“Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts. Words on the line, referred to as linking words or linking phrases, specify the relationship between the two concepts. We define concept as a perceived regularity in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label.

– Novak & Canas, 2008, p. 1

E-learning is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT’s) as a media of the delivery of instruction/learning activities.

It has been defined as "pedagogy empowered by technology"[1], though 'digital technology' is more accurate.

Note that, due to the difference in terms of institutional goals, higher education and the industry have very different ideas about what e-learning is and how e-learning can be/should be used.

E-learning has its root in distance learning and is part of the revolution brought by the new media: the Web.

Educators and trainers soon found the potentials to advance learning at the advent of the new Web technologies.

The advocates of e-learning voice for the breakdown of barriers to learning (especially for adult learners in higher education) such as the limitations in time and distance.

Research on media comparison “proves” that there is no difference in the learning outcome of e-learning from traditional face-to-face instruction.

Over time, more and more instructors/institutions are incorporating e-learning components in the practice of instruction in higher education as a way of facilitating learning.

Before considering how e-learning might work, we need to establish just what it is. E-learning’s greatest barrier is neither unreliable technology nor technical complexity. The greatest barrier to e-learning in tertiary education is a lack of context.

• E-learning is opposed mainly by those who know least about it. It is still common to find educators who perceive e-learning as internet-only education that encourages a static and content-focused series of text pages on screen.
• Others envisage the shallow and random online messages that are typical of a social real-time chat session, and wonder how that type of communication could add any value to academic discourse.
• Still others see no reason for using e-learning: isn’t the status quo good enough? Some may have experienced e-learning done poorly, and extrapolate their experience into a negative impression of all e-learning.

Of course e-learning can be done poorly. But it can also be done well. This introduction provides a framework for understanding what e-learning is, and why it is significant for education – and educators – today.

Online distance education uses only technology to facilitate learning. Pure on- campus and paper-based distance education could be said to use only lecture (or on-campus experiences) and paper-based resources respectively. As Fig. 1 suggests, pure on-campus, online, and paper-based education are extremes. E-learning can apply to any mix in the shaded area, and is used exclusively in online education.

E-learning is a means of implementing education that can be applied within varying education models (for example, on-campus or distance education) and educational philosophies of practice (for example behaviourism and constructivism).

This statement establishes e-learning as a means rather than a mode of education. E-learning cannot be compared with on-campus delivery or distance education because it can be used within either of these modes. In other words, e-learning uses technological tools that can be applied in various contexts; it is not a distinct educational system in itself. It is also possible to apply different education philosophies of practice using e-learning. Students can construct their own knowledge using technology tools, and those same tools can also be used to present materials that lead students to pre-determined conclusions in highly structured ways. Technology in education has a significant history. Computers were initially applied in behaviourist modes in accordance with Skinner’s work (Ravenscroft 2001), which emphasised the teacher’s control over what is learned and how it is to be learned. More recent emphasis has been on using technology within constructivist learning models, which enable students to construct their own understanding. Skinner’s behaviourism, Piaget’s cognitive constructivism, and Vygotsky’s and Bruner’s social constructivism can all be facilitated through e- learning. Tam (2000) provides an excellent overview of how we can use technology for constructivist purposes. However, it is also true that e-learning enables a form of educational convergence.

If e-learning is a means to education, it can be applied to varying pedagogies:

• constructivism
• resource-based learning
• collaborative learning
• problem-based learning
• narrative-based teaching
• situated learning.

Technology is pedagogically neutral because it can support any and all of the pedagogies listed above. Even simple technologies can be very useful if effective pedagogical decisions are made. Many examples illustrate this – such as the Open University’s use of the simple online discussion forum CoSy documented by Mason (1989). ‘The reintroduction of the wolf’ scenario described by Jonassen et al (1997) makes use of nothing more complicated than linked webpages, and many communities of practice throughout the globe collaborate and communicate effectively through simple text-only listservs. These examples testify to the fact that how technology is used is more important than which technology is used.

