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Using E-learning to Supplement Classroom Teaching

Leon Baranovsky — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:36:14 +0000

Traditional classrooms could learn a thing or two from online teaching. This according to a University of Illinois professor Caroline Haythornthwaite who says e-learning methods and techniques can be used to augment traditional classroom learning.

While growing in popularity in university settings, families of elementary, middle and high schoolers may need to look a bit harder for e-learning opportunities. One place to start is with the freebies. Find out if your child’s classroom textbooks are supported with online practice problems, quizzes, or video instruction. Also, keep in mind that many teachers make themselves available to students via email, often replying to homework questions or sending links to educational websites during evenings and weekends.

But what about when a student needs more than quick reinforcement? Can real learning take place online? Thanks to about a million homeschoolers in the U.S. alone, the answer is yes. The e-learning business is taking off and, with persistence, you can find help in pretty much any subject. The links below will give you an idea of various types of e-learning options:

However much e-learning may reshape education, Haythornthwaite noted that it’s not necessarily meant to supplant classroom learning, but is more of a supplement to it.

YouTube Math Tutor

Leon Baranovsky — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:58:11 +0000

I just watched an online instructional video and cannot imagine why I ever found exponents daunting. Salman Khan, founder of nonprofit Khan Academy, delivers easy-to-follow, 10-minute clips that explain how to work through math concepts, so you can get on with your homework.

Using a simple blackboard format, each video walks the viewer through example problems. Available math topics include basic arithmetic, pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus, probability, and differential equations.

Khan has also created videos on physics, SAT preparation, finance, and the credit crisis. The SAT videos address all 432 problems in “The Official SAT Study Guide” by the College Board.

The Harvard- and MIT-educated Khan, an investment professional by day, started making math videos at night to help family and friends. Word of his technique spread and now thousands of viewers from around the world depend on Khan’s one-man tutoring show.

50 Percent of Courses Delivered Online in 2019

Leon Baranovsky — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:00:20 +0000

The article How Do We Transform Our Schools? by Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn (pictured) is featured in the summer 2008 issue of Education Next, a scholarly journal published by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. The authors claim that computer-based learning is on the cusp of transforming traditional public education and that about half of all education courses will be delivered online in just over a decade’s time.

The article is also available in PDF format. Clayton M. Christensen is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School . Michael B. Horn is executive director of education at Innosight Institute. They are coauthors of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (McGraw-Hill, 2008).