One whopping benefit of LMS online courseware is its effect on students, helping them to develop strong self-motivation and independent study skills. But something many people fail to realize is that a great deal of e-learning courses have expanded from a solitary, independent study to an interactive enterprise.
Of course, an educator or trainer can make or break a class. The level of interest students have in a course may be diminished by an uninspired teaching style. On the other hand, an engaging instructor can transform an ordinary or dry subject into an exciting one.
The instructor’s allowance of classroom discussion and peer collaboration can make a class. More and more e-learning and online training programs are putting this pedagogical method into practice. “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience,” John Milton once said. For many people, what makes higher education unique and special is the space it provides for dissent, debate, and engaging discussion.
Even though many university professors still lecture only and do not follow an interactive format in their classrooms, online learning is becoming more collaborative.
A great number of course subjects, of course, don’t call for discussion. For instance, a calculus class may lack both the time and need for student voices. But for a great deal of online course topics, an option or requirement of student collaboration and/or discussion is in fact appropriate and enormously helpful. Student-led discussions are an efficient and exciting way of helping students familiarize themselves with the course content, as well as form their own ideas and share them with their peers.
Along with the growth of Web 2.0 tools and their inclusion in online courseware, e-learning certainly has come a long way from its beginnings as a solitary experience. With Web 2.0 and LMS online services, students can “utter” and “argue freely according to conscience” as Milton believed was so necessary to the academic environment. Discussion forms, wikis, and other tools offer a convenient, simple, and comfortable space for students to develop and share ideas.
These formats, unlike face-to-face ones, also effect more sophisticated and democratic discussions, in which students can take their time to develop ideas and post them. In this way, LMS online courses that incorporate Web 2.0 tools allow students to interact with the learning material in a more thoughtful and comfortable way than face-to-face classrooms can.