The Whole Picture of E-Learning

The Whole Picture of E-Learning
I quite enjoyed this ambitious article from George Siemens. I wish I had seen it at the beginning of my current programme design course. The model he's created for the article would have given me some context -- it's been one of those courses that I never really got a handle on, even though I can jump through the hoops and get passing grades. The contrast between the quality of the learning experience in that course and the other one I'm taking -- Designing Web-Based Learning -- is shocking, and it's mostly attributable to differences in the instructing style. In the first one, I'm feeling lost, the chosen materials are dull, the discussions never get going, and nobody seems to know whether they're getting it or not. In the latter, the discussions are rich and spirited, the materials make you want to read beyond what's required, and you always know where you stand. Both offered in WebCT using a similar structure, but one prof is "the ghost in the machine" and the other is an active participant and organizer. Not that any of this has so much to do with George's article -- but I'm thinking his model could be applied equally well to all types of learning.