| 51347 |
abstract |
This is an era marked by rapid developments in three different educational arenas
-- access, lifelong learning and e-learning. In both developed and developing countries
there is a growing demand for access to education... Alongside this growing demand
for access, increased numbers of adults are returning to colleges and universities
for additional education and training (CIHE, 2002). Lifelong learning has come of
age, brought about by changes in attitudes to learning and in employment patterns,
where jobs and careers are recast many times during a lifespan. Permeating and supporting
these first two developments, in access and lifelong learning, are developments in
information and communication technologies (ICT). New technologies are beginning to
transform how higher education is organized and delivered both on campus and at a
distance. E-learning affords new opportunities to increase flexibility in time and
location of study, in forms of communication (for example, asynchronous discussions)
and types of interaction...
<br></br><br></br>Although e-learning has the potential to provide the kinds of flexibility
required by wider access and lifelong learning there are some major obstacles. On
the one hand, wider access and lifelong learning require vast increases in specially
designed course materials to satisfy the greater range of demands for learning. On
the other hand, creating the digital resources necessary for online course delivery
requires considerable investment, a factor that makes resource development only viable
for courses with large student numbers or sizeable budgets. In order to address this
difficulty, numerous national and international initiatives have been funded to investigate
ways in which digital learning resources might be developed, shared and reused by
teachers and learners around the world (so as to benefit from economies of scale).
Behind these initiatives lies a vision of a future in which reusable resources (or
'learning objects' as they are called) could comprise a new currency of exchange within
a learning economy. Learning objects, produced by publishers, teachers, support staff
and students themselves, would be stored in digital repositories, where they could
be easily accessed, recombined and reused within online courses.
<br></br><br></br>However, despite this vision, the idea of reusing electronic resources
is more complex than the object economy scenario, outlined above, may suggest. The
next section identifies seven issues associated with the reuse and sharing of resources.
These sections focus on educational design, the need for standards, and on the culture
and organization that would be necessary in institutions (and across institutions)
if reuse were to become a reality. |