One-to-one computing is a relatively new educational lingo in Education. But one that’s picking up speed as more and more schools across the country are placing mobile devices, such as laptops (Duxbury High School) or Ipads (Sacred Heart), into the hands of each student. There are many implications to this initiative that must be considered as educational leaders manage the complex changes that one-to-one computing has on teaching in learning. One of these implications is the growth of new categories of online learning.
Defining the Scope of Investigation Online education reflects a highly diversified growth industry that represents all academic disciplines and uses a relatively recent set of technologies, which makes classification of the discipline a challenge. There are ten general categories relevant to online education, which are listed below:
1. Blended learning: Serving many different learning styles by offering a combination of virtual and physical resources
2. Hybrid learning: Often used interchangeably with blended learning; more explicit in the combination of face-to-face classroom instruction with online instructional delivery
3. Flexible learning (a term from Australia and New Zealand): Generic term that highlights learners choices about where, when, and how learning occurs; often used synonymously with open learning
4. Distance education/learning: Pedagogy, adult learning strategies (andragogy), and instructional systems delivering education to students who are not physically on site
5. Distributed learning: People educate themselves by engaging in learning activities at their own pace and at a self-selected time
6. E-learning: Planned teaching/learning experience using a wide spectrum of technologies, mainly Internet or computer-based, to reach learners
7. Online learning: Using the Internet to disseminate and manage classroom instruction
8. M-learning: Learning with mobile devices, such as iPods and cell phones
9. Virtual learning: A learning environment where teacher and student are separated by time or space, or both, and
10. Open learning: An educational approach (typically involving e-learning) that highlights flexibility and
Elbeck, M., Mandernach, B. Jean. (2009). International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Journals for Computer-Mediated Learning: Publications of Value for the Online Educator 10(3). ISSN: 1492-3831
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