that the main explanation for the results may be the fact that most suppliers of the Australian university’s e-learning system had an East Asian cultural background and predominantly traditional perspectives on learning. In Study 2, the findings indicate that the levels of e-learning practice at the Australian and US universities surveyed were above average, although the American university was ranked higher in terms of e-learning practices. In turn, Study 3 investigates current problems in e-learning practice on the basis of four aspects – pedagogy, culture, technology and e-practice – and determines that cultural sensitivity and effective cultural practices show room for improvement, while key technological challenges and issues like faculty polices, quality, LMS, and online support need to be overcome. In general, the outcomes suggest that it is essential for the Australian university surveyed to further develop and update its e-learning system, especially in terms of e-practice, using the same technologies that pioneering countries like America are employing. Indeed, the combination of adopting patterns successfully used in other countries, and adjusting them to the Australian culture, represents the best strategy for educational decision and policy makers. This book provides the basis for designing a culture-sensitive framework for higher education e-learning practice in American and Australian contexts. Moreover, students’ and teachers’ experiences with e-learning in a comparative higher education context can help higher education instructors and university managers to understand how e-learning relates to, and can be integrated with, other experiences of learning and teaching.

It is widely recognized that online and e-learning is no longer an exclusive approach used only in distance education and in isolation from traditional education programmes. A real difficulty facing educators and trainers is how to integrate these new learning methods and embed them in established and existing forms of learning, teaching or training. This book forms a serious, in-depth study of the subject and proposes that e-learning is not simply a matter of 'digitizing' traditional materials, but involves a new approach, which must take into account pedagogical, technological and organizational features to form a well-designed education system. A practical focus is maintained throughout, with advice on implementation and case studies drawn from the contributors' considerable experience. Integrated E-Learning is essential reading for anyone wanting to implement, design, develop or deliver e-learning or training courses.

The second edition of the groundbreaking book Blended eLearning brings readers up-to-date on how far the exciting evolution of enterprise learning solution has come. The book provides a thorough and readable examination of the state of technology market segments that have become the backbone of many of today s blended elearning solutions.

This book forms a serious, in-depth study of the subject and proposes that e-learning is not simply a matter of 'digitizing' traditional materials, but involves a new approach, which must take into account pedagogical, technological and organizational features to form a well-designed education system.

Higher education institutions around the world are increasingly turning to e-learning as a way of dealing with growing and changing student populations. Education for the knowledge society means new skills and knowledge are needed and it means that lifelong learning has become a necessity. Higher education institutions are looking to e-learning to provide convenient and flexible access to high quality education and training that is needed to meet these emerging demands. As they implement e-learning, however, institutions are struggling with the many pedagogical, organizational and technological issues. Making the Transition to E-learning: Strategies and Issues provides insights and experiences from e-learning experts from around the world. It addresses the institutional, pedagogical, and technological issues that higher education institutions are grappling with as they move from conventional face-to-face teaching to e-learning in its diverse forms.

This work enforces the need to take multi-disciplinary and/or inter-disciplinary approaches when solutions for e-education (or online-, e-learning) are introduced. The text is aimed at researchers and practitioners from academia, industry and government.