Picking up just one of Chris's points:
I'm finding that the current craze for eLearning is producing about one
request a week for me to speak on the topic at a
commercial/industrial/corporate training-oriented event. (This compares to
about two a year on 'networked learning' or 'learning technology'.)
In preparation for the first few of these events, I hunted for some
definitions of eLearning. There aren't many around. Most of the attempts at a
definition that I found were indistinguishable from 'web-based learning' or
just 'technology-assisted learning'.
So, I've been market-testing a definition of my own. In its current
form it's oriented more towards a corporate audience than a higher education
one, though I think some modification or analogical interpretation might allow
it to work for both. Part of the point of the definition is to raise the
stakes a bit - to define something which is more ambitious than just 'web-based
learning' and perhaps more commensurate with the level of interest. (A
'Google' search on 'e-learning' (Oct 2000) generated 102,000 hits. It was half
that in August.)
The working definition I've been using is as follows:
eLearning
is the systematic use of networked multimedia computer technologies to
empower learners,
improve learning,
connect learners to people and resources supportive of their needs, and to
integrate learning with performance and
individual with organisational goals
I'd welcome comments.
PS - if you're interested, you can access some of the slides I've been using on
this at
http://csalt.lancs.ac.uk/Goodyear/ehr/materi~1.htm
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