The Costs and Costing of e-Learning
I believe that the different types of e-learning make the distance education environment more enriching. I say that because we know that the distance education environment consist of a diverse group of people, some of which have re-entered the classroom after being absent from it for many years. Individuals have different learning styles, and to meet the needs of the different learning styles, there has to be different types of e-learning. The digital technologies that are used to support e-learning consist of technologies that support the different types of interactivity. I believe that while most of us have a predominant learning style, a lot of us have a combination of the learning styles, and that we may be stronger in taking in information via text in one area, but sometimes it may help us to review the information using another format. For instance, I remember at the beginning of this course, I was trying to grasp a concept. I remember reading through the modules as required, but still not having a good grasp on the concepts that were being presented. I went to another link in the module, and I found a video that explained the concept. It was not until I reviewed that video that I was able to grasp the concept that was being presented fully.
While I love to read, and have enjoyed reading the information that has been presented throughout this course, for some reason, the particular concept that I had trouble grasping through text became clear to me when I reviewed the video that explained it. The point is that there are advantages to using different types of e-learning in the distance education setting because the goal in distance education is to provide the students with a quality education at a reasonable cost. That means that when the materials are being selected and/or considered, and when the budget is being determined to ensure that the costs are met, it is important to select the technologies that will provide not only an affordable education, but a quality education. In setting up the costing analysis, it would do no good to use all low cost materials because as the saying goes, we really do get what we pay for, and if the institution is not paying for quality, neither are the students. With that in mind, why not set a reasonable budget, and pay for a quality education, one that meets the needs of the diverse group of distance education students (and instructors).
