In this article, I have shared my knowledge on “Types of E-Learning”
Some educational scientists have classified e-learning into categories based on learning technologies, while others have decided to focus on criteria like synchrony and learning content. All of these findings will be distilled into ten easily distinct forms of e-learning in this essay.
Table of Contents
These are the 10 types of e-learning:
- Computer Managed Learning (CML)
- Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)
- Synchronous Online Learning
- Asynchronous Online Learning
- Fixed E-Learning
- Adaptive E-Learning
- Linear E-Learning
- Interactive Online Learning
- Individual Online Learning
- Collaborative Online Learning
Some educational scientists, on the other hand, have chosen to categorise e-learning types more simply. There are only two sorts of e-learning, according to them: computer-based e-learning and internet-based e-learning.
This classification approach could be considered more accurate because it distinguishes e-learning from online learning, which are often used interchangeably.
Although some types of e-learning, such as CML and CAL, are not required to take place online, they are nevertheless termed e-learning.
Computer Managed Learning (CML)
Computers are used to manage and assess learning processes in computer-managed learning (CML), also known as Computer Managed Instruction (CMI). Information databases are used by computer-assisted learning systems.
These databases contain bits of knowledge that the student must learn, as well as a number of ranking characteristics that allow the system to be customised to each student’s preferences.
Due to the two-way connection between the student and the computer, it is possible to determine if the student met his or her learning objectives to a suitable degree. If not, the procedures can be repeated until the learner has met his or her learning objectives.
Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)
Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), sometimes known as computer-assisted learning (CAL), is a sort of e-learning that combines traditional teaching with the use of computers.
This could refer to interactive software for students or the type of training software utilised by Stanford University‘s Patrick Suppes in 1966.
To promote learning, computer-assisted training methods use a combination of multimedia such as text, pictures, sound, and video. CAI’s main benefit is interaction, which allows students to become active rather than passive learners through the use of quizzes and other computer-assisted teaching and testing systems.
Most schools nowadays, both online and traditional, use various forms of computer-assisted learning to aid their students’ development of skills and knowledge.
Synchronous Online Learning
Synchronous online learning allows groups of students from all over the world to participate in a learning activity at the same time.
Online chats and videoconferencing are frequently used in real-time synchronous online learning because these tools allow training participants and instructors to ask and answer questions in real time while communicating with other participants.
The rapid growth of online learning technologies has enabled this type of community-oriented online learning. True synchronous e-learning was almost difficult to implement before the introduction of computer networks in the 1960s.
Many of the usual downsides of e-learning, such as social isolation and poor teacher-to-student and student-to-student relationships, are now thought to be eliminated with synchronous e-learning. Synchronous e-learning is one of the most popular and rapidly expanding methods of e-learning today.
Asynchronous Online Learning
Asynchronous online learning occurs when groups of students study separately at different times and locations from one another, without the benefit of real-time contact.
Because they provide students more flexibility, asynchronous e-learning approaches are frequently considered to be more student-centered than their synchronous equivalents.
As a result, students who do not have flexible schedules generally choose asynchronous e-learning since it allows them to learn at their own pace. They are not compelled to learn at regular time intervals with other pupils, and they can determine their own learning schedules.
Because there were no ways of computer networking available before the invention of the PLATO computer system, all e-learning was considered asynchronous.
However, with the widespread availability of computers and the Internet, deciding between synchronous and asynchronous e-learning has grown more complicated, as each has advantages and disadvantages.
Fixed E-Learning
Fixed e-learning is a fancy name for something you’ve probably heard of before. In this sense, “fixed” denotes that the content used during the learning process does not alter from its initial condition, and all of the students who participate receive the same information.
The materials are chosen by the professors and do not adjust to the preferences of the students.
For thousands of years, this kind of learning has been the standard in traditional classrooms, but it isn’t optimal in e-learning environments. Because fixed e-learning does not take advantage of the valuable real-time data gathered from student inputs, this is the case.
Analyzing each student’s data and making changes to the materials based on this analysis leads to improved learning results for all students.
Adaptive E-Learning
Adaptive e-learning is a novel and creative sort of e-learning that allows for the personalization and redesign of learning materials for each student.
Adaptive e-learning solutions allow education to become more individualised and student-centered than ever before by taking into account a variety of aspects such as student performance, goals, abilities, skills, and traits.
We’ve arrived at a position where laboratory-based adaptive educational techniques may be utilised to sequence student data mathematically.
This might usher in a new age for educational science if done correctly. While this form of e-learning is more complex to organise and implement than traditional teaching methods, its worth and effectiveness are sometimes overlooked.
Linear E-Learning
When it comes to human-computer connection, linear communication refers to the fact that information always goes from sender to receiver.
This is especially true in the case of e-learning, as it prevents two-way dialogue between teachers and students. Although this form of e-learning has a role in education, it is becoming less important as time goes on.
Linear e-learning is defined as the delivery of training information to students via television and radio broadcasts.
Interactive Online Learning
Senders can become receivers and vice versa with interactive e-learning, effectively establishing a two-way communication channel between the parties involved.
Teachers and students can modify their teaching and learning methods based on the signals given and received. As a result, interactive e-learning is far more popular than sequential e-learning, as it allows teachers and students to converse more freely.
Individual Online Learning
Individual learning in this sense refers to the number of students who are actively involved in accomplishing the learning objectives, rather than the material’s student-centeredness.
For thousands of years, this style of learning has been the standard in regular schools. Individual learning requires students to study the learning materials on their own (individually) and to fulfil their learning objectives on their own.
Because it focuses on pupils studying separately and without collaboration with other students, this form of learning is not optimal for building communicational skills and collaborative abilities in kids.
As a result, a more contemporary method is required to replace communicational skills and talents.
Collaborative Online Learning
Collaborative e-learning is a new style of learning in which a group of students learns and achieves their learning objectives together. In order to reach their common learning objectives, students must collaborate and practise cooperation.
This is accomplished through the development of effective groups, in which each student must consider the strengths and shortcomings of the others.
The kids’ communication and teamwork abilities are improved as a result of this. Collaborative e-learning builds on the concept that knowledge is best created within a group of people who can interact and learn from one another.
While this style of learning is more common in traditional classrooms than in online courses, it is nonetheless a genuine form of e-learning that, when done correctly, may be quite effective.
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