Alliances and Initiatives

Announcements of e-learning collaborative initiatives amongst and between commercial and educational institutions are a daily event. Many are funded by venture capital, and often combine an IT company's expertise with knowledge base of an educational provider. The following examples are illustrative of range of initiatives taking place. There are also some trends starting to emerge: - Globalisation of education and training means progressive educational institutions are combining forces to make available capital and infrastructure necessary to produce online solutions that will tap into new global market - Education is becoming one of core areas of venture capital investment in online solutions generally. The traditional idea that educational institutions were non-profit organisations working for public good is fading rapidly. - The most effective solutions usually involve a partnership that combines technical expertise of a commercial organisation with educational resources of a larger institution or institutions. - Perhaps area of greatest activity is providers offering delivery platforms for partner institutions' content. This meets need of smaller institutions/companies wanting to offer training online, but not having infrastructure or resources to develop online LMSs.

*Jackson State University (JSU) announced plans to spend US$20 million to create a major technology research and incubation center in Mississippi, a move made possible by a $17 million donation to university by Allstate Insurance Company.

*The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) announced a partnership with British and Australian institutions to develop a for-profit online film program that will be offered globally.

*CYBeR-CARE Inc. (a telehealth technology company) and Wichita State University's College of Health Professions have announced an alliance to test effectiveness of initiating and monitoring physical therapy and other rehabilitation services for patients in home settings using Electronic HouseCall(TM) System.

Another common trap is dumping text online. Text is inherently more difficult to read on screen, learners will almost invariably print out text and read off paper when given chance. Unfortunately, much online text is not set up to print cleanly. Online text is also often broken up into smaller blocks and linked for multiple access points. This is great for learners navigating to find what they need, not great if learners need to repeatedly refer to or work with volumes of text.

Finally, most effective 'resource' in face to face environment is of course presenter or lecturer. Often projects to go online simply adapt existing print and media resources. Effective online courses find ways to maintain that personal contact, or develop tools that go some way to performing same functions. Simply offering chat or bulletin board facilities does not, of itself, resolve this issue. The analogy is putting a learner in a car, but not showing them how to drive, or giving them a reason to go anywhere. The delivery methodology needs to be designed to stimulate and guide online communication.

Disadvantages For learner, technology can be intimidating, or actually impede learning. More self-motivation and discipline are often required, and communication technologies may be a poor substitute for face-to-face contact.

For producer of learning, significantly higher development costs are likely, and specialised skills are required. There are also problems of overcoming scepticism amongst potential users, and adapting organisation's culture and systems for new delivery method.

Despite range of challenges and issues inherent in online learning, there is no doubt that it is revolutionising face of training and education. In race to assimilate technology into educational delivery, it is not development of training that is goal, it is depth of learning that results from it. Be wary of claims by vendors of online training solutions that one product is all that is required to develop and deliver an effective (online) package. Any educational course will require planning and good educational design. Subsequent articles in this series will overview that design and development process.