2009/05/24 18:09
Internet applications for the offline learner
E-Learning does not mean instant learning
There are various aspects why classic learning can be interesting. Photo by darrenstone.
When talking to my fellow students at university, I can tell the expectations towards internet access have changed a lot. Once I was happy when establishing the Compuserve connection (an internet provider that was) cost less than a minute. File needed ages to download and there were hardly any well-connected and well laid out pages as we've got today. In particular, the internet feels more like something that instantly reacts to what you do rather than something you wait for.
Considering E-Learning, this can lead to misexpectations. E-Learning in terms of studying isn't McDonalds in terms of food. Expecting to get things on demand isn't compatible with the idea of learning something that is more complex than a single vocabulary or a date of history. At this level, people need not only to combine all their cognitive skills and actually concentrate on the subject they are studying. Moreover, they will have to spend time. In terms of E-Learning, this means spending time online.
As a result, I cannot recommend trying E-Learning at the first place to those people that cannot stand reading a PDF file on the screen, including me. I am more the paper reading type of student.
However, we still must take into account that we can accellerate the paper work that learning involves. I didn't believe this either but trying out Google Docs was the first step for me to get the impact of collaborative internet applications: It allows you to simultaneously work on the same document without the need of meeting at the same place or exchanging files. You wouldn't do this at the first place, but imagine you were to hand in a paper with a few friends and you need a quick review. Uploading your files to tools like Google Docs (there's Zoho, thinkFree and others as well) allows you to get this done really quickly.
Where the internet can help non-computer students
Apart from sharing documents, using the internet can ease up your study life in the following fields:
- Documenting the things you've learned
- Asking your fellow students questions
- Learning things by heart for an exam
- Managing your study schedule
And further aspects, of course.
Web2.0 applications can support your learning without dictating to you how to cope with your studies
There are several small applications on the web -- including the one on this site -- that can help you to improve your study turnout without changing you way of studying.
For getting an overview, you should check the following resources:
- Facebook apps: Enter something like "study notes" or similar to get an overview
- Getting answers: Yahoo Answers. Answers are not kept in the group sphere though.
- Managing your bibliography: EasyBib
The field we're working on is taking notes in a study group, getting questions answered and learning things by heart. And to be honest: We haven't found such an approach on the internet yet. So please drop me a line once you've found a Mediabird-like app.
Just comment if you want more links to be included.
