The 14th International Scientific Conference

The 14th International Scientific Conference eLearning and Software for Education Bucharest, April 19-20, 2018 10.12753/2066-026X-18-235

e-Learning Paradoxes. Considerations about e-Learning Future Razvan DINA, Bogdan Cristian ONETE, Irina ALBĂSTROIU Faculty of Business and Tourism, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 41 Dacia Blvd., Bucharest, Romania [email protected], [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract: The evolution and development of e-learning as a prominent phenomenon of contemporary society has roots in the 70's (Project Gutenberg for digitization of some valuable classic books) but this phenomenon exploded after 90's with technological development (PC and internet). The development of e-learning was generated mainly by one of the Internet purposes: access to information. The potential determined by its advantages have made the number of users of e-learning to that grow dramatically, especially regarding an increase in qualification, change occupation or develop a personal business. This paper tries to outline the main factors that led to the boom in e-learning and how these factors have allowed the development of new ways of disseminating knowledge. Another extremely important feature of e-learning is the openness of it, this feature is mainly determined by the items discussed further in present paper. To underline the importance of the concept of openness from which it started the development of e-learning platforms, we try to present the decisive elements that support this concept. In the same time, with the development of a massive open online course (MOOC), which at first allowed free access to major university courses, led to disappearance of free allowances in order to obtain material advantages. An important element, which is the foundation of e-learning platforms, is file sharing. In the continuation of the article we will try to highlight the ways by which the development of e-learning has allowed the emergence of several typologies of sharing the knowledge. At the end of this paper are presented the social implications of e-learning process and how e-learning will evolve in the years to come. Keywords: e-learning, file sharing, social implications, MOOC's, openness.

I. EMERGENCE OF E-LEARNING The evolution and development of e-Learning as a prominent phenomenon of contemporary society has roots in the 70s (Project Gutenberg for digitalization of some valuable classic books) but this phenomenon exploded after 90s with technological development (PC and Internet). We present some reflections on the phenomenon below. In fact, once with the Internet (early form of individual training program) it appeared simultaneously with the development and spread of PCs. Initially, there were educational games for children, later training programs in computer use, typing programs etc. The 1990s meant also the boom of free and open access to information, a lot of books and articles being thus available. e-Learning is an important activity of the Internet economy and it defines the totality of educational situations in which the information and communication technologies are used in a significant way so that it is not necessary for the teacher and trainees to be simultaneously in the same place or in the same space. The development of e-Learning was generated mainly by one of the Internet purposes: access to information. Later, the Internet was developed as a communication platform, particularly through the development of two-way communication forms - chat, and after by infrastructure development, video-chat, as a surrogate for classical education. [1].

145

The potential determined by its advantages have made the number of users of e-learning to that grow dramatically, especially regarding an increase in qualification, change occupation or develop a personal business. E.g.: 01/08/2012 – Coursera 1 mil. users, 09/11/2014 – Coursera 1.9 mil. users, almost doubling in 2 years [2]. The e-learning business market has also grown: there are 13 million “clients” in 2014, after some (https://www.class-central.com/) with 4.6 million USD or 24 million users and by others probably double in USD [3]. In essence, we consider two types of factors that contributed to the boom of e-Learning:  Hard factors: - increasing the number of courses offered; - increasing the number of platforms; - increasing the number of users; - increasing mobility (relationship with mobile phones).  Soft factors: - the development system software for e-learning (almost 1800 as www.classcentral.com says); - the courses diversity; - the courses quality as an addition generated by technological development (can simulate in real time, working from a class). Also, there are issues to consider relative to the quality of supply, in the negative way, such as: - lack of integrated/complete programs; - updating/timeliness courses; - precariousness content of some courses; - uncertainties related to the use/acceptance of certificate/diploma taken as graduate. II.