The fundamental applications of e-learning include storing and distributing digital materials (readings, websites, and multimedia) as presentation elements, and using interpersonal communication and activities as process elements. Presentation and process can both be applied in many ways. It is likely that advances in technology will eventually challenge the parameters of this statement. Until then, thinking about e-learning in terms of presentation and process is useful for instructional design purposes (see E-Primer 3, Designing for e-learning). Statement 6: E-learning tools are best made to operate within a carefully selected and optimally integrated co

breakthroughs in teaching practice will make e-learning more useful than breakthroughs in technology, though the latter can provide opportunities for the former.

As noted by Laurillard (2002), instructional designers – not technologists – should drive e-learning. Innovative educators will add value to e-learning and ensure its further development. Reeves (2002) suggests that, in the main, technology is not being used innovatively in education. On the one hand, technology sits quite comfortably within current approaches to education; on the other, it can move beyond the bounds of traditional on-campus and distance education practices. It follows, then, that e-learning practitioners should stay in touch with both technological developments and educational psychology and pedagogy.

Anticipating end-user behaviour is an important step toward effective e- learning. For example, some institutions no longer provide printed materials, preferring instead to make all things available online or on CD-Rom. Those students (still the majority) who don’t like to read from a screen or can’t take their desktop computers away on holiday with them for the weekend (or to bed at night), will print their digital notes.

The activity’s design is more important than the tool’s availability (Statement 3). It is not sufficient to simply add e-learning tools onto an existing course; e-learning should be implemented as a seamless component of course design and delivery. Assessment, a major component of learning, should also be integrated in both formative and summative forms. Clear design is a feature of successful online learning (Swan 2001), and a responsive instructor who facilitates learning and encourages students to explore their learning at a conceptual level is a must for effective conceptual change (Ramsden 2003).

Content, learner support and learning activities: the three critical design elements for online teaching and learning.

There is general agreement across existing education literature that collaborative dialogue and communication with instructors are major contributors toward successful learning.

the curriculum is still king. Statement 1 establishes e-learning as a means; the development of the learner toward specified learning outcomes is still the end. E-learning tools can certainly be used to encourage students to further explore topics on their own and take ownership of their learning, but this must take place within the context of a formally approved curriculum. For example, it is often desirable to assess discussion participation to encourage interaction in the online environment, but you need to be careful (as discussed in E-Primer 4, Online Discourse).

The curriculum must still be the point of reference for the education experience.

Online discussion should measure how well a student has engaged with the topic in accordance with performance objectives.

If participation in online discussion is not relevant to the curriculum, then you should question its use as an assessment tool. The curriculum, not your students’ use of technology, is the standard.

E-learning is incredibly open-ended, ranging from online discussion to webpage links, to digital video, to adaptive learning. You can apply the e- learning option that best suits the type of outcome you want. The following five learning outcomes, or their variants, are representative of taxonomies typically used in instructional design literature (Gagne et al 1992).

five types of learning

• intellectual skill: how to do something; procedural knowledge
• cognitive strategy: the ability to link one thing to another
• verbal information: declarative knowledge
• motor skills: the ability to perform physical tasks
• attitude: the affective domain, the realm of choices.

E-learning options can be applied in different ways to suit each type of learning outcome. For example, you might use digital video for a question and answer session with an expert to provide verbal information. Video might also be used to demonstrate a motor skill or to distribute footage of a practitioner interview – in this case it would link to an intellectual skill. Online discussion can be structured in different ways depending on the desired learning outcome. Online quizzes or self-marking tests have different roles for intellectual skill and verbal information outcomes. Some technologies might be irrelevant for particular learning outcomes; for example, blogs (or online journals) have good application for outcomes associated with attitude or cognitive strategy but are generally unsuitable for motor skills unless they are related to IT skill acquisition.