I thoroughly enjoyed the first eight chapters of Weller’s (2020) book 25 Years of Ed Tech. I had never considered the origins of educational technology, despite having grown up with the internet and taking online classes in university. Reading about how long education technology has existed and developed over time was fascinating. Although the first eight chapters provided a wealth of valuable information, chapter 6 caught my attention since I believe some of this mindset is still prevalent today.
In 1999, Weller was a part of the initial team to create the Open University’s first online graduate course and investigated the feasibility of delivering a fully online course. The course was a success, resulting in an entirely new paradigm shift in the possibilities of e-learning. As a result of this success, conversations began on E-Learning costs. Noam (1995) believed that curriculums could be created once and offered electronically to not only one hundred students but thousands worldwide without fully understanding the fixed and variable costs of creating E-Learning courses. In essence, the concept was that while E-Learning may have a high initial cost, it may be relatively inexpensive to replicate, implying that prices would not increase as student numbers increased. However, this does not consider the variable costs of increased student numbers, such as tutors or moderators.
At the end of this chapter, Weller (2020) did note that the low cost of e-learning myth keeps reoccurring, however, and was a motivation for much of the investment in MOOC.” (p.47). However, I would challenge this statement because I do not believe it is necessarily true. Some industries, such as higher education, understand that E-Learning is not necessarily low in cost to produce, as they require more resources than previously assumed. However, most industries have little experience with E-Learning and believe it is simple and inexpensive to generate. As we move into a “post-covid” era where many businesses opt to transition to online learning, it will be necessary to properly educate some of these organizations to comprehend education technology better to properly allocate their resources effectively. Perhaps this is where we, as MALAT students, come in.
Resources
Weller, M. (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01
Hey Jess! I enjoyed reading your reflection. It reinforces that there are a lot of assumptions that are made about educational technology and eLearning. I am finding that I am uncovering some of my own biases and assumptions as I learn more about this field as well. I think part of the problem with the (lack of) understanding of the cost associated with eLearning is the assumption that you can take any content and deliver it online as you would in person. As you mentioned, there will need to be some education involved to inform businesses about educational technology. They will need to take a learner-centric approach and utilize best practices for online learning to ensure that their training outcomes are met effectively – not a simple ‘plug in’ of existing material from in-person training. I think this is a big misconception out there.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Leah
It is a great read, isn’t it? It’s very accessible in the way it’s written.
I agree with your thoughts on the cost of e-learning. The platforms themselves may cost less than dedicated classrooms, but the content is what needs a great deal of investment and constant attention and renewal. Then there are the facilitation and assessment components. Not all e-learning is effective when just delivered in automated, “unattended” ways. And how do we assess actual knowledge transfer, rather than simply “completion” as a metric? So many questions to explore going forward!
Great post Jess.
I enjoyed your comments on e-learning. I think e-learning is a young technology. The book we are reading only goes back to the early 90s. It will take time for private enterprises to fully understand the true costs of developing e-learning or online training systems. I think you are correct, that it will be up to us soon-to-hopefully-be well informed educational technologist to communicate effectively to organizations the cost and benefit of developing an effective e-learning program.