THE OPENNESS OF E-LEARNING

Another extremely important characteristic of e-Learning is the openness of it; this feature is mainly determined by the items discussed further. Decisive elements for opening e-Learning are, as follows [1]: - "gratuity" of e-learning, obviously questionable whether it is a certificate of graduation surcharge; - the free access to resources, but with costs of Internet connection; - hardware availability (personal computers, tablets and mobile phones); - increasing the number of e-learning platforms to over 80 this year [4] or 120 [5]; - ”freeware and open source” development by specific communities; - customizing nationally (local languages, yet 16) [6]; If, in principle, the opening of e-learning is outstanding as a positive phenomenon, there are other elements that have negative implications, such as[1].: - The resources used - obviously most of them are in English language, which makes it an advantage for speakers of that language, but a disadvantage for the others (4867 courses in English followed by 495 in Spanish [6]; - The disappearance of free allowances - compared to e-Learning pioneer times when there was the possibility of completing a formalization of a course there is a general tendency to pay a certification course, especially dedicated platforms (Coursera, Udacity, edX etc.). Another issue is that, in general, traditional online courses are counter-cost and limit enrollment to a few dozen students to facilitate interaction with teachers. Instead, Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC), an online phenomenon, integrates the connectivity offered by "social networking", facilitating access to knowledgeable scholars in a field of study, as well as collections of online resources with free access and is based on the active involvement of several hundred to several thousand learners, who self-organize their participation according to objectives, knowledge, skills and common learning interests. The pursuit of such a course does not involve tuition fees, and mandatory requirements are Internet access, study interest without high expectations for participants, or formal accreditation.

146

III.

e-LEARNING AND SHARING

One feature of the contemporary information society is the massive use of file sharing (file transfer). Its development resulted from the transfer of files (most music, books and software) at the beginning (so this phenomenon started with this) to the video now. File sharing has evolved from simple building communities with concerns about avoiding intellectual property taxes, by some complex with different purposes. E-learning offers the ability to share material in all kinds of formats such as videos (eg. mp4, .flv, mpeg, avi), slideshows (eg. .ppt,.pptx), word (doc, docx), Portable Document Format (.pdf), etc. If we look at the purpose of this evolution, in connection with the development of e-learning we could classify the typology forms of e-learning into [1]:  "classic" on-line courses - their characteristic is the "formalization" through enrollment and curriculum structure.  "gray or black" on-line courses - in this way we can define them; Thus, their characteristics are: - informal activities; - it is based on file sharing, social media, forums. We can remark that it can be seen a strong development of these forms of e-learning given by more and more accessible technological infrastructure and access to resources that are free. The courses supply is extremely high and continuously diversifying, which may be an adaptation to market needs. File sharing ensures access to all kinds of courses in this gray area or even black one if we speak of courses and tutorials developed by prestigious publishers that are copied and distributed without paying copyright. On this basis consists beginning to integrate social media platforms and tools as annexes forums for discussion of the content of educational materials. In conclusion, regarding e-learning, we can talk about [1]: - File Sharing - clean (free distribution of training courses or courses and tutorials present on YouTube); - File sharing - gray (distribution of free courses but not formalized - that they do not study on the original platform); - File sharing - black (distribution of royalty-free courses). Moreover, there is a clear tendency to integrate all forms mentioned before using the formal platforms alongside with the informal ones for documentation (the clean area) and availability of tests and answers to questions from informal platforms. A particular and interesting case is YouTube, as an e-learning way, especially in the pragmatic area (tutorials, how to do or other more complex), but obviously is funded by advertising revenue and may lead author yet. Use of YouTube has been found to capture students’ attention, make learning more interesting, and enhance the overall learning process. YouTube videos have been found to help students engage more deeply with subject matter, and recall the information they've learned longer, to expand access to information, promote critical thinking, foster active and flexible learning environments, support analytical discourse and multiple approaches to reasoning, provide students with memory cues so as to support conceptualization through visualization and increase students' depth of understanding [7]; Whereas some studies have found YouTube particularly effective at enhancing fully online courses [8]; others have indicated that use of online video sharing services is most effective when they are used to complement rather than replace lecturer demonstration supporting a hybrid or blended model [9]; YouTube is just a part of what the social media concept means. The social media refers to the means of communication (channels, technologies, applications) that provide digital interaction between individuals and offer the opportunity to share experiences and information through blogs, forums, social networks, portals, wikis, podcasts, user-generated content (UGC) sites etc. [10] The concept of social media is often associated with the term Web 2.0, given that social media tools have emerged and developed in this second phase of the evolution of the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 designates the dynamic, interactive, and collaborative Web and refers to key concepts such as user empowerment, active participation, crowd sourcing, radical transparency, and rich user experience that are made available on the Web [11]. Both teachers and students tend to manifest interest in the integration of Web 2.0 tools (be it social networks like Facebook, microblogs like Twitter, UGC sites like YouTube and other virtual media) into the education process [12] [13]. According to researches,

147

lately, Facebook has entered not only students’ life style but also university classrooms, being used as a tool in the delivery of courses [14]. Social networking allows the active participation in activities and service by sharing of contents, opinions, and supports the creation of groups according to specific needs of the participants. Student-to-student interactions have also shown positive effects on student success. These interactions between peers in a social network, may lead to social learning. The use of social networking sites among the teachers has also become common; the teachers in the colleges and universities can make use of social networking tools for disseminating knowledge to their students. Proper use of Facebook can improve the learning process through communication, interaction, collaboration, and resource sharing [15]. The use of blogs and wikis, two popular Web 2.0 tools, in education was also discussed in the literature and it was found that blogs and wikis were used by academics and by students. The main usage of these tools included course administration, sharing and collaborating resources and use as a platform for discussion [16] [17]. IV.

