TELic: A blog about Technology Enhanced Learning

E-learning is ‘expensive and time-consuming’

This article from THE (Times Higher Education) reports on a survey about e-learning conduced by an outfit called IMC(UK) Learning Ltd. Taken at face-value, it raises some significant concerns about the value of e-learning and tutor’s attitudes to it. However, the online version of the printed article includes several perceptive ‘readers’ comments’, including one from Seb Schmoller, Director of ALT (the Association for Learning Technology) which neatly demolishes the article by exploring the survey data in more detail. In particular, it seems the survey was mainly about ‘lecture recording’ rather than e-learning in general, and that respondents’ opinions were being reported as fact.

The article didn’t report other parts of the survey such as “79% of respondents agree or strongly agree that e-learning increases flexibility” and “73% agree or strongly agree that e-learning improves academic service quality to students”.

Perhaps the real message to take away from this is the dubious quality of much that appears in print and the advantages of an online system that enables other voices to comment on and critique such articles.