Delivering engaging e-Learning - an Indian Scenario

By: Homz Umrigar

India is a vast country with numerous languages and an even more diverse culture & learning
patterns. Students often employ the services of an external tutor or an external teacher from early
school days. They find this a better way to learn considering that the average batch/class size in a
public school or college is 60 to 100 students and the education provided is teacher-centric as opposed
to student-centric.

With the invasion the of internet into major cities and towns, and with broadband becoming more and
more accessible to users, schools, colleges and homes, more and more students are adopting the
online route to access their information & learning needs. Be it a project report or an assignment that
needs to be submitted, most students visit popular websites or search engines like www.google.com
and get their information. However the services of an external tutor are still much sought after. Does
this tell us something? Yes it does. Students need a tutor to learn from, and self-study is a religion
followed only by a few. Majority of our students visit tutors outside their schools and colleges.
Communication and presentation skills are mastered only by a few and so are English Language skills.
So can we use technology to our advantage here? Yes we can, most of us already are!

Are we e-Learning yet?

A broad definition of e-Learning is the use of technology (CD-ROM, Internet, Intranet, wireless and
mobile learning) to deliver learning & training programs. The thought that majority of students are now
turning to the online medium to get their information and training needs tells us that majority of the
students are already studying online in some way or the other.

So is India on the brink of an e-Learning revolution?

Well, the answer is a yes & no. In a recent survey, I read that “India is leading in e-Learning” but this
is as far as development of web-based training (WBT) goes for the western and SE Asian markets.
India is a huge hub for outsourced content development, second only to the United States of America.

The irony: e-Learning for the domestic market is being developed at a snail pace. Companies are not
catering to the huge e-Learning market within India. One reason for this could be the lack of
knowledge of this new form of education with the masses. Skeptics among the country/corporate world
that feel that e-Learning was invented for a well connected western & SE Asian market and will not
work in an Indian scenario where internet / broadband connectivity is not so popular. There are power
cuts all across the country so how can we remain connected to a wired world without electricity. This is
just one problem. The other is what type of training pedagogy (the strategies, techniques, and
approaches that teachers can use to facilitate learning) do we adopt - self-paced, blended or
multimodal?

Online courses sold today are not much different from the courses developed in the early days of
computer based training (CBT). There are certain standards like AICC, SCORM, IMS, QTI, LRN etc. that
we comply to. The student is given a learning objective followed by pages of interactive information
and occasionally a question or two is provided with the assumption that it will engage the learner. At
the end of the learning module or course the learner is given a formal test or assignment to check
what they have learned. Great courses are different. They create a world around the learner where the
learner becomes so involved and engaged in the learning that he/she looses track of time. Such
courses employ simulations, avatars, role playing and use a wide variety of media-rich objects (Video
or Flash) making the content fun and addictive.

How do we lead the way in this scenario?

For starters, we need to develop content based in an Indian scenario with Indian avatars and make it
an integral part of the entire training process. We also need to deliver the same in a controlled
environment (Reliance Cyber Café or Sify Cyber Café) where the bandwidth and electricity are
controlled. We need to develop light content considering that most of India is connected on dial-up
connections, it’s only the major cities that have access to broadband connections. Finally, we need to
device a multimodal training pedagogy to deliver training to the masses.

What is this multimodal training pedagogy that we need to device?

Multimodal is a very simple term used for self-paced learning, classroom-based training, and distant
tutor support all neatly packaged in a nice training program delivered via the internet.

Vital Components

1. Self Paced Training (WBT / VBT / Simulations / Podcasts / Audio Lesson)

2. Classroom Training (Virtual Classroom / Physical Classroom)
3. Distant Tutor Support {Online Chat (Text/Voice), Phone, E-mail, Discussion Board}

Application

Develop e-Learning courses that are object-oriented. A training program needs to be split up on a
weekly basis with a live tutor interaction at the end of every week and a bi-weekly evaluation to check
student performance and feedback on whether the student has applied what was learnt on-the-job.
The same can happen over a virtual classroom. Add to this distant tutor support, as the best teachers
are in short supply.

The e-Training cycle

It usually starts off with the trainer specifying a learning object for the learner/trainee to be completed
within a given time frame. The trainee then gets online to access learning material in the form of
Video-based lessons, Audio-based lessons, Web simulations, Podcasts, e-Books etc. He/she also
participates in Live sessions to interact in real time with a virtual faculty. At the end of the week, the
trainee is evaluated on whatever he/she has learnt and assimilated during the course of the week. If
the performance is deemed satisfactory, the trainee moves on to the next level, whereby the entire
cycle is repeated again. This continues until all the learning objects have been met with.

A final word

Like any other big idea, e-Learning in India is bound to catch on. Not just that, owing to India’s
inherent diversity, e-Learning will be found more than just useful in the effective dissemination of new
ideas. Also, small towns and villages which are far-flung from the major centres of learning (read
metros), and where the majority of India resides, will benefit in a big way from e-Learning. Students
will now be able to pursue their education from home base, without having to physically move to these
metro destinations. Corporate India, too, will be able to optimise its manpower resources by opting for
training delivered via the eLearning mode. As of now, e-Learning is beginning to make its presence felt
- slowly but surely. It won’t be long before it becomes the favoured mode of learning and training in
India.