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF e-LEARNING

E-learning social implications are particularly important. Their study can highlight both the positive and negative aspects. The positive aspects are referring to the following issues [1]: - creating and developing new communities (e.g. Coursera encourages the creation of communities of the graduates from the same localities, kind of Alumni); - developing the interaction between learners; - develop skills related to teamwork. In this regard, we note cuts in individual and increasing team role. There are theorists who consider sharing as a necessary step to solve the problems given that the sharing is in constant development; - learners from disadvantaged areas (40% of students coming from developing countries blog.coursera.org/post/64164078376/coursera-partners-with-the-world-bank) have the opportunity to access prestigious universities (even though virtually) and the universities to recruit future exceptional students. The trend can be seen in the large number of universities included in this system (296 https://www.class-central.com/). E-learning is becoming an important source of education where there are no other possibilities. There are also negative aspects, as follows [1]: - government policies to cut spending on education (e.g. England https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/nov/24/uk-has-highestundergraduate-tuition-fees-inindustrialised-world-survey-finds) direct lowering them or indirect keeping up in terms of demographic growth which determines that e-learning will be the only way. The education level of the countries will decrease, in general; - increasing fees for issuing certificates will cause a decrease in the number of participants and a referral to free courses, weakest in terms of quality. Also, the disappearance of these certificates shows that there is a temptation for these platforms to make money (profit) from learners (small amounts, but large numbers), and, in the future, we expect that such fees will increase, and free courses will decrease the quality level. The above proves that the main orientation of these integrators, course providers is increasingly more to business and profit. V.

THE FUTURE OF e-LEARNING

Like most researchers, we agree with that e-learning will grow increasingly more in the next period, but that does not mean it will replace education in classic form. Here are some elements that we believe should be considered [1]: - lower expenditure on education (whether governments put education first, declarative) in relation to wage cuts in education are increasing the use of e-Learning and the trend of institutionalizing its (initially it will move to tablet distribution and digital textbooks); - lowering the age for use of e-learning platforms and its use as a substitute for classical formalized education (probably fewer people in the future will need to know how to write or read because digital assistants - which still exists today); 148

- encouraging at governmental level the use of e-learning platforms as a means of entertainment. Keep in mind that development of technology, robotics and artificial intelligence will be used to greatly increase the number of unemployed persons; - issues related to data security. Most often e-learning platforms requests personal data and they can reach in public or be traded; - contribute to building a society in which social activity will switch to virtual. Several e-learning trends can give us a clear view on how the future of e-learning and learning tools will be shaped. In this regard, we recall the following directions in which e-learning will develop: - Massive Open Online Courses is the most important trend right now in e-Learning. World famous universities, such as MIT, Harvard, Berkeley and Princeton, have adopted MOOC in the context of the changes and disruptions to traditional form of university teaching; - gamification, in the sense of the use of game thinking and game mechanics in a non-game context to engage users and solve problems. For the successful design of gamified e-learning system it is necessary to understand the core concept of games: goal focused activities, reward mechanisms and progress tracking. In e-learning systems, learners are directed to undertake certain tasks in order to achieve the desired goal. Thus, progress tracking and reward mechanisms can be used in e-learning to increase user’s motivation and engagement [18]; - personalized e-Learning, meaning the tailoring of pedagogy, curriculum and learning environments to meet the needs of individual learners. It may provide learners the opportunity to learn in ways that suit their individual learning styles and multiple intelligences; - informal e-Learning, especially facilitated by Web 2.0 tools. Accessibility and availability of social media tools enable and encourage people to gain the information they need. This is bound to continue and evolve in the future, thanks to the plethora of free learning resources, such as podcasts, videos, blogs, webinars, etc.; - micro e-Learning, or in other words mini bytes of learning content, such as short videos, one-page documents, small chunks of information, and other flexible activities that will be easily incorporated in a busy person’s daily life. Micro-learning will be facilitated by mobile technologies and portable devices. VI.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper classified and summarized some of the issues that characterize the e-learning phenomenon and how it evolved starting with Project Gutenberg until now. All the methods and platforms developed in order to support online learning had only one purpose, dissemination of information, and in the same time democratization of learning. In the same time, e-learning has advanced and matured in the same time with the growth of Internet. If at the beginning it was possible only to disseminate the information, once with the evolution of technology the way of teaching became more flexible and captivating. To underline the importance of the concept of openness from which it started the development of e-learning platforms, was important to be presented the decisive elements that support this concept. In order to do that, was necessary to classify the typology forms of e-learning and to juxtapose with the file-sharing manner in order to distribute the information. E-learning has a lot of social implication, so the evolution and development of this type of learning cannot be overlooked. It has not only positive implication for society, so is necessary to look at all the implication of this phenomena, and to underline how affect the life and society. It is important to recognize that will occur new ways to spread the knowledge, to democratize education, but it is important to underline that education in classic form will not be replaced by online learning, yet will still be a support for it.

