Introduction
As the web has entered the very sphere of development programs, it has also not remained aloof even in the context where the learning process is concerned. Like many nations, Australia is also in the midst of change, from the old mechanical ways to the age of information. These trends are clear, with stakes high and tasks very important. For the fulfillment of this goal, the initiative and all the efforts are towards the Vocational Education and Training process. The goal is the construction of a mass of vocational education and training staff, which would take the learning approaches to increment the needs and increase the transition process towards the information economy. In this whole process, learning has to be made flexible, enjoyable, and more interactive. Net, World Wide Web, and related communication software have allowed the online environment to appear as providing support to learners. (Curtain, 8).
Main body
The latest developments in the sphere of information and technology have made vocational education possible beyond the stereotyped system of classrooms. (Charp, 1) This system not only helps in dispensing education but also makes them aware of the latest in the IT sector. Online learning has also facilitated the process of distance education. Its importance lies in the fact that everyone interested can have easy access to the learning process at his or her convenience.
Online learning provides different ways to increase the flexibility of the learning process and delivery of vocational education and training. It makes the communication process between students and tutors easier and direct, gives ample space to enhance the communication process between the peers, permits the update process of study materials on regular basis, and allows for easy access to the online sources of all over the world with many kinds of interactive multimedia and computer-assisted programs. (Curtain, 8).
In organizations too, online learning has its own importance as the learning process can reach a wide network of people to fulfill the purpose of business operations. Often an organization has well-developed local and wide area network communications for purposes of its business operations. In such a case, online learning is the most conducive, and economically advantageous way to bring the new staff into the working environment while providing them the know-how of the same.
However, this online and net basis learning requires a different set of infrastructure and services and that depends on the purpose and avenue where the learning process has to take place. There are different variations in the process of learning on the basis of the types of combination and integration with the other technologies used for the teaching and learning process. For e.g. face to face teaching in the classroom can be supported by the online reading of the reference materials and or online learning process can be supported in turn by the on-the-job work. The main aspect of this whole learning process is the use of some of the teaching or learning activities in the course. This whole process of networking communication is through Internet protocols and has now become synonymous names for online learning. The infrastructure required for online learning is no doubt personal computers, Internet access, and within it, the web pages besides others and the most important is a web course server. To meet the technical server needs for online learning, the web course server is considered to be most specific, most critical, and mysterious. Here there is a need to define strategy, selection of tools, framing, and implementation of the courses, units, and other training programs. (Atkinson, par. 5).
According to Kaplan, there are two choices when it comes to software for development purposes, the first one is component, off-the-shelf software that permits the audio slide lectures, course materials, discussion forums, animations, synchronous chat groups, quiz creators, e-mail, and so forth. Second are the integrated packages, which contain many of the same features but lack in several other areas. (Kaplan, 44-46).
Experimental or pilot developments are easy if the organization has in-house servers, which give lecturers or trainers many facilities to form their web files pertaining to their curriculum. In many educational institutions, it has been characterized as an âanarchic” stage of development, but for other practitioners, this stage has been set for “successive refinement of existing capabilities in an organisational web course server”. (Atkinson, par. 13) The process goes like this, you can begin with simple web pages on a standard web server, for example, NCSA or Apache servers, then some functions can be added to this via email discussions and or web-based bulletin boards. Further add more functionality via webserver scripts, javascript applets, and other techniques, and so on. If there are any more developments, they are yet again diverged. Many institutes have been developing in-house web course servers whereas others have changed to a purchased âoff the shelf” integrated product. Generally adding the products is a continuous process and change is inevitable according to the needs and aspirations of the time schedule curriculum. For e.g. the way Techworks has created their online system of learning is clear on these lines, ââŠThrough the use of new and emerging technologies associated with the Internet, TechWorks online learning system can deliver customised learning programs on demand, administer individual assessment, manage learner progress, manage corporate learning programs, provide learning support for a range of learning models and provide access to learning resources of unprecedented magnitudeâ (Atkinson, par. 18) Quite large number of corporations is required in the online education and training of staff and customers for e.g. Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Cisco Systems, etc. Some send for outsourcing for making deliveries and providing services to other educational institutions or other partners, basically in the cases where certification is a marketable qualification. (Atkinson, par. 23).
Adult learners want flexible timings for their learning process and online learning provides the same. Flexibility in the learning process brings out good scope and results for students. There are many VET institutions that are implementing programs to meet the increase in demand of the adult learners for the flexible timings and placing online content. In the due course of time, VET institutions have also developed thousand of hours for undergoing online courses both within the state management frameworks. Any online content created under the VET sector would involve the process of the collection of resources, creating various strategies to give the best learning experience, and providing related supporting material. Packages so designed offer the best opportunity to gain learning experience online and at their own flexible timings, and their own settings. This process has been achieved by incorporating the learning tools into the courses to have an interactive feeling, the support of which they get through the online communications with teachers and peers. (Australian Government Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, par. 3).
