AN EXPLORATORY MODEL OF E-EDUCATION

“John” J. H. Im

College of Business, Sacred Heart University, 5151 Park Avenue, Fairfield, CT 06825, U.S.A.

Soyoung C. Yim

North Carolina Community College System, 200 West Jones Street, MSC 5006, Raleigh, NC 27699, U.S.A.

Keywords: Distance learning, Online learning, e-Learning, e-Education.

Abstract: The Internet opens up a new horizon not just for distance learning

but for learning as a whole. It blurs the

once clear distinction between the distance learning and the traditional learning since it is not another

medium for distance but becomes a universal one for the whole learning. Thus, the Internet-based learning

needs a new term, e-learning, since the term distance learning is no longer appropriate for this new learning

environment. This paper presents an exploratory model of education in view of confusion of terms and

definitions based on the old paradigm of distance learning. Furthermore, this model will contribute to

clarification of newly emerging learning modes and potential of totally reengineered learning modes based

on a new paradigm – e-education.

1 INTRODUCTION

The history of distance learning goes well back

when correspondence study started more than a

century ago (Moore, et al., 1996, p.19; Simonson, et

al., 2000, p.22). Distance learning has been evolving

by adopting new technologies to improve learning.

Nonetheless, the distinction between distance

learning and traditional learning had been very clear

up until recently. Unlike other technologies,

however, the Internet is making the distinction blur

by enabling merger of these two, thus causing

confusion on widely-accepted terminologies,

concepts, and theories. This paper attempts to

develop a reference model which reduces such

confusion based on the old paradigm of distance

learning; and clarifies newly emerging learning

modes and potential of totally reengineered learning

modes based on a new paradigm.

A learning mode is largely determined by two

factors, space

and tim

e. The traditional face-to-face

learning requires all students to be in a certain place

at a certain time. Distance learning (DL) is used as a

complementary alternative when one of those two

constraints or both can’t be met. Thus, distance

learning is largely taken by non-traditional students

who have difficulty to meet those constraints due to

distant locations, work schedules, family

responsibilities, military duties, disabilities, etc. As

far as the space factor is concerned, there are two

learning modes: adjacent vs. remote. While

traditional learning requires students to be in an

adjacent place together – typically a classroom at a

campus, distance learning can be done remotely,

thus allowing a student to select any place at his/her

choice. In the time factor, there are also two

distinctive learning modes, synchronous vs.

asynchronous. Traditional learning is synchronous

while distance learning is typically asynchronous. Of

course, distance learning can be done synchronously

by using a closed circuit TV system or a satellite

broadcasting system. The asynchronous mode

allows distance learning to be done any time at a

student’s choice. Figure 1 shows a two-dimensional

taxonomy for distance learning based on space and

time.

In the above taxonomy, there are three distance

earni

ng modes: anywhere, anytime, and anytime &

anytime. The term distance learning reflects the

anywhere aspect in the space dimension while the

term online learning does the anytime aspect in the

time dimension. The term online learning indicates

233

J. H. Im “. and C. Yim S. (2005).

AN EXPLORATORY MODEL OF E-EDUCATION.

In Proceedings of the Seventh Inter national Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, pages 233-237

 SciTePress

Figure 1: Taxonomy of Traditional Distance Learning

learning through a telecommunication system where

a learner is required to be connected. However,

online learning is widely used interchangeably with

distance learning since various telecommunication

technologies such as a closed-circuit TV system and

a satellite broadcasting system are mostly used for

distance learning purpose. Though these two terms

are widely used interchangeably, they also may be

used differently. For instance, distance learning can

be done in an anywhere mode where students can be

in any place but in a synchronous manner, thus not

online learning. On the other end, online learning

can be done in an anytime mode where learning can

be done any time at a student’s choice but at an

adjacent place like a computer lab. Since online

learning doesn’t necessarily mean remote learning,

online distance learning is a more precise term for

distance learning through an online mode. However,

distance learning is typically done in an anytime &

anywhere mode. The term distance learning is

usually used in a broad sense to describe any non-

traditional learning where an adjacent and

synchronous mode is not required. There are other

equivalent terms used to describe non-traditional

learning in general or a particular variation.

