Trends for the 21st Century in eLearning

This week the topic was local, state and federal trends in eLearning.  I seemed to get stuck at the federal level.  Since the U.S. Department of Education’s study in 1996 -2008, the United States is actively seeking to encourage educators to seriously make an effort to learn on line teaching techniques and technologies.  The report concluded that blended on line courses were the most successful in engaging students.  They stated the least effective mode of teaching was the face-to-face classroom.  In a Seven Step Plan, the Department of Education stated teachers must have the opportunity to gain eLearning skills and students need the experience of taking on line courses.  In fact educators have at their hands a way to engage students, not just in our cities, states and country; but globally. 

As we as educators  continue to learn the tools of the trade in eLearning, we have the ability to job train a whole new generation in jobs that do not exist yet.  The illiterate and unskilled can be reached from the universities and colleges in the United States, through the World Wide Web.  The possibilities are unlimited when we use the rich technologies at hand and those that will be developed in the next five to ten years.  Not only will educators be able to teach on line; but there is a call to make virtual libraries and textbooks available to on line learners.  Stretching one’s imagination even farther, we may see the day when we will no longer need to use paper or classrooms to teach students worldwide.

In an article called, “The power of the internet for learning ,” it states that the government set out to learn, from virtual hearings, what the Web had to offer today’s students.  They listened to educators from many states and, even, the U.S. Army.  What they found out was the young people of today have stated they want to use the Web to communicate with the world.  They stated, “… the internet is uncharted territory…” and urged the government to put necessary protections in place.  Without funding, they stated Web learning’s full potential would not be realized.  Finally they made it clear that eLearning is not just a fad.  It is a tool that must be used to bring student learning into the 21 century.

The U.S. Army clearly understands the need to educate soldiers in the newest high tech weapon systems.  Tomorrow’s world has seen new virtual war-fighting weaponry and missions. A good example of this technology is unmanned aircraft.  As a result of this type of weaponry, the U.S. Army is offering on line training to their soldiers and hopes to build the largest on line educational program in the world, per the article cited above.  Educated soldiers are the backbone of the military and today’s weaponry makes education and training on line absolutely necessary.  Since the nature of the battlefield is changing at a rapid pace, new methods of training and educating soldiers is critical. On line media and games offer the methods the military is exploring and has been implementing. Today’s colleges and universities are compelled to bring the latest technologies to their students, as well, and to keep pace with the military in the virtual reality of cyberspace and on line teaching...better know as eLearning.