eLearning

In this post, we will spot the light on Raspberry Pi’s hardware components. Like any other computer or electronic system, Raspberry Pi consists of a processor, RAM, memory/memory slot, peripherals and I/O connections (USB, Ethernet Network, Camera, HDMI, I/O, etc.), and it continuously evolves over time. Specifications become better and the price goes lower. Before digging deeper, it’s good to mention that there are many different versions of Pi board, all of them are under five models, which are Model A/A+, Model B/B+, and Pi Zero. These models differ in their hardware specifications, and hence the capabilities. However, they all have processors, RAM, memory, and peripherals. In this post I'm will not talk about specific model, but rather we will have an overall idea about available specifications. The early models used Broadcom’s ARMv6 processors with 600 MHz speed. Updated versions used 900MHz speeds, and the newest versions used 1.2GHz processor’s speed. To make it eas...

What is Raspberry Pi In 2008, a few academics and technicians (Eben Upton, Rob Mulins, Jack Lang, Alan Mycroft, Pete Lomas, and David Braben) were discussing their concerns about declining interest in computer studies and engineering. Their idea was to develop low-cost microcomputer board, so high school as well as university students will get their hands dirty working with it! The microcomputer is called Raspberry Pi, which is a credit card size board and it costs between $5 - $35 only. Raspberry Pi is an open source solution (both software and hardware) and can be found anywhere in the world. The board was originally designed to be used by students to learn to programme. However, the scope is expanded to many other applications by engineers, professionals, companies, as well as educational institutes. So far, more than 13 million boards are sold all over the world, making it the best-selling “General purpose computer” ever. Below the video is a quick overview of the boar...

Tools for eLearning There are many tools to help create and maintain elearning content. In the previous post, we discussed LMS which are mainly management and container tools. Here we will discuss many tools that help instructors to create content. We will talk about screen capturing tools, video editing tools, and quiz making tools. Screen Capturing tools: OBS Studio OBS studio is a free screen recording software. OBS has many features like HD streaming and recording, no restrictions on video length and easy setup which makes it the best option for gamers! Flashback Express Flashback has two versions, free and paid with more features on the paid version. Adding to screen recording, this software can record videos from Webcam too. It also has its own video editing tool which is perfect for those who don’t want to buy or get another video editing tool. Camtasia Khan Academy website uses Camtasia to record its videos from the screen. Camtasia is one of the best t...

There are many tools (soft and hard) that are used in elearning. Tools can be used to 1) prepare content (video, audio, tests, etc.); 2) As containers and management tools; 3) To access and consume the content itself. In my opinion, content containers and management tools are the most important and sophisticated ones. In this post, I will describe the Learning Management Tools (LMS), their features, and sample products. A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of educational courses or training programs. A typical example is the Black-Board that we are using at Syracuse University. Here are some reasons/advantages of using LMS: Managing users, courses, roles, instructors, and generation of reports:  This includes uploading courses and contents (text, video, audio, simulation, etc.), assigning roles (student, instructor, admin, etc.), and generate reports and statistics. Calendar gener...

Statistics support and stand by elearning side. Below infographic (from shift elearning website) presents some facts and statistics which clearly reveal that elearning is here not only to stay but to grow and dominate! If you have any stats, please comment below. References: http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/301248/15-facts-and-stats-that-reveal-the-power-of-elearning

eLearning has many benefits and advantages. Below are five:   Cost effective: Cost is one of the most important factors in learning and education. eLearning can help instructors and academic institutions to adapt with very limited budgets and resources.  This is very valid, especially for third world countries. Initial cost can be high, but over time it will become much cheaper for learners, learning institutions, companies, and governments. Global reach: eLearning has a global reach, thanks to the recent advances in technology. Smartphones, the Internet, laptops, computers are available everywhere and can be used in elearning. As an example, Khan Academy has millions of students all over the world. The content and website are provided mainly in English but are also available in other languages like Spanish, Portuguese ,  Italian ,  Russian ,  Turkish ,  French ,  Bengali  and  Hindi . Individualized learning/Self-paced: Pe...

In this post, I will list some of the best elearning websites. In my first post, I mentioned Khan Academy and Coursera. Below are some other interesting websites. edX: EdX is a non-profit organization founded in May 2012 by scientists from Harvard and MIT. Gerry Sussman, Anant Agarwal, Chris Terman, and Piotr Mitros taught the first edX course on circuits and electronics from MIT, drawing 155,000 students from 162 countries. In 2013, they partnered with Stanford and in June 2013 they reached 1 million students ! What is so special with edX is that they developed their own platform as an open source and made it free and available to other institutions of higher learning that want to make similar offerings. Click HERE for more info. MIT OCW: MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW)  is an initiative of the  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to put all of the educational materials from its  undergraduate  – and  graduate-level  ...

Types of e-Learning: There are different terminologies and types for elearning. Defining these terminologies will help us understand elearning in a better way. Below are the main ones. -           Synchronous vs asynchronous elearning: Synchronous elearning is real-time learning, in other words, learning happens at the same time regardless of geographical location/s. There are different tools for synchronous elearning, like video conferencing, phone calls, chatting, VoIP tools, the Internet, etc. There are many advantages of synchronous elearning, i.e. learners can discuss and get immediate feedback (which means more personalized learning experiences). This provides a socialized way of learning as people can interact, see, and listen to each other. However, some learners might face disadvantages like the quality of communication channels, different time zones (2PM in US = 2AM in China!), time and availability restrictions and so on...

What is elearning? There is no one agreed upon definition of elearning. Different definitions are and will be introduced as technologies evolve rapidly day after day. Let’s start with a dictionary definition [i] : e-learn·ing ˈ ē ˌ l ə rniNG/ noun : learning conducted via electronic media, typically on the Internet. Historically, the use of computers, laptops, and projectors inside a classroom to facilitate the learning was considered elearning . Typically, slides, photos, videos, or a combination of them are used in classroom environments (physical classrooms). However, the instructor plays a more important role in the process of elearning . During the last two decades, we have witnessed huge technological advances, i.e. graphical operating systems, the internet, smart devices, etc. These highly sophisticated and advanced technologies changed every aspect of our lives, thanks to Apple, Microsoft, Google, Intel, and other high-tech companies all over the world...