The most important part of the whole process is the development of teaching resources and framing curriculum structure in an easy and interactive way. The development of the teaching and learning process has always been a part of the education and training process. Content development is the most important part of the online learning procedure and involves a consultative approach and team effort. All the teaching and learning process involves interactivity, and deep consideration should be given to how best and effective designs can be created and resources established. Good online teaching and learning services involve different types of interactive services and consideration needs to be given how best the design services can be effectively used to develop the resources.
The points also are kept in mind on the best way the materials are reused and materials adapted. (Australian Flexible Learning Framework, 4).
Some of the critics of online learning like Alexander and Baud argue that the potentialities in the online learning process are being lost because too much of the pedagogy of online learning has been transferred unreflectively from didactic traditional teaching where the computer substitutes for the teacher and textbook as a conveyor of information. (Stephenson, 3) Yet online learning is the ongoing trend of today, it is another physical environment, and in fact more complex than some others. (Stephenson, 4) The most conventional way of lecturing has taken the form of e-lectures. What is passed on as online learning or e-learning is little more than lectures that could be delivered online in the form of text, audio, and video.
But the main aspect of all the e-learning processes is the way the curriculum is set and the way the learning process is adapted. The most crucial aspect in the planning phase whereby the steps involved are articulating the learning objectives, characterizing the requirements of learners, locating and assessing learning resources, and identifying the need for new content. Before preparing any curriculum or content, the aims and objectives of the learning process should be clear, this should include the things you want your students to see, feel and experience. There should be a need to know the intended audience, the circumstances they could fall into, and their particular needs. There should also be a need to identify new content and make assessments of all the requirements. There is also a need to identify various technical considerations like several constraints and possibilities that can arrive in the teaching process.
In the content design and writing process, there is a need to consider the way interest can be generated among students and also building up the assessment criteria. Online provides many options where lot more ideas can open up the horizons to develop the meaningful and integrated assessment process within the learning areas. A way should also be provided to keep the key elements of the content in the sequence form. Instructional designs are the best way in choosing the most appropriate way by which teaching strategies can be adopted.
In the US Secretary of Education (2000), the aspect and effect of online learning are emphasized, âIf technology is used as an add on to existing activities, rather than as a means to reshape education, then it will simply add to the total cost of operations and few savings will be realized. Business has learned that productivity gained and cost savings come only when old ways of doing business are abandoned and technological solutions replace them”. (US Secretary of Education, 120) Hereby the suggestion of Moore is very important in the context of distance education in the line with the detailed proposal. Hereby the distance education has three forms of communication process: the first one is learner content interaction, the second is learner instructor interaction, and the third is learner interaction. (Curtain, 17) As regards the interaction between the learner and content, Smith, Ferguson, and Caris suggested that online delivery due to the dependence on context based interaction and lack of visual cues requires that each aspect of the course should be laid out in meticulous detail to avoid misunderstanding. In other words, the directions for each assignment should be spelled in a logical way. âWeb-based distance classes require considerably more work, often including hundreds of hours of up-front work to set up the course. On the other hand, the development of an online class, especially one that began as a face-to-face course, makes the instructor confront and analyse the material in new and different ways.â (Smith, Ferguson & Caris, 3). Smith, Ferguson, and Caris also noted that the written word is laid on the online discussions would help in developing a deeper level of understanding and thinking process and would help in the encouragement of much wider participation among learners. In addition to, the instructors focus on the fact that the importance of the instructor should change from the content provider to the content facilitator bringing in the proficiency in the use of language. The number of users and potential assessment programs in the Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) had been examined and taken care of.
In 1991, the World Bank with the International Labor Organization produced its policy paper on Vocational Education and Training. Since that time, the reforms of VET in both poor and rapidly growing countries have turned into new directions for making skills more relevant for fulfilling the needs of growing private sector employment. (Gill, Fluitman & Dar, 1) Since then the Government’s expectations towards VET have increased manifold leading to the various programs and policies to increase this kind of education to reduce unemployment and increasing the need for private companies in the globalized environment. And, what is the best way than online to give fast, proficient, and most effective vocational training to adults.
Conclusion
E-learning develops new knowledge through the socially dynamic process and interplay of several beliefs and previous knowledge. We can say that knowledge building is the most important social component and a catalyst in this whole process and online learning increases the scope of this knowledge-based learning. As individuals gain more and more knowledge, she or he disseminates to the others who would enter into this knowledge-building dialogue to conform themselves to the ideas, increases the modification process, raises the question, creates a contradiction, and corrects and shares information.
Works Cited
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