Communications of the ACM
E-Learning Can Have Positive Effect on Classroom Learning, Scholar Says
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign professor Caroline Haythornthwaite says traditional classroom education techniques could be improved by examining e-learning more closely. Haythornthwaite says e-learning has been underrated at the college level, and some of its methods and techniques could be used to improve traditional classroom learning. "Compared to the more traditional educational paradigm--the broadcast model, where knowledge is delivered from professor to student from on-high--e-learning turns teaching and learning into a shared endeavor," she says. Haythornthwaite teaches both online and in-person classes as part of the college's 13-year-old LEEP program, a distance-education program that enables graduate students to complete a master of science in library and information science, a certificate of advanced study, or a K-12 library and information science certificate online. Slightly more than half of the 700 students in the program are online students. Compared to traditional classes that focus on instructors dictating content and pedagogy, e-learning is a more learner-friendly alternative that allows the teacher to operate in a different capacity, Haythornthwaite says. In e-learning environments teachers operate more as a facilitator, enhancing the collaborative nature of learning and motivating students to be more engaged and take more responsibility for what they are learning, she says.
From The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign View Full Article
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