Formal learning is usually
defined as
instructional content
in the form of courses,
lessons, workshops, etc,
whether for education,
training or continuous
professional development
purposes.
Examples of formal learning
might be:
-
A university programme
that consists of a
series of lectures,
workshops as well as
seminars or tutorials
-
A classroom-based
corporate training
workshop that offers
group or individual
activities
-
An online course that
presents a topic and
includes interactive
elements as well as
tests and online
discussions
"Online courses" are the way
that most people define
e-learning. However, as
mentioned earlier, online
courses might be delivered
completely online or might
use a blended or hybrid
approach that mixes online
with face-to-face (f2f)
elements.
An "online course" is
nevertheless a broad term
that describes a whole range
of formal online learning
solutions that can vary in
many ways, as explained and
demonstrated further below.
1 -
Supporting informational or
interactive resources
Some online courses may only
offer online resources to
support the instructional
activities that take place
in a traditional,
classroom-based,
face-to-face course. These
online resources might be
informational or
interactive.
Informational (and
non-interactive) course
resources could be materials
like study guides,
lecture/training notes and
slidesets made available
online - as in this
example:.
Interactive resources can be
used by learners to explore
the content further, as this
interactive timeline example
demonstrates:
2 - Presentational or
instructional content
Some online courses might
simply present
information whereas others
might provide fuller
instructional
functionality such as
options for practice,
quizzes and tests.
Presentational content might
be in the form of narrated
lecture presentations,
podcasts or videos, as in
the following examples:
-
The Sun Kings is a
streamed presentation
delivered by Dr Stuart
Clark at Gresham College
-
ChinesePod
is a daily podcast to
learn Mandarin
-
How to paint the
Mona Lisa with MS Paint
is a video available on
YouTube which you can
view below
Instructional content
provides the opportunity for
learners to practice what
they have learnt and also
sometimes to be tested on
that content.
3 - Text or multimedia
Some online courses might
make use of mainly
text based materials
others will be delivered
using a full range of
media formats
Text-based content is often
used where the learners are
more interested in the
"meat" of the content, and
where the use of other media
might be unnecessary or
gratuitous.
Multimedia
formats, e.g. video, audio,
etc are used where the
content needsto be explained
in a more visual or engaging
way, particularly for
learners that may need to be
"entertained", as in the
example below
-
Becoming human
- from
the Institute of Human
Origins is an
instructional course
that uses sophisticated
video format.
4 -
Content or community
Some online courses focus on
providing relevant
content (usually for
asynchronous, self-paced
use) whereas others
concentrate on building the
community of learners
involved. Others try to
incorporate
both aspects, as in
these 3 different examples.
-
Computer Tutor
from the BBC
offers a
content-based approach
to learning
-
SoZiety is a
language learning social
network that emphasises
the community aspect of
learning with others.
-
Introduction to Online
Learning is an
online course run by Jon
Engle and Bonnie Correia
of Governors State
University, that
provides both content
and community. Note:
This course is delivered
and managed within the
WebCT (now Blackboard)
course management system
and was a WebCT
Exemplary course in
2006. [Username: guest;
Password: guest]
5 - One-off or
continuous
Some online courses
are
one-off events
- all the content is
delivered in one course -
whereas others are ongoing
and
continuous learning
events.
6 - Short or long
Some online courses can take
hours (if not weeks or
months) to work through
whilst others are delivered
in short bite-sized chunks.
Instructional design
Should you be
providing online support
resources or presentational
or instructional content?
Should the courses be
text-based or use a full
range of media formats. Do
they need to concentrate on
content or community? Can
they be delivered as one-off
events or will they need to
be offered on a continuous
basis? Should they be 5
minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour
or longer?
