What technical tools are necessary for e-learning? Most on-line learning needs an internet browser and a connection to the internet. These technologies are the enabler of effective distance education.
Computer and Hardware - any PC or Macintosh will work fine, the higher the quality, the more seamless the technology will seem. Students who wish to use audio and video systems will require higher computational speed and processing memory. The recommended is PC system running Windows Vista or XP, or any Macintosh computer with reliable access to the internet with either Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla or Opera Web Browser installed. The internet connection and type reflects the speed of communicating and downloading educational information. A student may be connected to an academic or business network, or through a cable modem or a DSL phone line. The larger the bandwidth, the more seamless the experience. Many institutions have private networks that offer wide fast bandwidth.
Students are generally not required to buy software, and most course specific software is provided for free. In addition, most on-line programs offer free orientation classes, which assure that students are technically prepared for the course. Students will still need to have an operating system and general software tools such as Microsoft(tm) Word. Sometimes free plug-in software programs are needed such as: Windows Media or Real Player, Macromedia(tm) Flash, QuickTime(tm) and Chat Services.
On-line learning uses generally accepted interactive technology such as e-mail, bulletin boards and the internet.
Electronic mail (e-mail) - Like postal mail, e-mail is used to exchange messages between individuals. Software programs such as Microsoft(tm) Outlook are used the most often. It is also possible to use internet sites such as gmail.com, hotmail.com and yahoo.com for their e-mail services.
Bulletin Boards - Most bulletin boards are accessible through the internet. The most common public bulletin boards are USENET and LISTSERV. USENET is a collection of thousands of newsgroups, covering every topic imaginable. LISTSERV provides discussion forums on a variety of topics broken down by areas of special interest.
World-Wide Web (WWW) -This is the front-end to the internet and provides users with a uniform user-friendly means of accessing a wide variety of mediums available on the internet, such as, pictures, text, data, sound and video. For educational purposes, the World-Wide Web acts as a global library from any location.
Through the use of Instructor Web Pages, teachers can build a virtual classroom with class information such as the syllabus, exercises, literature references and the instructor's biography. It may include useful resource links to other web sites and administrative links, such as, access library catalogs and a students' individual home pages.
Some distance courses include Instructional Television (ITV), which can be either passive or interactive; many systems are compressed digital video over high speed bandwidth which is well beyond the range of the common modem internet connection. These systems are similar to video conferencing or pre-recordered broadcasting. When a course requires this technology, students are offered a location to receive ITV services.