A new technology is adopted for content delivery

in distance learning when it can release one of those

constraints, time and space, or both in traditional

learning. An array of delivery media have been used

in distance learning. The mailing system was used to

deliver learning contents in prints, audiotapes, or

videotapes. That was the early type of distance

learning called correspondence learning.

Subsequently, various new technologies for

computers and telecommunications have been added

as new media for efficient and effective delivery.

For instance, there are sixteen different media are

listed to choose under the delivery mode category at

the distance learning Web site,

http://www.vccs.edu/vccsonline/directoryindex.html,

at The Virginia Community College System (VCCS).

At the site, a student searches a distance learning

course by keyword (subject area), by college, by

category, by term, and by delivery mode. Among the

five search criteria, the delivery mode is the only

one that distinguishes a distance learning course

from a traditional one. The sixteen delivery media

are World Wide Web, Compressed Video,

Videotapes, Telecourse, E-Mail, CD-ROM, Print-

based, Desktop Video, IP/TV, Computer-aided

Instruction, Satellite – Analog, Satellite – Digital,

PBS broadcast video, AudioGraphics, Voicemail,

Classroom Lecture, and Other distance learning

mode. Most of those sixteen are remnants of the

early distance learning era before the advent of the

ICEIS 2005 - SPECIAL SESSION ON EFFICACY OF E-LEARNING SYSTEMS

234

Figure 2: Two Dimensional Taxonomy of e-Learning

Internet. Already, the World Wide Web mode

becomes the dominant one among those sixteen

modes, of which most except for the classroom

lecture will be soon stopped offering, thus

disappearing. The classroom lecture mode is widely

called a hybrid or blended mode since it requires

some classroom meetings. The mode bridges once

two mutually exclusive learning modes, thus putting

the traditional learning on one end and the distance

learning on the other end in a continuum.

2 E-EDUCATION MODEL

Distance learning had played a marginal role mainly

for non-traditional working adult education up until

late 1990s when the Internet started being widely

available to the public. The Internet started being

used as another delivery medium for distance

learning. It becomes a dominant DL mode in a short

time of period in view of its unmatchable advantages

over the other existing DL delivery media in terms

of ease of use, accessibility, flexibility, affordability,

etc. For instance, it can be used in any of those three

distinctive DL modes: anytime, anywhere, and

anytime & anywhere. The Internet has been

replacing once independently existed various

distance learning modes with one integrated mode in

the name of Web-based learning where a Web

browser is used to have access to learning contents

over the Internet. Nowadays DL modes can be

classified into two: Web-based vs. non-Web-based

and soon into only one, Web-based, since most of

non-Web based ones will disappear or become

ignorable albeit used for some special purposes.

Unlike other technologies adopted for distance

learning, the Internet opens up a new horizon not

just for distance learning but for learning as a whole.

It blurs the once clear distinction between the

distance learning and the traditional learning since it

is not another medium for distance but becomes a

universal one for the whole learning. Thus, the

Internet-based learning needs a new term, e-learning,

since the term distance learning is no longer

appropriate for this new learning environment. In e-

learning, distance learning is not a distinctive

learning mode but become a part of it at one end of

the e-learning continuum. Since the old taxonomy of

distance learning is based on dichotomy between

distance learning and traditional learning, it should

be revised to accommodate e-learning, as shown in

Figure 2. In this taxonomy, the Web-enhanced

model is to enhance the traditional learning with the

Internet.

