Thoughts on eLearning

As I educated myself on eLearning through Egbert, I had several thoughts towards the topic. As an eLearner myself, I can definitely agree that by nature, eLearning is very flexible and places a lot of control into the hands of the learner. This is a great feature that I enjoy with my constantly hectic schedule. I'm just not sure I can see the flexibility serving younger learners. I try to teach time management and work habits to my fifth graders, but many still struggle with this developing skill. Many of my students struggle when I gave them flexibility in their current learning environment; some are better with strict structure. The flexibility piece can clearly be a blessing or a curse I think. Furthermore, in an eLearning setting, students are required to be responsible in part for their own learning. I think this responsibility is still in progress in many of my students. Without being face to face with their teacher every day, many of mine would struggle in this area even more than they do now. Egbert also mentions how shy students can shine in an eLearning environment. I can see several of my students who may be too reserved to contribute in class, thrive in a more virtual setting. There is something about the comfort of being at a distance that can help some come out of their shell. In conclusion, eLearning works great for me, but I can see it having a slower start with younger learners.