Faster than a speeding bullet and evolving faster than light, there’s technology breakthroughs everyday. Thank God they’re geared towards making life easier for all of us. These innovations have reached our educational system, and have quickly streamed into the classrooms. “Classrooms” nowadays may be simulated and virtual as “school” nowadays may be attended in the confines of one’s home.

My beloved Keoni had computer classes in Grade 1. He feigned at not knowing how to turn on the PC, go to Internet Explorer or Mozilla because he didn’t want his classmates much less his teacher to know that here was a boy who did Yahoo Messenger with his Dad at age 3, his own cell phone at 4 and had his own Friendster account at 5 and currently has Multiply, Facebook and is already so eager to Twit!!! Talk about EQ, huh?

Well, most kids do start their first date with computers and technology in 1st grade. And nowadays education is not confined to hardbound books. There is E Learning. It’s short for Electronic Learning, a general term used to refer to computer-enhanced learning.

It is used interchangeably in so many contexts that it is critical to be clear what one means when one speaks of 'E Learning'. In many respects, it is commonly associated with the field of advanced learning technology (ALT), which deals with both the technologies and associated methodologies in learning using networked and/or multimedia technologies.

Perhaps in our country, E-Learning is something that will take a while to get used to. But presently, there already is a “niche” for this type of education. With the emergence of even online bookstores we see a lot of world-wide web traffic. There are E books that one can simply download and read as much as videos may also be downloaded and viewed. And of course, there’s online shopping.

E-learning services have evolved since computers were first used in education. There is a trend to move toward blended learning services, where computer-based activities are integrated with practical or classroom-based situations.

I’m quite techie but, I dunno, for me as much as I read and write online, I still prefer “feeling” the actual paper backs or hard bounds from time to time. I love seeing my Dad’s John Grishhams or Sheldon books on the shelf.

E-Learning lessons are generally designed to guide students through information or to help students perform in specific tasks. Information based e-Learning content communicates information to the student. Examples include content that distributes the history or facts related to a service, company, or product. In information-based content, there is no specific skill to be learned.

In performance-based content, the lessons build off of a procedural skill in which the student is expected to increase proficiency. Let’s focus on what types of E Learning systems there are. As self explanatory as the word may seem, it has various facets.

Computer-based learning - refers to the use of computers as a key component of the educational environment. This simply put can refer to the use of computers in a classroom but the term more broadly refers to a structured environment in which computers are used for teaching purposes.

The concept is generally seen as being distinct from the use of computers in ways where learning is at least a peripheral element of the experience (e.g. computer exercises, computer games and web browsing).

Computer –based training - (CBT) may be services where a student or a person learns by executing special training programs by using a computer.

This may be relating to one’s occupation. CBT is especially effective for training people on how to use computer applications or software because the CBT program can be integrated with the applications so that students can practice using the application as they learn. Most technical colleges practice this.
They teach Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, three applications that are almost a prerequisite in the criteria of qualifications for aspiring job applicants.

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