LMS Online Courses Tap into Web 2.0
One enormous benefit of LMS online courseware is its ability to help students develop and nurture strong self-motivation and independent study skills. However, what many people haven’t heard is the fact that e-learning has in many ways turned into a collaborative venture, rather than solely an independent one.
It’s a known fact that the teaching style of an educator or trainer can make or break a class. A high degree of interest in a course can be lowered by a dull instruction style. In the same way, an engaging professor or trainer can give life to even the simplest or dullest subject.
The latter situation is often created with the help of an instructor’s allowance of classroom discussion and peer collaboration. This instructive trend is increasingly valued and practiced in online learning. John Milton spoke of the importance of free discussion when he said, nearly 400 years ago: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience.” One feature that often distinguishes university classrooms is the space it often allows for exciting discussion, dissent, and debate.
Despite the fact that many university professors still do not follow an interactive format in their classrooms, online learning is becoming more collaborative.
Many subjects, of course, don’t particularly call for discussion. For example, a calculus class might not require a student discussion of any kind. But a space for student collaboration or discussion is in fact helpful and appropriate for a great deal of online course topics. Students are aided by discussions to form ideas and become familiar with the learning material quickly and engagingly.
With the increasing use of Web 2.0 tools in online learning, e-learning has matured from its early days as a solitary enterprise. With LMS programs and Web 2.0 tools, learners can “utter” and “argue freely according to conscience” just as Milton suggested was a basic human need. Tools such as wikis, discussion forums, and social network pages dedicated to a course allow students an efficient, simple and easy space for students to share and develop ideas with their peers.
They also tend to effect more sophisticated and democratic discussions, in which students can take their time to respond and develop thoughts. LMS online courses which use Web 2.0 tools offer a dynamic and engaging space for optimal student learning.
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