Emerging Technology that Supports eLearning (Blog Post 10)

I have read Egbert’s (2009) views on eLearning and I have read many of the posts from the blogs of my classmates. I tend to agree with Egbert’s (2009) statement that “eLearning ... often requires students and teachers to have different skills and understandings than face-to-face classroom learning does" (p. 207). As a high school teacher I know that some of our students are utilizing eLearning as a way to make up lost credit and some of our advanced students are even taking online college courses for advanced credit toward their Bachelor’s degree. I feel that at this level they are gaining the understanding and the skills needed to handle this type of education. I know that other classmates have mentioned that most students in lower grades would not have the organizational skills, dedication, or maturity to be able to handle this type of education. I tend to agree with them but I feel that there is a place for it at lower levels. I think that students who are struggling to keep up with their peers in a hospital homebound situation would benefit from eLearning with a far greater rate of success than what they are currently experiencing. Currently a hospital homebound teacher will drop of a stack of work along with selected readings from textbooks and work with that student for about an hour. Then the student is expected to teach themselves the rest of the content covered in class and complete their work on their own. Wouldn’t the hospital homebound teacher be more effective if they helped the student organize a week’s worth of online lessons? If the student was then offered online instructional vodcasts, discussions, digital stories, tutors, and practice I believe that students of any age could rise to the level of skills and understanding needed for eLearning.


Egbert, J. (2009). Supporting learning with technology: essentials of classroom practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc