Jess’ E-Learning Blog

So, I’ve decided to work on this assignment from both ends – the learning theories/content and the technologies available and suitable.

I’ve decided on technologies which could be used for the content I have. I’ve decided the possibilities are instant messaging, social networking, blogging, wikis, group discussion boards and webinars.

These technologies have been chosen largely for the following reasons. They support the humanist learning approach I am adopting in this program by allowing for individuals to form groups, support each other and relate their experiences. Secondly, they do not require a high speed internet connection, which means that learners with slow internet connection can still participate in the learning. Third this list has a mix of synchronous and asynchronous technologies, as well as asynchronous technologies which can be used in a synchronous manner. This is beneficial as the course can be divided into synchronous and asynchronous components. Lastly, these technologies are highly flexible in how they are used. Therefore, I can adapt them to almost any learning content which I have and get learners to do a lot of different stuff within the technology.

I want to use a platform which can support all of these technologies so that the learners do not need to go outside of the platform. I want it to be this way because the learners are not technology savvy and I do not want them to get confused, frustrated or lost. So, I want to use a platform in which this can all be embedded. However, the platform also needs to be flexible and user-friendly enough for DoCS to change the content or activities, etc when the program is reviewed.

Having everything embedded into a platform so that it all looks streamlined has additional benefits. Firstly, it will make it easier to give pre-course technology training to learners. They will only have to learn how to access, navigate and interact with the platform, instead of how to use each technology separately. This leads to the second benefit which is that the learners are less likely to become overwhelmed and distraught with all the different technologies they are using if they do not know that they are using them. This will make e-learning a less frightening experience for the learners.