E Learning Advantages

“The essential purpose of education is to bring the pupil face to face with something great, so that he experiences first awe and then curiosity.”- Dante Learning is a never ending process. Education and learning has been an integral part of growing up since the ancient times. Its aim, according to Herbert Spencer is the 'training for completeness of life ' and the moulding of character of men and women for the battle of life. The mode of education has seen a drastic shift, more so in the recent times with the advent of internet and computers. The traditional schooling experience required the students to attend the classes in person and according to the schedule prescribed by the institution. Over the last 30 years, more flexible learning

One of the principal advantages of e-learning is the flexibility e-learning offers in terms of pace and distribution of learning (Macpherson et al, 2004), achieved without time and place restrictions (Galagan, 2000). Educational research has shown that more effective learning takes place if learners are actively engaged, as opposed to being passive listeners (Webb et al, 2004). This has brought a move towards a greater level of ‘student-centred’ and experiential learning, the latter conceptualized by Kolb (1984) as an ongoing cycle of active experimentation, concrete experience, reflective observation and abstract conceptualization. Student-centred learning is flexible and involves supplementing a traditional ‘one-way, one venue’ teaching style with activities that are more varied in terms of the place, pace, time and content (Race, 1998) and promote an active dialogue between tutor and tutee (Laurillard, 2002). The flexibility inherent in e-learning accords well with the differences between learners, in that they can learn at a time and pace to suit their own capability and circumstances (Sandelands and Wills, 1996; Caudron, 1999). In the past, tutors had controlled the pace, place, time and style of learning. However, where e-learning is used, the control of these elements has largely been transferred to the learners (Blass and Davis, 2003). E learning’s self-paced approach gives the

A number of pertinent parameters to student satisfaction with e-learning were identified. We examined the following parameters; a well -organized website, simple to use navigation, uninterrupted flow of lecture (i.e. the website does not crash), and instructor’s availability for help and shared learning environment. We performed regression analysis on the data and the reported R2 are well organized website= 0.0152, simple to use navigation= 0.1315, website does not crash= 0.1767, instructor’s availability for help= 0.4523 and shared learning environment= 0.2018 and the combined R2 was 0.1132

Among these, it was observed that the highest R2 was for instructor’s availability and thus, we can conclude that it is the best predictor variable for satisfaction. This can be one implication for implementing e-learning as a mode of learning. It can be inferred that students expect the presence of an instructor to have face to face interaction and this can enhance the satisfaction levels.

The second most important predictor variable is shared learning environment. It may be inferred that students prefer to have interactions among themselves and share their learnings and have an environment where discussions and participation can take place. It was also observed that students preferred to work in a group to work on assignments.

The result of the most significant predictor