Elearning – Path Towards the Future

We are seeing a lot of new developments nowadays regarding elearning. Several studies and forecasts all foresee that the electronic learning industry has nowhere to go but up. There are of course, two kinds, two aspects to this type of learning methodology.

First, there is technology-enhanced learning for academic purposes. This is an alternative to the usual classroom environment that each and every one of us born in these past generations is accustomed to. This is helpful to many students who lack the financial resources to afford traditional schooling that may also be too far from where they live. Virtual learning for academic purposes is usually for post graduate courses. However, there are now many online academies sprouting up that are focused on high school courses.

The second kind of learning pedagogy is for corporate development and training. Electronic learning is a great, cheap solution for companies for many reasons and situations. Elearning to train or orient employees on certain things can easily be distributed among all the staff and employees even if the company is split into many different far flung geographical headquarters. It is also a cheaper alternative to have a content expert share his or her knowledge through an online course as opposed to having the employee attend a seminar or be a permanent trainer for the company. Business predictions see virtual learning conquering new markets in Asia after five years. Currently the new method of learning is already doing well in the United States and is developing and expanding in the European countries.

There are still issues regarding the acceptance of elearning. Some people still feel that it is not as adequate as the traditional classroom type of learning. Some companies do not credit electronic learning courses in the resume of prospective employee applicants. However, the phenomenal practicality of virtual learning cannot be dismissed by any smart person or businessman especially in this time of global economic recession.

Do Former Teachers Make Good Elearning Instructional Designers?

rickie fowler

As a successful instructional designer for elearning solutions (or at least I think I am successful enough since I’ve already made a steady and fruitful living out of this career), this question has been asked of me many, many times before. This is of course because I was a former teacher myself. I loved teaching even before I went full time. But of course, teaching was not as lucrative as I would have hoped.

I got into instructional design completely by accident or completely by a twist of fate. It was back when I got a freelance teaching gig at a business seminar that got me some connections which referred me to freelance instructional design gigs. I was successful at it and I found it to be very lucrative, so I went full time.

So what are the characteristics of a former school teacher that is applicable to an instructional designer? Everything. Instructional design for elearning solutions is basically just creating a program course that will help teach a lesson or a field. Therefore, the rules that determine whether the training or teaching method is effective or not are the same and applicable to both. This is why a lot of instructional designers started out as teachers. But of course, this is not an iron clad law. However, it is a trend.

There are some skills for instructional design however that you can’t learn as a teacher. Translating the teaching method into software frames for example is quite a challenge on its own. However, learning that while being unfamiliar with the software itself makes it nearly impossible. Hence, one thing that a teacher must have in order to be able to cross into an electronic learning career is familiarity and adequate or relative mastery of the software tools for e learning design.