Advances in E-learning-Experiences and Methodologies

E-Learning 2.0
tion. Learning should be facilitated to meet their
needs and personal characteristics, and develop
their potentials. Students can be self-motivated
and learn by themselves with appropriate guidance
and facilitation, and the learning process becomes
self-actualizing, discovering, experiencing, and
reflecting (Cheng, 2002).
Networking is linked to the idea of socialization
and the possibility of getting advantage of
any synergy that may arise in the net, including
reutilization of materials, ideas, strategies, methodologies,
and so forth, that, this way, are easily
made available to everyone. Participants establish
virtual identities and do networking with other
participants.
While still in early stages of development,
technology is permitting new ways of accessing
information and interacting. Rapid knowledge
growth requires off-loading the internal act of
cognition, sense, and meaning making, and
filtering to a network consisting of human and
technology nodes. Thus, E-Learning 2.0 can be
regarded as a distributed process within a network
recognizing and interpreting patterns, according
to the connectivism theory.
As Downes (2005a) explained in his presentation
at the Transitions in Advanced Learning
Conference about “What E-Learning 2.0 Means
To You,” the learning is a network phenomenon
where a Web of user-generated content is an
important pillar. The network is open, diverse
(multiple views, technologies, etc.) and connected
and interactive (not integrated), made of small
pieces, loosely joined.
E-Learning 2.0 is about enabling a social
experience that recognizes the course is but one
social-organizational group in a broader education
environment. E-Learning 2.0 is about moving
beyond the course towards a more holistic conception
of a networked learning environment. One
consequence of this shift is a hunger by educators
to conduct research and benchmark various e-
learning strategies and programs using data from
peer institutions (Blackboard, 2006).
concLusIon
After some hard beginnings, e-learning seems
to be definitively catching a massive attention
as the application of ICT is finally regarded as
positive by the learning community. We could go
even further and say that the institutions or teachers
that do not count with this new element are
doomed to become obsolete. On the other hand,
the pressure of the learner demand for learning
experiences that make use of the ICT in classroom
activities, blended learning, or distance learning
is each time stronger and stronger.
In our opinion, one cycle is completed and
we are now starting a second cycle that deals
not with e-learning but with E-Learning 2.0. At
the moment, there exists a lukewarm welcome to
E-Learning 2.0, but, as time goes by, we predict
that the learner demand will grow as quick as
the interest among institutions and teachers, who
should be constantly evolving.
With such a prediction, our recommendation
is to anticipate to needs and trends, be a pioneer
now that you are still on time, and contribute to
decide which must be the next step in e-learning.
Do not surrender to the trends if you do not
think that they are the best possible practices, but
dictate them instead.
E-Learning 2.0 is about personalizing the e-
learning environment to be more disciplined and
pedagogically specific to the educational activity
at hand (Blackboard, 2006). This more tailored
platform experience must be achieved through
specialized software extensions developed by
and for educators, as well as with rich, interactive
digital resources.
One important conclusion is that the emphasis
is and should be more focused on methodologies
than on technologies, tools, platforms, or applications.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that
wikis, blogs, or forums are the E-Learning 2.0.
They are resources. E-Learning 2.0 needs structure
and instructional design to be effective and
provide return on investment. Courses 2.0 should