Live E-Learning: March
1st, 2002
By Paul Stacey
Live
e-learning, also known as synchronous e-learning or virtual classroom, has
emerged as one of the most exciting new forms of e-learning.
A
great deal of the e-learning commercially available to date has been
asynchronous and self-paced. While this provides benefits in terms of anytime,
anyplace access it all to often results in a learning experience characterized
by a boring, static experience, devoid of any human interaction. This has been
especially true in the corporate e-learning market.
Live
e-learning is based on the principle that effective learning results from
interaction and engagement between learners and between learners and the
instructor. A live e-learning experience is characterized by two-way audio, text
and graphics communications delivered at a scheduled time over the Internet.
While
live e-learning sacrifices the flexibility of learning "anytime" it
preserves the benefits of learning "anywhere". Instructors and
students can be geographically dispersed and not actually meet in person. Even
the learning anytime benefit is partially preserved as many live e-learning
tools allow the live e-learning event to be recorded and saved as an archive
which can then be played back and reviewed at anytime.
Live
e-learning experiences are typically characterized by the following features:
- professional instructors, trained to make
virtual classes engaging and interactive
- two-way audio (voice over IP) in real time
between instructor and learners
- two-way text messaging (chat or instant
messaging) in real time between instructor and learners and between learners
themselves
- ability for learners to provide feedback to
instructor through raising hand, providing applause, indicating happy or sad
status, etc.
- use of visual materials such as prepared
slides, graphics, flash animation's, etc.
- ability of the instructor or any learner to
share applications such as spreadsheets, online whiteboards and other
applications
- ability for instructor to ask polling,
survey, or short answer questions to learners and instantly show responses
- ability for instructor to have any student
lead discussions or present material
- use of breakout rooms for further discussion
by small groups
- recording and archiving of session for later
student review
While
some live e-learning tools enable video streaming it is rarely used due to
limited bandwidth of learners participating through dial-up connections.
The
September 11th disaster heightened interest in live e-learning tools and content
providers. The ability to teach and take a class from virtually
"anywhere" without having to fly students and instructors to a central
facility became highly desirable. Furthermore, live e-learning provides an easy
first step for those looking to transition existing classroom based learning to
e-learning, requiring less conversion than asynchronous e-learning.
Live
e-learning tools are available from a number of vendors including:
-
HorizonLive http://www.horizonlive.com
-
Centra http://www.centra.com
-
Interwise http://www.interwise.com
-
Learnlinc http://www.learnlinc.com
-
and others
Last
October I began using live e-learning tools myself when I agreed to be the
Canadian correspondent for LearningWeek Live http://www.learningweek.com
a weekly webcast out of New York featuring stories about the people, business,
and technology of learning. LearningWeek Live is done using the HorizonLive
e-learning technology.
I
now do a one hour monthly show - "LearningWeek Live Canada" on
e-learning across Canada. Producing and hosting this show has been an exciting
learning experience. I have been rapidly climbing the learning curve on several
fronts including designing show themes, developing interview and hosting skills,
making full use of the tools and technology, and most importantly seeking to
engage and encourage audience participation.
LearningWeek
Live shows differ from traditional classroom in that they use a talk show format
rather than a lecture or presentation based format. Guests invited from all
across Canada participate live on-line and are interviewed by me and by
questions from the audience submitted via live instant messaging.
One
of the best features of live e-learning is not only the convenience for learners
but for instructors too. Instead of traveling to a bricks and mortar classroom
or broadcast facility instructors and guests can contribute from home or office
or wherever they are. This significantly widens the pool of expertise you can
bring in to a live e-learning experience.
The
host and all guests can be heard via audio over IP. Presentation and graphic
material enriches the visual experience. The audience is encouraged to
participate via instant messaging, responding to polls, exploring web sites
launched during the show, and submitting questions to guests.
If
you are interested in seeing what this experience is like archives of all the
shows done to date are available at http://www.learningweek.com.
Even
better I encourage you all to join me online in LearningWeek Live Canada.
LearningWeek Live happens every Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. in Vancouver).
The Canadian show happens once a month. The shows are free. Suggestions for
guests, show themes and other ideas are also welcome. Send me an e-mail: stacey@techbc.ca
There
is some convergence between live e-learning tools and tools used for web-enabled
collaboration, meeting and conferencing. These latter tools tend to focus on
disseminating information to large audiences in a corporation, sharing
information in a meeting format, and providing a means for virtual teamwork
rather than an interactive learning format. However, I believe the overlap
between live e-learning, and web collaboration, meeting and conferencing tools
will increase over time.
One
of the major live e-learning technology providers, Centra http://www.centra.com,
was recently purchased by SmartForce http://www.smartforce.com
for $284 million dollars. This purchase signals the current level of importance
the industry is placing on live e-learning and establishes a benchmark price for
further mergers and acquisitions in the e-learning space.
Paul Stacey is Director of Corporate
Education at the Technical University of British Columbia http://www.techbc.ca,
a long time education professional in the high tech private sector, and the
Canadian Correspondent for LearningWeek Live http://www.learningweek.com
an interactive webcast from New York featuring stories about the people,
technology and business of learning. Contact: Paul
Stacey
What Do You Think? Talk Back To Paul Stacey
E-Learning: An
opinionated monthly column exploring the current use,
future potential, and commercial value of e-learning in
BC’s high tech sector.
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