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
l
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
Copyright
c
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
ICEIS 2005 - SPECIAL SESSION ON EFFICACY OF E-LEARNING SYSTEMS
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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