proceedings of Student Mobility and ICT: Can E-LEARNING

E-learning - Non-discovered Territory
(a course on studying by the Internet)
Leszek Rudak, Centre for Open and Mmultimedia Education, University of Warsaw, Poland
l.rudak@uw.edu.pl
Abstract: There is a group of people (in Poland more than 25% of all of people that
declare the wish of the extending of their own qualifications) who do not want to learn
on-line. To change their attitudes towards on-line learning it is necessary to conduct a
course on e-learning for them. However it should be blended learning course with the
first part perform face to face. Actually the course should consist of three parts. We
propose, that the first face-to-face part should deal with all skills necessary for e-student
(technical and sociological as well as communication ones). The second part, face-to-face
again, should be dedicated to simulation of the e-course but performed in a computer
room with an instructor. The third part is a practice: a short on-line course that needs of
all typical activities from e-student to complete it.
A social survey
All-Poland social survey of educational needs of adults carried out by the University of Warsaw
(spring 2008) on request of Ministry of Education financed by European Social Fund has shown very
strong polarization of the society with regard to long life learning using the Internet (Badania potrzeb w
zakresie ksztacenia na odleg, 2008). On the one hand people who have never taken part in such classes
definitely reject this form of education and, what is more, they manifest that there are no conditions which
could change their attitude to e-learning. On the other hand, people who have already had (even slight)
experience in e-learning want to exploit such a form of studying farther. Such people, in general, are almost
enthusiastic to this form of learning. They perceive it as a real chance to raise their education level with no
harm to their current job or family duties (it concerns single mothers in particular). They point out an
economic benefit as well.
Taking both attitudes towards e-lesrning into consideration, it is possible to draw a conclusion that
teaching how to learn by the Internet should be the first step in disseminating e-learning. Such a course
must be directed to people who have a need for widening their knowledge but they do not want to do it with
the help of online courses. Their reluctance is (most often) based on the lack of knowledge about e-learning
and their disbelief in the effectiveness of the teaching process. Thus, although it can sound paradoxical, it is
necessary to carry a traditional (stationary) course on studying by the Internet for them. Actually, the course
should contain online elements but only in the later phase. The beginning must be stationary.
How to learn on-line
Any course on studying by the Internet, which could make a positive change in attitudes towards
online learning, should be complete, in the sense that it should contain both technical and social skills as
well as elements of psychology. Training on using computers and the Internet, enabling then efficient
functioning on the e-education platform and the completion of homework, is a necessary element of such a
course. The teaching of social communication by means of computer technology with the use of the
Internet (in the synchronous as well as asynchronous mode) is also a very important part of the course
(Clarke, 2004). Especially important is teaching of the usage of suitable forms of the expression of
emotions and the self-control the tendency to enlarging of the aggression in the statement, which is present
in the Internet (Wallace, 1999). Elements of psychology explaining phenomena which can arise in the
process of learning without a direct contact to participants of the course and the teacher (e.g. feeling the
loneliness and the isolation) must be found in the program of the course as well. Inspiring the creativity and
building up motivation are the completion of the curriculum.
The postulate of the creation of the course of the learning by the Internet was notified in the
literature, see e.g. (Windeatt, 2002) and such courses where conducted e.g. How to Learn Online (2003),
Online Course: How to Learn Online (2002), however the most are courses on-line – requiring from the
Conference proceedings of Student Mobility and ICT: Can E-LEARNING overcome barriers of Life-Long learning?” 125