The best approach adopted
for any particular course
will depend upon a number of
factors, not least:
-
the subject
matter (e.g.
whether it is
knowledge-based or
skill-based),
-
the learners
(e.g. their prior
experience of online
learning, their use of
technology, and their
motivation for learning)
-
the budget
for designing and
developing it
A
comprehensive discussion of
instructional design is
outside the remit of this
Introduction, but here is
one useful resource (others
appear in the selected
reading below):
Course authoring tools
In the past most course
authoring was achieved
either by outsourcing the
development to content
development companies or by
using specialist authoring
tools like
Authorware to create
sophisticated online
courses. However, we have
now seen the emergence of a
new breed of tools
to create formal online
courses in-house - quickly,
easily and cheaply. These
tools have been termed
rapid e-learning tools.
Let’s consider three factors
in more detail to understand
their importance.
Cost
Most organisations who want
to build an online course
have, in the past, had them
developed by specialist
content developers. Since
one of the ways of costing
the production of an online
course is by the number of
hours of learning involved,
and as this could be
anything between £5,000 and
£25,000 per hour depending
on the complexity of the
content involved,
development costs are often
very high.
The desire to continuously
create new online courseware
has therefore meant that
these costs are becoming too
prohibitive for
organisations to bear, so
rapid e-learning tools mean
that instructional content
can be developed internally
at far reduced costs.
Speed
Traditional online course
development involves an
instructional designer (ID)
extracting the relevant
content from a subject
matter expert (SME) and
designing the course, which
is then built by a
development team of
programmers or other
specialists like Flash
designers. The content is
checked by the SME and is
eventually signed off.
The normal timeline for this
development process is
measured in months or at
best weeks. Using rapid
e-learning tools,
internally, the timelines
can be reduced to days, if
not hours, as just one
person (or a small team)
carries out all the
activities.
Ease of use
The development of online
courseware has up to now
involved the use of
specialist, complex and
sophisticated authoring
tools, which take time to
learn and experience to
master. However, the new
rapid development tools are
much more intuitive to use
and sometimes offer a
collaborative authoring
environment to enable a
group of individuals to
co-create a course. This
means they can be used to
develop online courseware
very easily.
These tools are fast
becoming the de facto
standard authoring tools.
Rapid e-learning tools fall
into a number of categories:
- PowerPoint-based
tools that convert
PowerPoint presentations
into narrated,
Flash-based tutorials
(that have been
described earlier in
Narrated and Flash-based
presentations), e.g.
Articulate Presenter
and
Adobe Presenter).
- Screencasting
tools that let you
create instructional
demonstrations on how to
use software and
scenario-based training,
e.g.
Captivate,
Wink,
Camtasia and
Jing (see
Mini Tutoral). These
tools have been
mentioned ealier too.
- Desktop course
authoring tools that
let you create online
tutorials quickly and
easily. There are
commercial tools like
Lectora and
Toolbook Instructor
as well as free tools
like:
eXe (see
Mini Tutorial - an
authoring application to
assist in the publishing
of web content without
the need to become
proficient in HTML or
XML markup) and
CourseLab (a content
editor that has a
PowerPoint type feel and
significant course
authoring functionality
and converts courses
into Flash).
-
Online course authoring
tools that permit
you to author content
online as well as host
it and even manage it
there, e.g.
Udutu (free) and
Composica Enterprise
(licensed software).
-
Server-based course
authoring tools
that support both
personal and
collaborative course
creation and publishing,
like
Atlantic Link's Content
Point,
Composica Enterprise
and
Mohive E-Learning
Publishing System.
More about rapid e-learning
If you are interested in the
topic of rapid e-learning, a
good resource to take a look
at is a free 46-page ebook
The Insider's Guide to
becoming a rapid e-learning
pro by Tom
Kuhlmann (of Articulate)
which looks at how to create
rapid e-courses.
To get a copy of the book
you will need to sign up as
a subscriber to the
Rapid eLearning Blog,
also written by Tom
Kuhlmann, but this is also a
good ongoing resource about
rapid e-learning.
Directory Listing
Selected reading
