e-learning

In this ABC radio talk, Paul McKey describes the transition in e-learning from digitised education material to collaborative, interactive and mobile learning. A key quote:

Other attempts have been made to digitise the whole classroom, teacher and all. This works well in corporate environments and has been labeled C, or collaborative learning. This uses technology simply as a medium to assist what humans do best, communicate. Some say it just replaces the classroom with all its strengths and weaknesses. Video conferencing started this trend but now we can combine video with real-time sharing of applications and information (such as those learning objects) via computers and all of a sudden people all over the world can enter our classroom. Voice Over IP, the latest craze to replace your telephone with a computer, microphone and Internet connection, is also an offshoot of this area.

But my e, i or c-learning, while very sophisticated, would be of little use if I had to always go to the mountain. What if the mountain could come to me? Then we would have M-learning. The M however is for mobile. Now I can travel anywhere and I don’t have to carry my knowledge store on my back like some sort of digital snail. I can now get access to J-I-T-L or just in time learning. And all of a sudden, because the big Telcos are involved, there are plenty of investment dollars available. Much more than for boring old education.