The concept of learning and E-learning

E-learning as we know it has been around for a decade or so. During that period of time, it has
come out from being a radical idea, the effectiveness of which was yet to be proven, to
something that is widely regarded as conventional. It's the center to numerous business plans and
a service offered by most colleges and universities. Now, e-learning is evolving with the World
Wide Web as a whole and it's changing to a degree substantial enough to warrant a new name: E-
learning 2.0.

In understanding where e-learning is going, it is worth spending a few terms to describe here we
are now. When we think of learning content today, we probably think of a learning object.
Generated in the world of computer-based delivery (CBT) systems, learning objects were
represent as being like lego blocks or atoms, little bits of content that could be put together or
organized. Standards bodies have cultivated the concept of learning objects into a accurate form
and have provided specifications on how to sequence and organize these bits of content into
courses and package them for delivery as though they were books or training manuals.

The purpose of this report is to give an in-depth understanding on the reasons why the
investment in e-books and e-journals are not worth venturing in terms of learning.

It is crucial in any kind of education centers that the student understand what is being taught.
Although there are common debates between the effectiveness between the concept of learning
and problem solving skill, the more accepted techniques are of concept learning. It is crucial for
a person to understand the whole idea of learning, then identify problems in order to solve the
issue. Generally referenced in curriculum of all levels, concept learning is valuable and
necessary in a students education and growth. However, no matter how often the teaching of
concepts may be indicated by the educator, concept-centered curriculum is often a challenge for
students to learn. A common challenge for educators is that while students may hold principles
and facts, understanding of concepts and how to apply that knowledge often have been
overlooked.

According to SydelleSeiger-Ehrenberg in Developing Minds: A Research Book for Teaching

Thinking, a prevalent misconception is that concepts can be taught and learned the same way as
facts. But in reality, concepts and facts require different approaches and different learning
strategies. The problem is that facts and concepts often get lumped into the same category,
making students unable to distinguish the differences between them. This results in students
incomplete understanding of subjects and lessons.

A concept is a mental image, generalization, of certain characteristics and aspects that make up
an item. This list of characteristics is not a label, but can be used to describe all examples of
items under that category and separate them from non-examples.

E-learning : The problems faced

Although the idea of visual learning in the 21st century has been freely accepted by the whole
world, it must have borderline in education and socio economic growth.

On a primary research on ICT adoption in Africa and the Asia-Pacific, it was suggested that there
are serious boundaries to their use in educational and socioeconomic development, such as issues
of infrastructure support, connections to the ICTs, training and skills development, and ranked
social relations which resolve who has access to ICTs. Generally ICTs are considered relevant,
even though there remain concerns over economic priorities, basic needs or computers.

However, the implementation of ICTs is appearing in a context where the cultural and
institutional boundaries are not well addressed. It is often assumed that if one just purchases a
few computers and modems, a post-industrial society can magically result. Africans and those in
the Asia-Pacific are generally in the position of consumers and thus in a position where they are
yet unable to define the media in their terms. At the same time, conservative mindset
entrenched in Asia-Pacific countries and concern over basic needs constrain appreciation of the
importance of new ICTs. For example, in Fiji and the Philippines, people believe ICTs are not the
most important needs in their societies and that people can always find a way to get along if ICT
use becomes a matter of "life and death".

Basic education, have equipped school with enough texts and reducing the teacher-student ratio,
and seeing culturally relevant programs on television seem to be the main concerns of most of
the respondents. There iare also fear that the Internet could spoil the morals of their society
through easy access to pornography and other culturally shocking material. The use of ICTs for
collective education, for pedagogy that leads to communication and information richness is not
yet sufficiently understood or developed.

The main reasons why in education, visual learning is over rated is due to a few reason that will
be discussed further. Educators, curriculum developers and technology specialists all work
carefully to integrate these skills into learning in order to support student achievement. However,
the focus is on what the skills are, not on how students will get them. What seems to be
inadequate is discussion about which tools actually help to develop 21st century skills. Specific
thinking and learning approach, like visual thinking, can help students in their growth toward
21st century readiness.

National organizations like the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), advocate and define the
21st century skills pertinent to students success in their studies and careers after graduation.In
the P21 Framework Definitions document, the four essential 21st century skills for students are
narrowed down to critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration.2 below
are how visual thinking tools can assist students in learning each skill:

Encouraging books as a step to curb the inappropriate usage of the ICT

According to a study, young people in particular are reading less than they did even 20 years ago,
and this reading habit decreases as they reach their late teens. Things dont really change in
higher learning either: By the time they become seniors, one out of three students read nothing at
all for pleasure in a given week. These habits formed early can be correspond with the habits of
the family as a whole.

Families are spending less on books than at almost any other time in the past twenty years. The
number of books in a home is a significant medium of academic achievement. As the amount we
read lessen, so does our skills of comprehension and writing , and ability to get and hold a job.
School children are already aware of the gain of reading heavily investing in books and time
reading to our children. But there is always room for improvement.
There are ways that can boost a lifelong reading habit. It start with starting early. Reading to
children from infance is never too early to read to a child or too late. Reading aloud also helps in
supporting reading habits.

It is important for adults to set the example. Childrens are watching. They need to see the elder
generation reading for not only informational intention, but also for enjoyment, they will be
more likely pick up this habit. Television does not give a lot of benefits to the . The television also
waste reading time. On a recent study in America, 15- to 24-year-olds spend only 710 minutes
per day on voluntary reading about 60% less time than the average person. By contrast, 15- to
24-year-olds spend 2 to 2 hours per day watching TV. This activity consumes the most leisure
time for men and women of all ages.

