A Study into the Effects of e-Learning On Higher Education

Abstract

The Internet is a development of technology that has the potential to change but not only the way of society retains and accesses knowledge but also to transform and restructure traditional models of higher education, particularly the delivery and interaction in and with course materials and associated resources. Utilizing the Internet to deliver e-Learning initiatives has created expectations both in the business market and in higher education institutions. Indeed, e-Learning has expanded on their current geographical reach, to capitalize on new prospective students and to establish themselves as global educational providers. This paper examines the issues surrounding the implementation of e-Learning into higher education and the global impact on society. 1.0 INTRODUCTION e-Learning is construed in a variety of contexts, such as distance learning, online learning and networked learning. In the context of this paper all of these instances will be considered as to describe the e-Learning that utilizes information communications technology (ICT) to promote educational interaction between students, lecturers and learning communities that fast expansion of the Internet and related technological advancements, in conjunction with limited budgets and social demands for improved access to higher education, has produced a substantial incentive for universities to introduce eLearning course. e-Learning as a means of delivering higher education, but some critical success factors are also associated with introducing online models of education. 2.0 ASPECTS OF E-LEARNING e-Learning is very beneficial in organizations. Here are some of the benefits of e-Learning 2.1 Supports the Organization’s Goals e-Learning helps in achieving organizations goals, like  Improved training costs. Producing learning content is time consuming whether it‟s online or not. With eLearning, each time the course is accessed your return on investment improves because you are dividing the fixed production costs by number of users.  Decreased material costs. By creating the environment online and letting the learner practice, you never have to worry about the costs associated with set up, use, and clean up.  Increased productivity. e-Learning is not bound by geography or time, you can control training‟s impact on production by training people during down times. So e-Learning is a great way to give them the tools and skills needed to enhance their performance.  Standardization. e-Learning allows you to create a standardized process and consistency in the delivery of content. It also compresses delivery time. I‟ve combined E-Learning courses with facilitated 2.2 Supports the Learner’s Development e-Learning helps in overall development of the learner, like  Real-time access: During e-Learning course contents can be accessed anytime, anywhere.  Improved retention: The combination of multimedia and instructional design can produce a very rich learning experience that is repeatable. 2.3 Enhanced Teaching Tools The future delivery of education is envisaged through eLearning technology providing lecturers with superior teaching tools. Online methods facilitate more effective education and offer significant advantages over traditional teaching methods. Firstly, educational re-engineering that will revolutionize classroom practices and secondly educational fortification that will improve the learning courseware through technology. Rita Falcao[6] in her research work shown impact of e-learning by the results of average grade distribution for the course Statistics before and after e-Learning(Fig. 1&2) 2.4 The Learning Environment E-Learning environment offers students an improved learning experience when compared to a more traditional learning environment. Teare[7] found that student participants on eLearning university courses using techniques such as virtual lectures and bulletin boards, achieved better grades than students who studied in traditional learning settings. The constraints of conventional university teaching practices with regards to group working are removed in e-Learning environments, as students can participate in group activities without actually being situated in the same location. This seems that the e-Learning environments loose the time and space restrictions associated with traditional university