On the platform: No more teachers, no more books?

"Digital technologies and the corresponding online tools they provide are not ends in themselves. On the contrary, they are a means to the end of transforming the educational process. The capability of online technologies functions as added value to the human dimension fundamental to face-to-face learning situations."
​- Barrera, Ho, Garcia, Traphagan and Chang, 2003, p. 7
Image source: ("Exultcorp", 2017)
The net generation approaches mobile technology in more creative, entertaining and collaborative ways than their predecessors, the attitudes and perceptions towards having to sit in a physical classroom to learn may seem limited in comparison to the dynamic, cyber-mediated, internet of things (Jacobsen, 2010, para. 6). Consequently, these students arrive to school “more immersed in the adoption of [their] devices as a daily part of both their social lifestyle and academic activities” (McGovern, Luna-Nvarez and Baruca, 2017, p. 89).
 
In an effort to respond to the changing needs of both the student population and globalization, post-secondary institutions have  been experimenting and innovating in their approaches to teaching and learning, including implementing more opportunities for participatory, active collaboration. And, while the classroom still heralds as the center of learning, most institutions now provide fully online learning environments as well as hybridized modes of delivery that combine both face-to-face and e-learning instruction. For example, in a blended classroom, the instruction takes place with both face-to-face instruction and has an online component that often features quizzes, readings and discussions (Zhang, Dang, and Amer, 2016, p.263).  In a “learner-centric” model, or flipped classroom, students are required to do readings and review materials on their own schedule prior to class and do problem solving and group work inside the classroom, conferring with the instructor as needed (ibid).
 
According to Grant (2016) there are two inherent characteristics that differ between e-learning and traditional face-to-face classroom instruction:

  1. time and space
  2. use of technology (para. 6)
 
In some cases, e-learning may be a preferred method for the self-paced learner who is comfortable with technology and who may find the flexibility, accessibility and reduced cost to be advantageous. Grant (2016) notes that type of learning can result in a “higher level of learning efficiency as learners do not needlessly spend time covering materials that they may already understand or can pick up quickly, whereas others can spend more time to truly understand material before moving on” (para 7). This flexibility can also facilitate balancing other life obligations such as a career, family or physical location and abilities (e.g., for learners residing in remote areas or who are house-bound due to disabilities). Faculty members who teach online may also be able to “take advantage of this scheduling flexibility to balance teaching and their own personal obligations, as well as professional duties such as research, service, and mentoring students” (University of Washington, 2013, para 13).
 
Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia and Jones (2009) conclude that online learning experiences are more likely to be “student-directed, interactive, and collaborative in nature than teacher-directed” (cited in Jacobsen 2010, para 15). Jacobsen (2010) suggests that the ideal balance for optimum student engagement and learning happens online as the environment appears to involve “greater time-on-task for students, with access to rich, interactive curriculum materials – such as online simulations, digital experiments and data collection sites, online reflection tools, and self-assessment strategies” (para.16).