I asked on Twitter yesterday, “What term do you use most? Learning 2.0, Blending Learning, Social Learning, Informal Learning, eLearning … something else?”
The responses, I hoped, would illuminate not only which words people use most, but also what practices or pedagogical philosophies are behind their instruction. Here’s the feedback:
antoesp: elearning (2.0) & blended learning: anyway it is always necessary what you are talking about…
vale24: I think I’m in “blended learning” category for when I use ICT with F2F groups in/outside class, otherwise it’s Online learning
_KirstenT: blended learning at Leeds – like most other UK higher education institutions
nhatipoglu: eLearning actually
minutebio: Informal Learning
arepeejee: eLearning & Technology Enhanced Learning
hopkinsdavid: Usually ‘eLearning’, but ‘blended’ making a big comeback in recent months
campusdirect: e-learning… with the hyphen
denniscallahan: It’s all “Learning”
What terms do you use, and what does it say about your teaching or instruction — or environment, or learners, or level of technology adoption (add a comment below)?
I have had discussions with different people in the past about the ‘correct’ terminology and, I hate to say it, we couldn’t come to any kind of decision or conclusion.
For me the term eLearning has been over-used, and mis-used, for too long. The kind of tools and techniques that were once only used for distant or e-learning are now being used in face-to-face learning to enhance the student experience with new approaches and new techniques.
For me the answer isn’t around using a certain, or even correct, term. It’s more about what you do with your learning materials, and how the students accept and interact with them that matters.
I use different things depending on what I’m referring to and who I’m talking to. I use technology enhanced learning or elearning quite a bit. I also use collaborative learning to refer to social learning since a colleague and I found that a lot of people balked at the idea of “social” learning because they thought it was playing or wasting time.
I don’t call “it” any of these 8 dirty words: http://www.informl.com/2010/01/24/8-dirty-words/
I favor “doing,” the result of whatever-we-call-it.