What is e-learning?

• E-learning is the use in education of:
  • electronic media (video recordings, audio recordings, multimedia presentations, slide presentations, CD-ROM and online content.)
  • Information and communications technology (ICT): any communication device or application such as radio, television, cellular phones, computers, network, hardware, software, satellite systems and so on.

What does e-learning include?

• E-learning includes a number of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video.
• E-learning includes technology applications and processes such as intranet.

Which are the benefits?

• It is cost effective and saves time, removing travel costs and printed materials.
• Learning available without interruption regardless of time or day and everywhere.
• It helps in tracking the course progress for teachers and learners.

E-learning can be synchronous or asynchronous

• Synchronous learning occurs in real-time, with all participants interacting at the same time.
• Asynchronous learning is self-paced and allows participants to engage in the exchange of ideas or information without the dependency of other participants' involvement at the same time.

Synchronous learning in details

• Synchronous learning involves the exchange of ideas and information with one or more participants during the same period of time.
• A face-to-face discussion is an example of synchronous communication.
• In e-learning environments, examples of synchronous communication include online real-time live teacher instruction and feedback: Skype conversations, chat rooms or virtual classrooms where everyone is online and working collaboratively at the same time.

Asynchronous learning in details

• Asynchronous learning may use technologies such as email, wikis, and discussion boards, hypertext documents, audio video courses, and social networking.
• Asynchronous learning is particularly beneficial for students to whom attending lectures is difficult.
• In asynchronous online courses, students proceed at their own pace. For example, students can listen to a lecture many times.

Web 1.0 - HTML

• HTML was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.
• HTML is the main markup language for creating web pages and other information that can be displayed in a web browser.
• General information: static information, updated infrequently.
• Elements of web page: images, navigation icons, text, menu.
• Problems: slow, page needs to refresh when new info entered.

Web 2.0

• Web 2.0 describes World Wide Web sites that use technology beyond the static pages of earlier Web sites.
• The client-side (Web browser) technologies used in Web 2.0 development include Ajax and JavaScript frameworks such as jQuery.
• Ajax programming uses JavaScript to upload and download new data from the Web server without undergoing a full page reload.

Web 2.0 characteristics

• Web 2.0 sites allow users to do more than just retrieve information.
• User are invited to 'write' or contribute to the content available to everyone in a user friendly way.
• Problems: it also increases the incidence of "spamming" and "trolling" by unscrupulous or misanthropic users.

E-learning technology

• Various technologies are used to facilitate e-learning:
  • blogs
  • collaborative software o groupware: electronic calendars, google drive, github.
  • ePortfolios: inputted text, electronic files, images.
  • virtual classrooms: the development of webcams and webcasting has facilitated the creation of virtual classrooms.
• Most e-learning uses combinations of these techniques.

Audio

• Recent technologies have allowed classroom teachers to stream audio over the internet.
• There are also webcasts and podcasts available over the internet for students and teachers to download.
• For example, iTunes has various podcasts available on a variety of subjects that can be downloaded for free.

Video

• Videos allow teachers to reach students who are visual learners and tend to learn best by seeing the material rather than hearing or reading about it.
• Websites like YouTube are used by many teachers.

Screencasting

• A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture, often containing audio narration.
• Screencasting is a recent trend in e-learning.
• There are many screencasting tools available that allow users to share their screens directly from their browser and make the video available online so that the viewers can stream the video directly.
• Do Screencasts Really Work? Assessing Student Learning through Instructional Screencasts.

Screencasting example

Learning management system

• A learning management system (LMS) is software application used for delivering e-learning education courses.
• Educators can post announcements, grade assignments.
• Students can submit their work, read and respond to discussion questions and take quizzes.

E-learning 2.0

• E-learning 2.0 is a type of computer-supported collaborative learning system that developed with the emergence of Web 2.0.
• E-learning 2.0, in contrast to e-learning systems not based on Web 2.0, assumes that knowledge is socially constructed.
• Learning takes place through conversations about content and grounded interaction about problems and actions.
• Advocates of social learning claim that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to others.

LMS Functionality

• Course Content Delivery
• Student Registration and Administration
• Event Management (creation and scheduling of lessons, tests, ..)

Technical aspects of LMS

• Most LMSs are web-based
• They are built using a variety of development platforms, like Java/J2EE, Microsoft .NET or PHP.
• They usually employ the use of a database like MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle as back-end.
• They can be:
  • commercially developed with commercial software licenses
  • free with an open-source license

LMS market

LMS market - Technical aspects