Book review
Delivering learning on the Net
Kogan Page, June 2002
Author: Martin Weller
Review by Donald Clark
This is a well written, introductory level book
covering a broad range of issues in web-based learning. The
introduction names its audience as including those in the
commercial sector, however I'm not sure that this is true.
It is really aimed at people who work in universities. Indeed,
I would recommend it to those in education who are interested
in using the web in that context. It is of less use for those
outside higher education.
The opening chapter is a good and fair discussion
of the potential impact of the web on learning. Chapter Two
lists some e-learning myths, only one of which I would disagree
with - the commercialisation of education. The internet will
continue to pour pressure onto education. The internet is
already the biggest learning resource on the planet and it's
getting bigger, better, faster and cheaper. What's more, internet
adoption is a process that is irreversible. The lessons from
e-commerce in Chapter Three I found less interesting. In fact
the lesson to be learned here is that the internet turned
out not to be a vehicle for e-commerce but a medium for the
delivery and exchange of knowledge.
The next five chapters, however, are excellent,
covering motivation, pedagogies, communication, new working
methods and assessment. However, the last two chapters dip
a little. The technology section works to an inconsistent
schema, moving from media types to a general form of learning
delivery (CAL) then to specific technology classifications
(data mining and XML) and finally, general web-based course
delivery systems. I found this confusing. In the last chapter,
the framework for classifying online courses has the classic
'four-way split' diagram of which educationalists are so fond.
Take four variables, in this case didactic, constructivist,
high-technology and low-technology and combine them. The diagram
looks good but a more sophisticated survey of the many species
of online learning would have been more useful.
Written very much from the Open University perspective,
this book is obsessed with one course; 'T171 You, Your Computer
and the Net'. I thought about taking the course, so as to
give the book a fair review, but the next start date is February
2003! Aren't online courses meant to free the learner from
the tyranny of the academic timetable? While the Open University
has much to teach us about online learning it is in many ways
a rather primitive model, rooted in the old campus model.
While it certainly has student numbers on its side, I would
have liked to have seen more examples from other academic
institutions.
All in all, well worth buying.
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