E-LEARNING COURSE

E-Learning Course

Effectiveness of Online Course

Introduction

E-learning programs are rapidly gaining worldwide popularity because they provide adult learners with the opportunity to further their education, whether for career or personal purposes, irrespective of time and place. Within the context, of an increasingly and intensively competitive labor market, continued education is an essential strategy for the acquisition of a competitive edge but the primary obstacle to the acquisition of this particular competitive advantage are time constraints and geographic distance. E-learning education has emerged as one of the solutions to the stated and, as such, is gaining ever-increasing popularity.

Course Background

Principles of micro economics are an e-learning under graduate level course offered by MIT. Students come from diverse educational, national, and linguistic backgrounds. Thus, the importance of the cultural diversity factors increases in the E-learning programs. The course textbooks and reading are current and relevant, and the course website is easy to navigate. Course content is appropriate. Being online there is the flexibility to easily update and change references. With the increased access, to broad ranges of information that can make it easier to locate (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-02-principles-of-macroeconomics-fall-2009/).

E-Learning

We live in an era of rapid change, with rapid technological developments, deregulation and globalization pressures on all corporate sectors. To succeed in today's global economy; we must learn the implications of these changes and respond accordingly. To compete is necessary to assimilate vast amounts of information on new products, market and competition. The process of e-learning provides greater skills on the part of individual to make fast, flexible and timely decisions (Garrison & Anderson, 2003, 13-15). The basis for making these decisions is a system where each person has information which is relevantly built and properly prepared on the basis of its context and interrelated context.

Over the past several years, colleges and universities have seen a tremendous growth both in the number of online courses offered and the number of students enrolled in these courses. This trend is continuing throughout Australia and the world. E-learning is the main hub for the passage from one paradigm to another, while permitting the passage from the conceptual level to its effective implementation in each of the processes of the human resource development (E- Learning, 2010).

Personal Aptitude

E-learning is not well suited to traditional lecture delivery. In order to enhance learning, the instructor needs to be able to accept the value of facilitated learning as equal to the traditional model. One way in which to demonstrate acceptance might be facilitated through project-oriented assignments, whereby students present case study solutions via the class Web site. The other students critique the solution and make further comments about the case. After all students have responded, the case presenter updates and reports their solution, including new insights or conclusions gained from classmates. Only at the end of all presentations should the instructor provide an overall reaction to the cases and specifically comment about issues the class identified, or failed to identify. In this way, students learn from one another as well as from the instructor (Clark ...