In many ways electronic learning uses the same methods of learning as traditional forms of learning; it is the tools that are used that are very different. The key difference about elearning is that you, the student, have far more control over the resources that can be accessed and the order in which those materials are used. This is generally a positive thing, but it can also lead to feelings of being lost out there in cyberspace and in need of some form of guidance. This guidance is provided on the course website by your module tutor, particularly through the use of navigation aids.
Increasingly though the responsibility for learning is being shifted towards the learner learning, rather than the teacher teaching. Online learning is playing a significant part in this shift and many learners are now expected to work with others online to learn collaboratively via discussion rooms.
Email is perhaps the most common form of e-learning used. It provides a very fast and relatively cheap way in which students can receive support and information both from their tutors and from -other students on their course – their peers. It is the electronic equivalent of calling in to see your tutor in their office or chatting to a fellow student before, after or even during class. In order to use email you will need, as well as having the necessary hardware and software, to register with an email provider.
Mailing lists can be used to share information via email with people who have a common interest. An electronic mailing list is quite similar to a postal mailing list in that it is a method of distributing the same information to lots of different people. Mailing lists are typically used to discuss work with colleagues / students at other institutions, share news, collaborate on projects and publications, announce jobs and conferences, and keep in touch with current developments in your subject area. In order to get information from a mailing list you need to subscribe – that is, you need to ask that your name and email address be added to the list. Other people can then send information to you and others on the mailing list simply by posting a message to a single email address. These messages are then forwarded to all members of the list.
There are a number of different services you can use for finding out about what mailing lists exist and how to join them. JiscMail hosts a wide number of different mailing lists for the academic community in the UK. You can search their website (http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk) for mailing lists on a subject of interest to you, but you will need to keep your search term fairly broad, for example, ‘literature’, rather than ‘Dickens’. You will find instructions for joining and leaving lists. There is also a link from their website to lots of other directories of lists.
There are now several commercially available VLEs: WebCT and Blackboard are just two examples. Some universities, including the University of Leeds, have developed their own in-house virtual learning environments. Put simply, VLEs are electronic equivalents of the resources available in real university or college buildings. You are likely to be asked to access information and / or study materials and to contribute to discussions within one. Most VLEs can be accessed from anywhere in the world via the Internet, using a web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. Most VLEs, including WebCT and Blackboard, have the following facilities:
 Access to web-based learning materials
Structured gateways to other internal and external electronic resources
Discussion rooms of defined membership
Self-assessment multiple-choice questions with feedback
Short answer tests
Secure delivery of essay material
Satisfaction questionnaires
You will need a username and password to access specific materials for your course. As a registered student at your institution you may well have already received information on how to obtain your username and password for this resource.
These are a useful way of holding discussions with tutors and other students when regular face to face tutorials or seminars are not feasible.
There are facilities for some form of electronic discussion within all of the electronic learning environments mentioned above. They provide a variety of synchronous and asynchronous systems. In addition, FirstClass is a conferencing system used by some course providers. It integrates electronic mail with group conferencing in a graphical bulletin board style. It also supports synchronous real time ‘chat’ with other users. Electronic discussions can provide a very valuable and stimulating forum for intellectual debate. Sometimes a large cohort of students on one course is sub-divided into groups of six or eight students / learners / participants who cooperate electronically in some form of group task.
Some tutors provide two types of electronic rooms for a particular cohort of students – one for the academic work and a second one for more informal chat. The tutor is likely to act as a moderator of the discussion in the academic room, but may not necessarily intervene or make any contribution to the discussion. In some cases the tutors do not have access to the second, informal room, and these rooms become very much the electronic equivalent of the common room or bar (students have to provide their own beverages!). However, the university or college will reserve the right to monitor all electronic communication to ensure that the regulations are not being broken. You are likely to find some sort of conditions for use of computer systems in your student handbook.
All systems use some form of threading for particular themes in the discussion so that users and moderators can keep track of different elements or themes that arise. Many systems enable tutors and students to upload documents, for example Word or PowerPoint files, that are appropriate to share with other members of the group. It is possible to read the contributions of others to such a discussion without actually making a contribution yourself – commonly known as being a ‘lurker’ (but also as a browser or vicarious learner / participant). However, the manager or moderator of a group (and sometimes all members of the group) will be able to see who has been reading the messages but not contributing.
Sometimes an element of your course may be assessed by your contribution to a discussion room. If this is the case at some stage in your course, you need to check what the criteria for assessment are and ensure that you meet them. It is not usually simply a case of making a contribution, but rather you are assessed by the quality of that contribution. In some higher level courses everyone in the group may be provided with questions for discussion that are based on readings that you have been given earlier. Your contribution may well be judged, not just on what you post to the discussion room, but on how effective you are in prompting contributions from others.
SAQs are often provided by electronic means. They may be found either within the VLE (for example Blackboard) or on a web page linked from within the VLE or from another
website provided for your course. They can also be made available on a cd-rom, so that you don’t have to work online.
Online assessments are quick and easy to complete and they provide you with virtually instant feedback about your progress. They are not intended primarily to judge you, but rather to provide you with the opportunity to recognise where more help or work is needed and with ideas for appropriate further study.
Some module materials include an element of online video, for example a few minutes of a pre-recorded video clip accessed from within the module website. Such materials may have been created using the Boxmind or Click and Go technology. This allows you to see video with sound and accompanying text of the sound script on screen at the same time.
Some materials also include additional PowerPoint slides, such as might be used during a face to face lecture. In order to access these materials your computer needs to be equipped with the appropriate additional hardware and software, that is speakers, video and sound cards, and some form of media player. Such learning materials are still relatively rare; if your module does include them your module leader should give you detailed information on how to set up your computer.
Technology also exists that enables digital broadcasting and receipt of video / television. Some programmes of study include an element of this in the form of a lecturer at an institution giving a live lecture to students at various remote computer clusters or individual pcs around the world. Such technology is currently used more often to bring a lecturer, remote from an institution, to students on campus, since the equipment needed is still extremely expensive. However, the increasing use of digital ‘monitor-top’ camcorders by individuals makes the use of this method of delivery more likely in the not very distant future.
With increased access to electronic resources comes the increased risk of receiving a computer virus, especially if you are downloading files from other people. Some of these can be devastating, destroying your work in seconds. Other less serious ones can still be really annoying and difficult to eliminate.
The first thing is to ensure that you have anti-virus software on the computer(s) you are using – at home, work or the study centre. The software will warn you if you do receive a virus and give instructions on how to deal with it. You need to regularly update the software.
Second, and important for many reasons, not just with regard to viruses, is to keep a backup of all of your work. Hours of work can belost in seconds if something goes wrong with your software and your computer ‘hangs’ on you. Experts might be able to help you retrieve lost data files, but most of us don’t have such sophisticated skills – best to use a set of floppy discs a zip disc, or a writable CD-ROM to make copies of all your files at very frequent intervals.
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