History in Leeds, then maths in California; The internet has opened up a huge new world of e-learning, says Nick Wyke... - 0 views

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  #1 Tracy Tan on 27 Mar 12

   

  (Restricted access article, so I'm posting it here.) I found what was said about 'engaging online learning experiences' very insightful: "It must be a well ordered, curated experience that understands what the user aims to achieve and what the user has to do. There needs to be milestones and rewards. Secondly, it needs a social layer to get students talking about a lesson together, using tools such as Facebook and Twitter if needs be."
  
  
  If you wanted to learn something new 20 years ago, you signed up for a course at an educational institution, found a teacher or visited a library or bookshop.
  
  
  
  Today, the internet has made access to knowledge more widely available than ever before. From anywhere in the world one can learn maths at the hugely popular Khan Academy; explore cutting-edge ideas with industry leaders at technology, entertainment and design talks, or download a course from some of the world's leading universities at iTunes U, Apple's higher education knowledge platform. In short, technology has brought the world's experts into our living rooms and on to our mobile devices.
  
  
  
  E-learning might be freed from the high production costs and lack of digital penetration that hampered its growth in the 1990s but there is still a long way to go, according to Doug Richard, founder of School for Start Ups, which offers online courses for people starting a business.
  
  
  
  "In the past two years there has been a vast improvement in online teaching material," he says. "Minimally edited lectures from Stanford and MIT universities have proved wildly popular on YouTube, for example, and prestigious universities have realised that despite giving away their 'treasure', applications to college have not crashed.
  
  
  
  "But there is still lots to be done. Many online courses are dire. It is easy to sign up but equally easy not to have the discipline to complete the course in the privacy of your own home."
  
  
  
  So what are the requirements for an engaging online learning experience? "It must be a well ordered, curated experience that understands what the user aims to achieve and what the user has to do. There needs to be milestones and rewards," Richard says. "Secondly, it needs a social layer to get students talking about a lesson together, using tools such as Facebook and Twitter if needs be."
  
  
  
  These are features that the California-based Khan Academy has mastered, offering hundreds of bite-sized lessons in maths that clearly map a student's progression and deliver graded feedback. "Khan has a gift of explaining things well," says Helen Sutcliffe, a PhD history student at the university of Leeds, who has become hooked on the website.
  
  
  
  "I have always been an arts and humanities student, where everything's up for debate and there is no correct answer. Khan Academy gives me the certainty of a right or wrong response and the chance to learn maths as an adult."
  
  
  
  According to Richard, there is still plenty of scope for e-learning to develop, particularly in the areas of business and personal coaching. The biggest challenge, he says, is persuading people to pay for content when they are used to accessing it for free.
  
  
  
  That is a tricky proposition for the commercial sector given the likes of the University of Oxford, which has had more than 15 million downloads of audio and video material from its iTunes U site since its launch in October 2008, reaching a worldwide audience of 185 countries. The university now offers a growing library of free tutorial series on, among others, Shakespeare, ethics and business.
  
  
  
  Carolyne Culver, head of strategic communications at Oxford, says: "The platform is not just for undergraduates and postgraduates; it has a whole spectrum of users, from students considering attending the university to retired people.
  
  
  
  "For example we are encouraging more schoolteachers to get involved by offering a wide range of multimedia project material."
  
  
  
  The site recently saw a surge in activity when it flagged up its literary and philosophy lectures about love on its Facebook page on Valentine's Day. The professors who recorded these online talks have been deluged with fan mail. Despite their newfound popularity, however, Culver insists that the university cannot replicate a "true Oxford education" online because iTunes U lacks the live physical interaction with tutors.
  
  
  
  But at primary and secondary schools, electronic one-to-one tuition is offering new hope for children excluded from classrooms.
  
  
  
  Nina Obraztsova, a language teaching assistant, started Periplus Education, a live online teaching platform, two years ago when she was struck by how many children with a variety of special needs were being removed from the mainstream. "The individual attention that these students receive is of paramount importance. Our main aim is to integrate them back into classroom teaching."
  
  
  
  Obraztsova found that when the pupils were isolated they did not have the same urge to disrupt a lesson. Sophisticated software allows the children face-to-face interaction with teachers (with parental consent). Each student has a portal where they can complete assignments.
  
  
  
  Periplus employs about 50 UK qualified teachers. Many of them enjoy the freedom of teaching from home.
  
