Going beyond the electronic in e-learning

This one was published in November 17, 2005. I finally made it to the OpEd. My article usually landed in Features column or IT column. I guess, educational technology is now worth debating :)

Going beyond the electronic in e-learning

Jaha Nababan, Jakarta

The 'e' in front of e-learning can limit learning potential. Though many experts agree that technology is only a tool to help learning, the word 'electronic' in e-learning refers only to computer technology. William Horton wrote that e-learning was rooted in correspondence education started by Sir Isaac Pitman in 1840. Though he listed many forms of technology in the history of distance education, he refuses to call it e-learning, rather terming it web-based training.

Meanwhile, Ruth C. Clark and Richard E. Mayer defined e-learning or electronic learning as training delivered via a computer -- including CDROM, Internet and intranet -- that are designed to support individual learning or organizational performance goals.

There are many variants of e-learning based on the above concepts. It is truly an irony that these technologies are so technology centric when everyone believes that technology is only a tool. For example, an e-learning CDROM has turned the computer into a teaching machine similar to the old concepts from B.F. Skinner's behaviorism.

The computer's role has competed with that of the teacher, and that's one of the reasons teachers have only reluctantly accepted computers into the classroom.

With the development of Internet technology, computer-based training (CBT) has been transformed into web-based training (WBT). Many early developers of WBT repeated the mistake of trying to turn the Internet into a teaching machine by publishing CBT-like courses on the Internet. Today, besides Learning Management Systems, there are many web-based applications that can be used to deliver e-learning such as blogs, message boards, newsgroups, search engines and even chat rooms.

These new tools allow teachers to be more effective as learning facilitators. However, they are still using technology as the center of the design by using these tools as knowledge delivery tools.

What lies ahead in the not-so-distant future is more interesting with the emergence of "ubiquitous computing". With the miniaturization of computing devices -- such as palm computers, pocket personal computers, and smart phones -- ubiquitous computing allows learners to learn almost anywhere with a technology that disappears into the background.

The intelligent environment recognizes the learning needs of each learner because they have set up preferences in their personal devices. For example, in a museum, a learner who is interested in the history of an artifact will only be supplied with relevant information to their personal device when approaching a statue.

The information the learner receives would be different from other learners who were interested, for example, in the design aspects of the statue. Later on in the classroom, they could share the different experiences they obtained from the field trip and thus collaborative learning would be created. With this new technology, design has shifted from being technology centric to being user-centric, by using technology as a knowledge gatherer and production tool.

The embryo of such activities has been demonstrated by Elliot Soloway from University of Michigan with his Highly Interactive Computing in Education (HICE) projects. In one of the projects that uses concept mapping, learners learn how to develop ideas and share them with friends. Later on, learners go into the field to test the ideas they developed earlier.

They collect data in the field using palm-size computers and return to the classroom to present their findings on a traditional blackboard. The activities are very rich in integration. This is a good example of implementing a competency based Curriculum that the Indonesian Ministry of National Education has set as standard curriculum.

What Soloway did was to technologically enhance educational projects. It does not fit into the e-learning definition -- although it involves electronic devices -- but it has more impact than e-learning. Though WBT has the ability to allow learners to share their work, it is still limited by its lack of personal contact because learners are subsumed in front of a bulky computer.

Today's developments in technology have enabled certain technologies to become affordable. A million-dollar video production can become a shoestring video production. This phenomenon provides more variation to technologically enhanced educational projects.

In July 2004, a group of high school students in Jakarta were involved in an educational video experiment. They developed educational videos about osteoporosis using their youthful perspectives, without the need for additional video editing software or sophisticated video production machines.

Surprisingly, the amount of video production time was equal to the time taken to produce a term paper. Best of all, the students enjoyed it because they learnt better in a fun way.

One may be skeptical about these concepts above, especially when considering Indonesian's situation. These technologies are expensive. However, several solutions can be found. For example, instead of presenting a student's findings on video, a teacher could instruct students to create posters that educated people about osteoporosis.

Rather than using a camcorder and computer, the students could use cardboard and paint to present the knowledge they discover. After all, educational technology is not always electronic.

Jaha Nababan (jaha@fulbrightweb.org), a Fulbright grantee and Kelly scholar, is a Boston University School of Education graduate in educational media and technology. He is currently teaching at the school of social and political sciences at the University of Indonesia.