A couple of years ago I did an online course on innovative collaboration for development. New content was uploaded every Friday and I had to do an assignment each week, which was graded by the course leader. There
was a discussion forum, but contribution was not mandatory and only a few people posted random thoughts over the duration of the course. I never felt part of a community of learners though I didn’t really expect this – my expectation was to learn about what tools were out there and how they could be used. Despite the minimal student support and lack of engagement with my peers, I found the course was efficiently managed and it fulfilled my need for ‘’knowledge acquisition’’ on an issue I was interested in learning about.
E-learning: a cheaper substitute for schools?
The experience very much reinforced my belief that e-learning is an adequate and convenient substitute for ‘’real’’ classroom-based learning for people who may not have time or money to get a better bricks-and-mortar-based learning experience.
Applying my knowledge
Shortly after completing that course, I started developing a concept which included post-training learning programmes for health workers in Tanzania. I initially proposed a blended learning approach, which would combine residential courses with e-learning modules . I firmly believed that incorporating e-learning components would offer huge cost savings, without which, courses on the scale we were proposing would not be possible – and I felt that people would go along with the e-part because it was being supplemented by superior in-situ training.
Change of opinion
Over the course of my M.Sc. in Blended and Online Education courses, I have been studying social constructivist pedagogy; exploring the many varied and exciting features of Moodle and other virtual learning environments (VLEs); discussing with a host of people working in diverse organizations and trawling the internet and other resources to find evidence and examples of what is feasible for 21st Century learners.
I am now a firm believer in the possibilities of fully online learning activities, particularly for my current objective of creating more knowledgeable and empowered professional learning communities (PLCs). I have dropped the notion of ‘’sweetening’’ online learning programmes with in-situ courses, not because of the (very real) cost effectiveness, but because I genuinely believe that with appropriate pedagogical approaches, the course objectives will be achieved just as well, if not better.
It’s not only about the course
However, just as traditional universities and training institutions need to build classrooms from bricks-and-mortar to connect with
their learners, I believe e-learning developers need to build their communities in order for learners to engage – ‘’build the course and they will come’’ is not true!!
Prerequisites for successful digital learning experiences
In my opinion, this challenge can be achieved through age-old partnership building, and engaging champions who will drive things forward. Culturally appropriate learner-centred course development, adaptation of courses for locally available tools and technology, appropriately designed learning resources and activities based on sound socio-constructivist approaches, and support for digital learners to teach them how to use the tools and how to really participate in digital courses to achieve higher order learning – I am convinced that these are all prerequisites for successful digital learning experiences.
The yeast to make the cake rise!
Technology, and platforms such as Moodle can be like the ‘’electricity’’ that enable our efforts to be plugged in, achieving the required scale to tackle the massive challenges in supporting communities of health workers, teachers and other professionals to become empowered, engaged and motivated life-long learners who learn from experts and from each other and become part of bigger conversations that they would normally not have access to.
Any comments would be very welcome, whether you agree or disagree with this post – thanks!
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