Epic Think Tank
Collaboration and e-learning
 E-learning
is at least as much about connecting learners to each other as it
is about content. More and more, collaboration features just as
highly as content on the agendas of those who are spearheading e-learning
within their organisations.
This is hardly surprisingly, perhaps, given
that both are well-established elements within traditional
learning. Students in higher education, let us not forget,
not only attend lectures and read books, but also participate
widely in peer debate and 'lateral' knowledge-sharing, whether
formally or informally organised. The higher up the corporate
pyramid you go, the more instances you find of lateral, peer
learning.
Unfortunately, in a highly supply-driven,
product-focused industry, collaborative learning rarely gets
its fair share of column inches - beyond the well-rehearsed
arguments for and against asynchronous as opposed to synchronous
forms of collaboration (at root, a products-fuelled issue).
This Epic Think Tank attempts to redress the
balance.
Recently, Epic brought together a select group
of highly-placed decision-makers from both corporate and educational
spheres to debate the role and realities of collaborative
e-learning. The panel brought to bear a formidable weight
of practical experience, in fields from occupational psychology
to internet-delivered higher education, embracing also the
earliest roots of mass electronic delivery of learning in
the Open University, an organisation which - in the words
of one panellist - 'saw and suffered the future earlier than
most!'.
In particular, the discussion examined:
- What works in collaborative learning -
and what doesn't?
- What types of learners, situations and
subjects suit online collaborative learning?
- What is the role of standalone e-learning
in a blend that includes online collaboration?
Read a full report of this
exclusive, high level discussion
Next>>
|
