Are E-Learning, Blended Learning, and Distance Learning the Same things?
The terms “e-learning” blended learning, and “distance learning” are often used interchangeably, but they are actually not the same things.
💚E-learning is designed to create online communication between teacher and student and to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom.
💚Blended Learning is a formal educational program that consists of in-person study time as well as individual study online.
💚Distance learning is more about the distance between the student and the teacher, and how technology bridges this gap.
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| E-Learning, Blended Learning, and Distance Learning: Are They the Same |
An Overview of E-Learning, Distance Learning and Blended
learning
During the
past decade, there has been a huge revolution in the applications of the
educational computer, and the use of computers in the field of education is
still in its beginnings, but it is increasing day by day. Rather, it took many
forms, from computers in education to using the Internet in education, and
finally, the concept of e-learning appeared, which depends on technology to
present educational content to the learner in a good and effective way.
There are also characteristics and advantages of this type of
education, and the most important advantages are that it can reduce time,
effort, and cost, in addition to the ability of educational technology to improve
the general level of academic achievement and to assist the teacher and the
student in providing an attractive educational environment that does not depend
on place or time.
E-learning is one of the methods of education in
communicating information to the learner, and it is done using modern
communication mechanisms from a computer and its networks and multiple media,
i.e. the sustainability of technology of all kinds in the delivery of
information to the learner in the shortest time, the least effort and the
greatest benefit and in a way that helps manage and control of the educational
process and measure and evaluate the performance of learners.
The information revolution has made the world more like a
small electronic screen in the era of fusion between information technology,
culture, and technology.
Electronic communication and the exchange of news and
information between computer networks became a tangible reality, which allowed
quick access to science and knowledge centers and libraries, and to get
acquainted with the new moment by moment.
The development of
educational stages
The first stage: before 1983: The traditional teacher era
where the communication between the teacher and the student was in the
classroom according to a specific academic schedule.
The second stage: From 1984: 1993 AD. The emergence of the
global information network "the Internet".
The third stage: from 2001 onwards: The second generation of
the global information network as web design has become more advanced.
E-learning
The concept of e-learning has begun to spread since the use
of electronic display means to deliver lessons in traditional classrooms and
the use of multimedia in the processes of semester education and
self-education, and ending with building smart schools and virtual classrooms
that allow students to attend and interact with lectures and seminars held in
other countries through the Internet and interactive television technologies.
E-learning, with its strength and flexibility, can improve the educational process and solve many of the problems that education means today while preserving the quality of education, as:
- It provides educational content for learners anytime and anywhere via the Internet and in many other forms.
- It reduces education and training costs.
- It enables you to follow the flag accurately.
- It helps universities to absorb large numbers of students.
- It provides education for residents in remote areas.
Blended learning
Blended
learning is an approach to education that integrates technology and digital
media with traditional place-based classroom methods, giving students more
flexibility to customize their educational experiences.
Blended
learning includes a set of media that are designed to complement each
other.
Blended
learning requires the physical presence of both student and teacher, with some
elements of student control over time,
path, place or pace.
The blended
learning program can include many learning tools, such as online virtual
cooperative learning software, online-based courses, self-learning courses,
electronic performance support systems, and learning systems management
Blended learning also mixes multiple activity-based events
that include learning in traditional classrooms in which the teacher meets
students face-to-face and self-learning is a mixture of synchronous and
asynchronous learning.
Distance education
Distance education is the process of separating the learner,
teacher and writers in the educational environment, and transferring the
traditional environment of education from a university or school and others to
a multi-geographically separate environment.
Distance education is a modern phenomenon of education that
has developed with the rapid technological development in the world, and its
aim is to give the opportunity to educate and provide it to students who cannot
obtain it in traditional conditions and almost daily.
The idea of distance education began in the late seventies by
European and American universities that sent various educational materials to
students by mail, including books, recording tapes, and videotapes to explain
the materials and teach them. Likewise, the student used to deal with
assignments, with these universities requiring students to come to the
university only for the final exam date, on which the mark is calculated.
In the late eighties, the matter developed into the
communication between the teacher and his students through television and radio
stations, then with the advent of the Internet, at first e-mail became the
means of communication between the student and the teacher until the beginning
of the new century.
Learning, discussions, and direct communication are provided
through specialized websites and programs.
What is the difference
between e-learning and distance learning?
E-learning can be defined as one of the educational methods
in communicating information to the learner that depends on modern technologies
i.e,,computer and the global network and their multiple media such as CDs,
educational software, e-mail and discussion spaces.
E-learning is designed to create online communication between
teacher and student and to access educational curriculum outside of a
traditional classroom.
Distance learning is the education of students who may not
always be physically present in the school. The distance Learning concept is
more about the distance between the student and the teacher, and how technology
bridges this gap. Today, Distance education has become a derivative part of
E-learning.
In both cases, the learner receives the information from a
place far from the teacher (the source of the information). And when we
talk about the electronic study, it is not necessarily that we are talking
about online learning. Rather, e-learning may be asynchronous. We can
learn from remote locations that are not limited by space or time through the
Internet and technologies.