149

Reference Text and Citations [1]

[2] [3]

[4] [5] [6]

[8]

[9] [10] [11] [12]

[13]

[14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Onete, B., 2016. E-learning paradoxes. Considerations about e-learning future. Working Paper – In Progress. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.21336.49927. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311264199_Elearning_paradoxes_Considerations_about_e-learning_future (last accessed 11 January 2018). Class Central, 2015. MOOC Reports. Retrieved from https://www.class-central.com/report/moocs-2015-stats/ (last accessed 11 January 2018). EdSurge, 2015. Udacity, Coursera and edX now claim over 24 million students. Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-09-08-udacity-coursera-and-edx-now-claim-over-24-million-students (last accessed 11 January 2018). Dhiman, G., 2015. 80+ Best MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Providers List. Retrieved from https://knowledgelover.com/best-mooc-massive-open-online-course-providers-list/ (last accessed 11 January 2018). Online Course Report, 2015. A Comprehensive Guide to MOOC Providers. Retrieved from https://www.onlinecoursereport.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-mooc-providers// (last accessed 11 January 2018). Class Central, 2015. Languages. Retrieved from https://www.classcentral.com/languages (last accessed 11 January 2018). [7] Buzzetto-More, N., 2015. Student Attitudes Towards the Integration Of YouTube In Online, Hybrid And Web-Assisted Courses: An Examination Of The Impact Of Course Modality On Perception. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 55-73. Jones, B. & Graham, C., 2002. Practices and tools in online course delivery. In K. Yefim (ed.), Learning Management Systems and Instructional Design: Metrics, Standards, and Applications, 288-302. IGI Global, Hershey, PA. Kelly, M., McGrath, M., & Cannon, G., 2009. A multi-method study to determine the effectiveness of, and student attitudes to, online instructional videos for teaching clinical nursing skills. Nurse Education Today, 29(3), 292-300. Weinberg, T. & Pahrmann, C., 2010. Social Media Marketing: Stategien Fur Twitter, Facebook & Co. O'Reilly Verlag GmbH & Co, Frankfurt. Chiang, I.-P., Huang, C.-Y. & Huang, C.-W., 2010. Traffic metrics and web 2.0-ness. Online Information Review, 34, 115-126. Crook, C., 2008. Web 2.0 technologies for learning: the current landscape – opportunities, challenges, and tensions. Becta Research Reports. Becta, Coventry. Retrieved from http://research.becta.org.uk/uploaddir/downloads/page_documents/research/web2_technologies_learning.pdf (last accessed 11 January 2018). Schroeder, A., Minocha, S. & Schneider, C., 2010. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of using social software in higher and further education teaching and learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26, 159-174. Khan, S.& Bakhsh, S.T., 2015. A Study on the Role of Facebook in E-Learning. Journal of Education and Management Engineering, 5, 1-11. Sánchez, R. A., Cortijo, V., & Javed, U., 2013. Students’ Perceptions of Facebook for Academic Purposes. Computers & Education, 70, 138-149. Duffy, P., 2008. Engaging the YouTube google-eyed generation: Strategies for using Web 2.0 in teaching and learning. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 6(2), 119-130. Harris, A. L. & Rea, I. A., 2010. Web 2.0 and virtual world technologies: A growing impact on IS education. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 137-145. Strmečki, D., Bernik, A. & Radošević, D., 2015. Gamification in E-Learning: Introducing Gamified Design Elements into E-Learning Systems. Journal of Computer Sciences, 11(12), 1108-1117.

150