Many colleges and universities work together to provide online training During the euphoric days of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the novelty of the Internet had yet to wear off, educators and businesspeople had predicted the extinction of classroom learning in favour of a new phenomenon known as 'e-learning.' This is according to Chris Van Wingerden, vice-president of learning solutions for Perth-based dominKnow, a software firm that creates and monitors online courses for educational purposes. "E-learning was initially viewed as the be-all and the end-all," Mr. Van Wingerden told OBJ, "but it has come full circle." E-learning has indeed become an essential component of the learning process, rather than an independent and isolated tool, he explained. As a result, experts maintain there's been a noticeable trend amongst post-secondary institutions towards including facets of e-learning in their curriculums. Institutions are even collaborating with one another, he said, as opposed to competing for the same students, which can often cause duplication of services and subsequent higher costs. "People have really started to understand the fundamentals as well as the limitations. E-learning can give you a really strong base," Mr. Van Wingerden said. E-learning can take many different guises, but at its base it consists of courses offered online. For the student's part, he or she completes all required assignments over the Internet including reading assignments, group projects, essays, tests and exams. "The benefits, simply put, is that (education is) far more accessible at a lower cost. The classic phrase is 'anytime, anywhere,'" he said. "E-learning has a lot of potential in that students can work around their own schedules, and it reduces travel time," agreed Ashleigh Lamontagne, e-learning co-ordinator for www.elearnnetwork.ca, a provincial initiative aimed at improving access to training and learning opportunities for rural residents in southern and eastern Ontario. In this case, the help provided by elearnnetwork is free, while students pay regular tuition fees to the university providing the course material. Vicky Busch is executive director of Canadian Virtual University (CVU), which represents a consortium of 13 universities and colleges. She explained that CVU's goal is to increase access to higher education. Through a collaborative effort, students are offered a more cohesive introduction to the virtual educational experience, she continued. "We've chosen to work together to avoid duplication," she said. "We provide students with a single point of access, and certainly that is an advantage to student." Along with simplifying the student's exploratory phase of pursuing post-secondary education (which can be daunting with even a single institution), CVU ensures credits are transferrable among participating schools. According to Ms. Busch, 120,000 students participate in education through the CVU annually. Ms. Busch predicted that as e-learning gains popularity, institutions will put more focus on graduate level courses, especially in the fields of business management, government, leadership and health care. While learning and education are timeless pursuits, e-learning puts a new spin on them, she said. The biggest advantage is the flexibility it provides to students - many courses can start any time, the student can complete the work at his or her own pace, and extensions are more commonplace than in traditional settings. For business executives, the flexibility of e-learning - or distance learning, as it is also called - provides more freedom and time to pursue a master's degree in business administration or other degree, Ms. Lamontagne pointed out. These individuals are often the most successful, said Ms. Busch, as they're the most focused and motivated thanks to their tangible career goals. The financial cost to the individual as well as the institution is also reduced with e-learning, as travel time is virtually eliminated. But e-learning also requires discipline and time-management skills, added Ms. Lamontagne, something some students struggle with. "It's not for everybody, depending on your schedule," she said. Another drawback is that students miss out on the face-to-face contact of attending class on campus, but Ms. Lamontagne said students can get help from an online tutor or participate in group projects online. This lack of direct interaction can pose a problem for those who have trouble with complex concepts, added Mr. Van Wingerden. But as the trend gains in popularity, Ms. Busch predicted e-learning will eventually migrate to personal digital assistants like BlackBerrys or Palm Pilots. Students will soon be able to download course material to their own handheld devices, so if they have an hour commute on the train, they can use the time to study, she said. By Kate Chappell Special to the OBJ
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