Introduction to teaching and learning

From the previous section, you have seen that writing online is often more informal than writing on paper. Teaching online can also be a little more informal, even more in the case of SenGuide, where we want to pass on knowledge, experience and passion for the love of learning rather than information for a diploma or official recognition.

Learning online can feel more personal: we are alone in front of a screen, with the words/photos/video of a tutor who seems to be talking directly at us, not at a class full of other people. As teachers in SenGuide, we will try to make the most of this feeling of personal learning – one of our tools in this endeavour is the way we write for each reader, as if we were talking to them personally.

Think back to our first learning unit: you might remember the grocery list for the market or supermarket as one of our writing activity in daily life. Think now that we could change use this analog way of writing to a completely digital way. It goes like this: a senior citizen started using smart devices in the house, namely the voice assistant Alexa. Maybe you have already heard about it. Once they thought of a product for their grocery list, they “kindly” asked Alexa to add that product to the grocery list. When they went shopping, all they had to do was call up the grocery list summarized by Alexa in their smartphone and work through it step by step. That’s digitization in everyday life, even in writing.

While the fact that we learn has not changed, the way we learn has changed. After Covid, digitalization has taken over the field of education. You have probably seen or heard that your grandchildren are/ were learning remotely from the safety of their own home during the pandemic. Of course, you yourself are now participating in an online learning course and, later on, will create your own E-Learning content! We will now give you a short introduction into the topic of E-Learning or online learning.

Further reading: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/feb/16/the-future-of-online-learning-the-long-term-trends-accelerated-by-covid-19

Digitalization and Learning

You might ask yourself: What is E-Learning?

E-learning is short for “electronic learning” i.e. learning utilizing electronic technologies. Knowledge and information are presented and conveyed with the help of digital media, in collaboration with learning groups on the internet. Sometimes e-learning is called online learning, multimedia learning or computer-based learning. Nowadays it is often summarized in the term digitalization.

The history of E-Learning is quite interesting, and its roots are not as new as you might think!

Click through the timeline and learn about it on the basis of the Institute for Innovation in Learning, one of the partners in this project!

Info: Free vs. online course with costs

Many e-learning courses are free of charge, although they are often far more elaborate and expensive to create than in-class events. Often, free E-learning projects are funded by institutions like the EU. The SenGuide-project is funded by the European Commission.