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E-Learning: Has It Evolved or Has It Remained the Same?

E-learning has changed how American trains its workforce, but has e-learning itself changed much? This question can be explored by taking a look at the results of a survey that was conducted in 2009 by SDSU’s Allison Rossett and one of her colleagues, James Marshall. As a professor emeriti of education technology, Rossett is well qualified to conduct such a survey. She and Marshall, an education technology faculty member at the university asked respondents a series of questions about their current e-learning practices. Respondents came from a varied background with academia, government agencies, and corporations all represented. Questions covered current e-learning practices, future e-learning aspirations, and e-learning barriers. The survey results were recently published, appearing in the American Society for Training and Development’s electronic magazine (January 2010 issue).

Rossett and Marshall evaluated the responses and were surprised to find that many of the barriers that they expected to be constraints (such as lawyers, the learning and technical abilities of trainees, and trainees’ resistance) were not constraints at all. Among the study’s findings:

• Common e-learning practices remain common with testing of knowledge and skills one of the most common. Scenarios and tutorials as well as some other common instructional practices remain widely used
• Uncommon practices remain uncommon despite the “buzz” with academia being the only segment to actively embrace Web 2.0 activities in e-learning. Mobile computing, e-coaching, and online discussions have yet to become popular
• Price, technology’s limitations, a preference for the classroom, and resistance to change are common constraints to e-learning
• Future aspirations for e-learning are across the board with the top aspirations including: personalized learning, mobile learning and support, employee-generated content, problem solving and knowledge construction, performance support, online networks and collaboration, scenario-based e-learning, authentic and immersive experiences, measurement for program improvement, and assessments pointing people to relevant programs

 

Today, e-learning practitioners can take a modified version of the original survey to evaluate their own practices. This survey has been modified and is not being used as further research. It features a set of “snapshots” and a list of e-learning barriers. Each snapshot describes a current e-learning practice with choices that describe how that practice is used by the respondent and how important it is. Each barrier is rated by the respondent as to whether it is a major, minor, or not, a constraint.

The study seems to point to stagnation in e-learning. While much buzz has been generated about blended learning, Web 2.0, virtual classrooms, collaborative learning, and user generated content, the results don’t show a move toward those practices just yet.

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