The use of online facilities has been introduced successfully to enhance better training and learning activities in education. One of the resources is e-learning which refers to learning supported and enhanced through the use of commutations as well as information technology. Tarus, David & Alex (2015) describes e-learning as both synchronous and asynchronous communicated that is electronically mediated to confirm and construct knowledge. The electronically based approach could be used anytime and anywhere. It is very economical because it saves operational costs such as cost of travelling, accommodation as well as booking of physical lecture halls, or classrooms. In addition, other learning activities such as completion of assignments, watching videos, and rehearsals acquired during training could be conducted offline (Chang, 2016). However, learners can focus on consolidating their knowledge and skills in classroom based teaching.
E-learning can be divided into asynchronous and synchronous learning (Tarus, David & Alex, 2015). Synchronous learning uses live interactive learning where all participants present themselves at the same time while asynchronous learning is based on the website. It is offered across the institution’s local area network or on a CD-ROM. The students can efficiently access the teachings at their own places. Alongside accelerating the speed of learning, e-learning can also each training process. For instance, the internet and software enables the directors to find an organization’s after which trainers can use technology to plan and design the training (Tarus, David & Alex, 2015). As training progresses, it can be facilitated by video-conferencing as well as intranet. Also, online assessment might be done during training evaluation.
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Introduction of e-learning is only one step to facilitate but there are many barriers to its readiness. The method takes a lot of time and money to set up and to finance ongoing support as well as maintenance. It is eventually difficult to monitor trainers whether they are fully complete ting the training, or benefiting from it as they would have done in a face-to-face classroom. Additionally, students who have little knowledge in technology may perform poorly as they would have done in a physical classroom. Learners can be prepared psychologically but inadequate e-learning and ICT infrastructure, as well as e-content would hinder their learning process. They would also need use too much effort to study unlike in the traditional classes because electronic based learning is technical (Chang, 2016). Finally, lack of commitment and interest by trainers to use e-teaching is another hindering factor.
My e-learning readiness has greatly influenced my success in various ways because the method is more independent and individual. For instance, online communication self-efficacy has positively contributed to my success as I can comfortably express myself to the teachers as well as my colleagues. The readiness has also helped me to understand educational expectations and think about my requirements in all dimensions, ranging from habits, to skills and to technological needs before learning begins. Additionally, my readiness has acquainted with fast typing skills which enable me to complete assignments on time. I am motivated by the readiness to attend all the classes having a higher reading and recall rate, as well as accuracy.
Trainers can prepare the students for e-learning classes through provision of orientation activities to enable students to get conversant with the technology. In addition, content delivery before the lesson time would enable a student to familiarize with the trainer’s workload expectations (Chang, 2016) . They would also explain how online sites are integrated and the reasons for that matter. Finally, trainers should participate in the online activities such as blogs, group projects, quizzes, and discussions.
In conclusion, e-learning can be successfully implemented if the barriers towards its actualization are resolved (Chang, 2016). Also, the method could be combined with interactive learning to enhance frequent monitoring of learners to find out the areas that need more attention. Furthermore, emerging services and cloud computing can take e-learning to the next level because students can make sense out of the data collected within the shortest time possible.
References
Chang, V. (2016). Review and discussion: E-learning for academia and industry. International Journal of Information Management, 36(3), 476-485
Tarus, J. K., Gichoya, D., & Muumbo, A. (2015). Challenges of implementing e-learning in Kenya: A case of Kenyan public universities. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(1).