  
  "Learning online is going to play a big part in the future of education," Obraztsova says. "The way forward is a balance between inspirational, personalised teaching online, which is ideal for theory, and getting together for more practical collaborative subjects such as science."
  
  
  Global study is still in its early days.

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">(Restricted access article, so I'm posting it here.) I found what was said about 'engaging online learning experiences' very insightful: "It must be a well ordered, curated experience that understands what the user aims to achieve and what the user has to do. There needs to be milestones and rewards. Secondly, it needs a social layer to get students talking about a lesson together, using tools such as Facebook and Twitter if needs be." <br /> <br /> <br /> If you wanted to learn something new 20 years ago, you signed up for a course at an educational institution, found a teacher or visited a library or bookshop. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Today, the internet has made access to knowledge more widely available than ever before. From anywhere in the world one can learn maths at the hugely popular Khan Academy; explore cutting-edge ideas with industry leaders at technology, entertainment and design talks, or download a course from some of the world's leading universities at iTunes U, Apple's higher education knowledge platform. In short, technology has brought the world's experts into our living rooms and on to our mobile devices. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> E-learning might be freed from the high production costs and lack of digital penetration that hampered its growth in the 1990s but there is still a long way to go, according to Doug Richard, founder of School for Start Ups, which offers online courses for people starting a business. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> "In the past two years there has been a vast improvement in online teaching material," he says. "Minimally edited lectures from Stanford and MIT universities have proved wildly popular on YouTube, for example, and prestigious universities have realised that despite giving away their 'treasure', applications to college have not crashed. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> "But there is still lots to be done. Many online courses are dire. It is easy to sign up but equally easy not to have the discipline to complete the course in the privacy of your own home." <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> So what are the requirements for an engaging online learning experience? "It must be a well ordered, curated experience that understands what the user aims to achieve and what the user has to do. There needs to be milestones and rewards," Richard says. "Secondly, it needs a social layer to get students talking about a lesson together, using tools such as Facebook and Twitter if needs be." <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> These are features that the California-based Khan Academy has mastered, offering hundreds of bite-sized lessons in maths that clearly map a student's progression and deliver graded feedback. "Khan has a gift of explaining things well," says Helen Sutcliffe, a PhD history student at the university of Leeds, who has become hooked on the website. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> "I have always been an arts and humanities student, where everything's up for debate and there is no correct answer. Khan Academy gives me the certainty of a right or wrong response and the chance to learn maths as an adult." <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> According to Richard, there is still plenty of scope for e-learning to develop, particularly in the areas of business and personal coaching. The biggest challenge, he says, is persuading people to pay for content when they are used to accessing it for free. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> That is a tricky proposition for the commercial sector given the likes of the University of Oxford, which has had more than 15 million downloads of audio and video material from its iTunes U site since its launch in October 2008, reaching a worldwide audience of 185 countries. The university now offers a growing library of free tutorial series on, among others, Shakespeare, ethics and business. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Carolyne Culver, head of strategic communications at Oxford, says: "The platform is not just for undergraduates and postgraduates; it has a whole spectrum of users, from students considering attending the university to retired people. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> "For example we are encouraging more schoolteachers to get involved by offering a wide range of multimedia project material." <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The site recently saw a surge in activity when it flagged up its literary and philosophy lectures about love on its Facebook page on Valentine's Day. The professors who recorded these online talks have been deluged with fan mail. Despite their newfound popularity, however, Culver insists that the university cannot replicate a "true Oxford education" online because iTunes U lacks the live physical interaction with tutors. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But at primary and secondary schools, electronic one-to-one tuition is offering new hope for children excluded from classrooms. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Nina Obraztsova, a language teaching assistant, started Periplus Education, a live online teaching platform, two years ago when she was struck by how many children with a variety of special needs were being removed from the mainstream. "The individual attention that these students receive is of paramount importance. Our main aim is to integrate them back into classroom teaching." <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Obraztsova found that when the pupils were isolated they did not have the same urge to disrupt a lesson. Sophisticated software allows the children face-to-face interaction with teachers (with parental consent). Each student has a portal where they can complete assignments. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Periplus employs about 50 UK qualified teachers. Many of them enjoy the freedom of teaching from home. <br /> <br /> <br /> "Learning online is going to play a big part in the future of education," Obraztsova says. "The way forward is a balance between inspirational, personalised teaching online, which is ideal for theory, and getting together for more practical collaborative subjects such as science." <br /> <br /> <br /> Global study is still in its early days.</div>

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