E-learning is defined as the use of electronic media as well as information and communication technologies for educational purposes. It can be seen as a broad term that encompasses all forms of technologies and is widely used for learning in today’s world. In fact, E-learning has become a necessity in today’s fast paced and globalized era as it helps people manage effectively their time, jobs, budgets and family life.
E-learning does not change the aim of education
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n recent years even though budgets have become tighter and tighter but the aim of bringing quality education to people around the world has not changed. Similarly, even though the way of learning has changed, the teacher-student relationship has changed, but the importance of curriculum still holds its place. E-learning can be seen as a means of learning or a tool that assists in learning but the curriculum is still the end of achieving this purpose. It is the curriculum that marks the standard of education around the world and e-learning has not allowed this standard to fail, rather it has helped it develop further. E-learning technologies have offered much more control to learners over a range of subjects, including the content, the pace, the media and quite often the sequence of learning. E- learning has been seen to be almost as effective as the conventional teacher-led methods of learning such as lectures. E-learning presents numerous opportunities to students to enhance upon their knowledge and research along with new challenges. Though there may be several strengths and weaknesses of this system but the aim of providing quality education to all through standard and updated curriculum has not lost its place. With the emergence of e-Learning, critics have raised several points including the fear that education might lose its value this way. However, it has been proven now that e-learning has not influenced the value of education in any way. Rather, education has been made more accessible and interactive for the masses.
E-learning enables educational convergence
Through the use of e-Learning, theory, practice and experimentation have been integrated together in ways that never seemed possible before. The elements of learning are no longer seen as independent factors; instead continuous interaction is seen between them. There is evidence that educational convergence in e-learning has been used to create a more lifelike experience, especially for distance learning students.
So the synergy between visual and textual materials has allowed learners to develop deeper insight. By combining together the various elements of environment, emotions, learning activities, multisensory exposure and the various forms of intelligence, e-learning is aiding by offering a more holistic learning approach.
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