The usage of internet by itself should be reduced. Literary reading declined significantly in a
period of rising Internet use. From 19972003, home Internet use soared 53 percentage
points among 18- to 24-year-olds. By another estimate, the percentage of 18- to 29-year-olds
with a home broadband connection climbed 25 points from 2005 to 2007. The
entertainment sources on a general basis should be avoided. The TV, Internet, social
networking, edutainment, and other entertainment sources are not bad in and of themselves.
But like everything, if we cease to control them, theyll control us. The study shows that 20%
of middle and high school students reading time is shared by TV-watching, video/computer
gameplaying, instant messaging, e-mailing or Web surfing. (Source:http://homehearts.com/9-
ways-to-encourage-a-life-long-reading-habit/)

Research has shown that Internet and other media used can change our ability to read. Just as
neurons that fire together wired together, neurons that dont fire together dont wired together. As
the time we spend surfing Web pages crowds out the time we spend reading books, as the time
we spend exchanging bite-sized text messages clouds out the time we spend composing
sentences and paragraphs, as the time we spend changing across links clowds out the time we
devote to quiet reflection, the circuits that support those old intellectual functions and hunts
weaken and begin to break apart. The brain recycles the disused neurons and synapses for other,
more pressing work. We gain new skills with perspectives but lose old ones. The studies
continues to show that people who read linear text assimilate more, remember more, and learn
more than those who read text peppered with links.

Apart from that, the essential of reading quality literature should be brought forward. Dont forgo
quality for the sake of reading. Feeding students baloney to encourage them to read will backfire
in the end. In reverse, step up the quality. It is better to do this from the beginning, but it is never
too late to improve the quality of the literature the students read.

In order to get back to nature, it is commendable to find a slower pace. Building in some margin.
A series of psychological studies over the past two decades has revealed that after spending time
in a quiet rural setting, close to nature, people exhibit greater concentration, stronger memory,
and generally improved cognition. Their brains become both calmer and sharper. The reason,
according to attention restoration theory, or ART, is that when people arent being blast by
external stimuli, their brains can, in effect, relax. They no longer have to tax their working
memories by processing a stream of bottom-up disturbance. The resulting state of to foresee
strengthens their ability to control their mind: The Shallows:What the Internet is Doing to Our
Brains by Nicholas Carr

Evaluation on books and learning

There is no doubt that there are highly persuasive debates in favour of visual learning, it is
important to remind ourselves that books are effective and there are more benefits to it in
correlation to computers. For example, books don't need time to load and, when they're done,
demand you do a full virus scan and reboot. Books never crashes or hang . There is no need to
spend hours a week to back up your books. Books don't require a profusion of different
passwords in order to access them which, after you've entered them, you tend to forget, and
spend the next three hours trying to recall. If books took over the world, the worst you'd be able
to say would be that we'd all be incredibly full of air and intelligent. If computers took over the
world, we'd only be able to communicate in ones and zeroes. From books, one can learn of the
many profound beauties of language. Books arent exposed to bizarre global viruses. When
buying a book you are never forced with long, foreign technical words including RAM,
processor and disk. Books are still useful after a long period of time while computers are difficult
to predict. There is no need for thick User Manual, usually written in seventy-six ambiguous
foreign languages - including Swahili and Ancient Tibetan - but not English, to read a book.
Conclusion

Information on the Internet can easily be access, but it is extremely brief. A document on the
Internet can be copied, changed, or even deleted forever very easily, while a book cannot be
revised without reprint and rebinding a new copy. On the Internet, one persons document can be
altered and republished by another, and older revisions of documents are rarely saved. This
brings up questions of copyright law, which is a great deal harder to enforce on the global
Internet than with print media.

In these two decades, print media may not be able to keep up with the rapid growth of
information. Because the compactness of information on a computer is greater than that of a
book, the Internet already holds more data than any physical library in the world. A tnormal
computer hard drive can save around 2,000 novels estimates that there are over 3 Millions
computers with information on the Internet today. In addition to their apparently unlimited
storage capacity, computers also provide much faster access to information. For instance looking
up words in a dictionary might take a few minutes while computers immediately can give the
definition for any word, and pronounce it for you. The computers spaxe and storage will make
it a necessity technology as we move into a this millennium.

The future will bring even greater benefits to the computer over the book. Soon, computers will
have screens that are user friendly and more comfortable to view than a printed book. Currently,
a computer screen has around 72 dots per square inch (dpi), while a laser-printed piece of paper
is around 500 to 600 dpi. Future technology by companies such as Sony and Xerox will produce
600 dpi computer screens. With this technology, computer screens will no longer strain the eyes,
and it will become feasibleeven desirableto read an entire novel on a computer screen.
Technology will soon produce a computer that is as compact, durable, and comfortable to read
as a book but that could contain thousands of books in electronic form.Today, however, there are
still some disadvantages to using the computer in place of the book. A good computer costs five
thousand dollars, while a good paperback costs only five dollars. Many people cannot afford a
computer and do not even have access to one. The Internet is an expensive service in most areas
of the world, and there are monthly charges for it beyond the price of the computer. Though
computers will be less expensive in the future, they will always cost considerably more than a
book. (Sourcr: http://tashian.com/carl/docs/compbook/)
A book has much greater authority than information send by a computer. By the time a book goes
to press, it has been through the hands of the author, publisher, designer, and the editor.
Information on the computer does not necessarily go through such a strict selection process. With
very little effort, anyone can publish a document on the Internet; anyone can claim to be an
author. As a result, there tends to be a lower signal-to-noise ratio on the Internet.

In conclusion, computers will never completely overthrow books, but we may soon rely on them
more than print media. Computers will meet our needs for information storage and distribution,
and will be a convenient way to hold more information in less space than todays book.
However, it must be understood that the learning development should maintain the same.