AN EXPLORATORY MODEL OF E-EDUCATION

235

Figure 3: Three Dimensional Taxonomy of e-Learning

Largely there are two ways to enhance a

classroom-based course. In the beginning, the

Internet was mainly used for out-class purposes such

as emailing and posting of course materials like

lecture notes, assignments, articles, and other

references at a course web site. As more classrooms

become Internet ready though wired or wireless

networks, the Internet has been used more

aggressively for in-class purposes such as course

materials presentation, instant access to relevant

information, simulations, and streaming video

watching. The Web-based model is similar to the

anytime & anywhere DL. However there is a big

difference between these two since the former is not

just for non-traditional students unlike the latter but

for any student. For instance, an on-campus student

may take a Web-based course. Colleges start

offering Web-based versions of their regular courses

designed not only for their distance learning students

but also for their traditional students. Some courses

are offered two different modes in tandem or

alternatively so that a student has a choice between a

Web-based course and a Web-enhanced one.

Advocates argue that such move may result in cost

reduction and alleviate shortage of classrooms.

Some colleges require their regular students to take

at least one Web-based course to get exposed to this

new mode of learning. On the other hand, some

colleges restrict their regular students from taking

their Web-based courses with a concern of possible

cannibal effect that a student may take a Web-based

course in lieu of a classroom-based course in his/her

dormitory room. Many researchers claim that there

is not much difference in terms of quality between a

traditional course and a DL course with various

empirical studies. If that is the case, there is not

much reason why a traditional student is not allowed

to select a learning mode at his/her choice.

It is not quite feasible to have a hybrid model in

non-Web-based distance learning because of

incompatibility of underlying technologies. However,

since the Internet technology is used as an

integrating foundation for all learning models in e-

learning, various hybrid models are possible. For

instance, the Singapore-MIT Alliance

(http://web.mit.edu/sma) offers courses to students at

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the

two universities, National University of Singapore

and Nanyang Technology University, in Singapore.

A class session is digitized and delivered in both

synchronous and asynchronous modes. Two e-

learning models are available to an MIT student: a

Web-enhanced one if he/she takes a course in

synchronous mode at an MIT classroom and an

anytime hybrid one at any place at his/her choice in

asynchronous mode. Also, two e-learning models

are available to a Singapore student: an anywhere

hybrid model if he/she takes it in a classroom and a

Web-based one if he/she takes it at any place.

Furthermore, the Internet technology makes it easy

to deliver major components of a course in different

modes. For instance, a weekly quiz for a course may

be done in an anytime & anywhere mode. Cyber

discussion at a discussion board may be done in an

anytime mode. Online chatting at a virtual classroom

may be done in an anywhere mode while the

remainders are done in a Web-enhanced mode.

In addition to space and time, process is another

constraint in learning. There are two distinctive

kinds of process in learning, batch vs. repetitive. A

batch process mode means that students enroll in a

course simultaneously and complete it in a batch

during a certain set period of time while a repetitive

process mode allows a student to enroll and

complete it individually without a set duration. Most

college courses are offered in a batch mode with

some exceptions like independent study or

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236

mentoring courses. The reason why a batch mode is

dominant is its economy of scale. The larger a batch

size is, the more economical a course is. Of course, a

smaller batch size will contribute to quality of a

course with more attention to each student’s needs.

In the manufacturing industry, mass customization

has been replacing mass production as a process

strategy in an effort to satisfy a customer’s needs on

an individual basis while containing cost at an

affordable level. Mass customization in learning

may be possible in a repetitive process mode thanks

to the Internet technology. For instance, a computer

literacy course may be designed based on major

modules, of which a student is allowed to complete

individually a computer literacy course with fully

computerized modules which can be taken

independently in an anytime, anywhere & anypace

mode. Figure 3 shows a three dimensional taxonomy

of e-learning including the process constraint. In this

taxonomy, there are eight distinctive learning modes:

the Web-enhanced one on one end and anytime,

anywhere & anypace one on the other end. A course

where students are not enough for a batch can be

done in a repetitive mode.

3 SUMMARY

This paper presents an exploratory model of

education in view of confusion of terms and

definitions based on the old paradigm of distance

learning. Furthermore, this model will contribute to

clarification of newly emerging learning modes and

potential of totally reengineered learning modes

based on a new paradigm – e-education.

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