In this think piece, Elliott Masie, who co-invented the term ‘e-learning’, argues the need to change the ‘e’s definition from ‘electronic’ to ‘excellent’. Elliott takes us on a journey from e-learning’s humble beginnings to where this now global approach to learning might take us in the future. In doing so, he explores how both teachers and learners require new skill sets, roles and adaptations.

Elliott Masie Elliott Masie is an internationally recognized futurist, analyst and researcher in the areas of workforce learning, business collaboration and emerging technologies. He is the editor of Learning Trends, an internet newsletter read by more than 52,000 business executives worldwide, and a regular columnist in professional publications. He is the author of a dozen books and leads the Learning Consortium, a coalition of 240 global organizations cooperating on the evolution of learning strategies.

Elliot explores the following topics as he defines the ‘e’ in e-learning: Early e formats The e-volution of e-learning The e-learning future

Putting the ‘e’ in learning

More than 12 years ago, a few of us started to use the term ‘e-learning’. Learning researchers in several countries, as well as business leaders, were getting intrigued about how a ‘connected’ student might learn differently, using their computer and an internet connection. The internet was coming into use and there was interest from educational institutions, investment/venture groups – as well as government agencies – about the ‘e’ aspect of learning.

To put those early moments into perspective, every aspect of business and life was being considered for a shift to ‘e’. There were e-business conversations, e-healthcare conversations, e-commerce conversations, e-travel ventures, and even a few thoughts about e-dating in the future. The e-learning conversations were no different – some thought that it would quickly become a $100-billion industry – replacing much of the traditional educational infrastructure. Others predicted a dramatic shift in how learners would gain access to knowledge and certification, perhaps resulting in the shut down of classrooms and campuses as we know them. And still others saw e-learning as a powerful way in which employees would be able to learn new jobs more rapidly and effectively. Finally, there were sceptics who believed that learning would be ‘cheapened’ and weakened by a shift away from the powerful face-to-face teaching moment.

Early e formats

Understandably, in the early days, the implementation of e-learning was quite limited. In the workplace e-learning was focused on:

• Computer-based modules delivered over the network: Learners now had the ability to access a course with structured content and branched testing – over the internet – anytime and any place. Early e-learning was primarily PowerPoint- based, with text and graphics.

• Webinars: Learners now had the ability to attend a live class – with audio, supporting graphics and limited interactivity – from their desktop computer, anywhere in the world.

Needless to say, the functionality of each of these formats expanded and grew over the next dozen years. Content was enhanced with the addition of audio, then animation and finally video. Three-dimensional graphics and virtual worlds were added to some of the environments. And webinars added live video and deeper use of interaction.

Even in the early days of e-learning, the need for new skills on the part of both learners and teachers was understood. The learner would have to adapt to a new set of delivery formats and, in many instances, take additional responsibility for their own learning processes. And teachers would also have to make significant adaptations to the world of e-learning. They would have to become:

• Content developers: Many classroom teachers (in both corporate and educational settings) now had to transform lesson plans and class outlines into structured self-study e-learning modules. Instructional design had to be enhanced, developed and extended.

• Remote mentors: ‘I can see if they are understanding by the look in their eyes’ now needed to be replaced with ‘I can engage them remotely to check for their understanding or confusion’.

• Community facilitators: A component of e-learning involves real time or asynchronous dialogues – which can be deeply aided by good facilitation. Yet the skill of stimulating and steering an on-line discussion was a natural leap from in-classroom moderation.

• E-activity designers: The nature of assignments – that extend the content with projects, discussions, reviews and search-based activities – required an added level of instructional creativity. The teacher needed to be able to visualise and then choose/adapt appropriate activities to engage online learners.

• Blenders: Most learning is blended – it is a combination of self-study, online resources, community/group projects, interaction with a teacher/instructor, assessment and finally transfer. The teacher needed skills in how to get to the ‘magic in the mix’ of these different components of good blended learning.

• Managers of e-learning: The tools and metrics for managing the learning experience of a distributed set of learners were quite different in the on-line world.

• On-line learners: I would argue that it is impossible to facilitate great on-line learning if you have never experienced the medium yourself as a learner. Yet few teachers have taken their own e-learning activities.

The e-volution of e-learning

Teachers who created or facilitated e-learning in the past 12 years developed many of the above skills. And the lay of the land – from learner expectations to tools/systems – has evolved quite a bit. So let’s take a look at the ‘State of E-Learning in 2009′:

• The ‘e’ has evolved. At first, the ‘e’ stood for electronic delivery of content. Now ‘e’ refers to learning can be distributed to everyone, everywhere – with new degrees of engagement and efficiency – which copes with rapidly evolving content. We could add more ‘e’’s, but the point here is that e-learning is about a significant process change in how organizations are linking learners with content and expertise.

• Fingertip knowledge and search is key. Increasingly, learners are using the tools of search, knowledge management and online access to gain access to a wider set of content – beyond what is delivered in a structured module. E-learning is growing its use of search as a core component. For example, posing a question or project that requires the learner to use multiple search tools to find the appropriate content or solution.

• Social learning rocks! The learner is being asked to be part of collaborative and distributed social learning activities – requiring them to locate peers, embedded subject matter experts and others – to provide content and context. Social networking tools are being adapted or copied, so that corporate learners can have the same access to the “wisdom of the crowds” that they may have at home with Facebook or Linked In.

• Learning in the age of YouTube. The days of all content coming from the recognised subject matter expert are gone. Increasingly, organizations are using short, YouTube like video segments, shot by peers – in a simple story telling format – as some of the most valuable and up-to-date content.

• Blending learning expands. I would argue that almost all e-learning in 2009 is blended. It might be blended by the learner or by the teacher, but we are seeing an on-going mix of online content and live dialogues, with overt or covert resources. For example, when I am doing an e-learning program on my couch from home, my wife Cathy is going to be part of the process as I discuss my newly acquired knowledge or confusion of the moment.

• Global learning. More and more of our learning is also being stretched globally. In the corporate sector, we are seeing powerful designs that reach out to experts from diverse regions and bring multiple perspectives to the content plate.

The e-learning future

If I were to make a few predictions about e-learning – and advice for teachers – for the next five years, they would include:

• Video in learning will increase exponentially. While reading will never go away, we will see a significant rise in the use of video, both edited and also live video-conference formats, to shift e-learning to a watching and listening mode, rather than just reading and writing.

• Failing forward will be key. Much of e-learning is way too easy. Our next generation of learners wants to be significantly challenged when playing a video game. They want to fail the first few levels. Learning should increase the challenge, competition and the ability for our learners to “fail their way to success”.

• Evidence-based research on pedagogy is needed. We desperately need to have more evidence about what teaching and learning styles work most effectively for what types of content – and with which types of learners. This micro level of evidence is needed to be able to hone and target the future of e-learning.

• Collaboration and social learning moves forward. We will invent new models of how learners can learn from and with each other. These will include more use of ratings, peer teaching, project-based learning and structured competition/collaborative learning.

Finally, as the person ‘accused’ of helping to introduce the term e-learning, I have one hope: that we drop the ‘e’. Let’s just assume that learning in the future will always make the best use of online resources, digital collaboration and interaction between learners and teachers. The ‘e’ should evolve to be about ‘excellent learning’ that naturally uses these traditional and emerging modalities.