آموزش الکترونیکی سیاست ها، روش ها و چالش ها در دو سازمان نروژی

This article reports a pilot study on the uses of technology to enable learning within a formal educational setting in a higher education institution and within a corporation. These two Norwegian cases were selected due to their commitment to technology-enabled learning, as expressed in policy and strategy documents. The aim was to investigate the commitment and actual use of information and communications technology (ICT) for learning as well as what key actors think are the major challenges for successful large scale implementation of ICT for learning. The findings indicate that there is insufficient follow-up on e-learning policies and that there is a general lack of strategic direction and leadership in this area. The key challenges respondents highlight relate to the need for a systematic and pedagogical approach to elearning in which three equally important considerations must be balanced: organization, pedagogy and technology. Key perspectives of a coherent pedagogical and organizational framework for planning e-learning are discussed.

In schools, universities, and in work life, the question of how to utilize modern information and communication technologies (ICT) for learning purposes is an important question for anyone with a stake in education and training, as new technologies are spreading rapidly. A core issue with regard to these pervasive changes in educational technologies in the context of the global economy is learning. Simply put, a valid slogan for educational institutions and corporations alike might be ‘Learn or Burn’. What is actually going on in the field of learning and ICT? Are we witnessing a revolution of learning? Are new technologies producing better learning than traditional classrooms and traditional teachers? Or, are claims of radical improvements in learning as a result of ICT only empty words aimed at making people believe in the utility of ICT and buy more technology? Evidence for both possibilities can be found. A basic motivation for this study (Welle-Strand & Tjeldvoll, 2002) is to explore e-learning policies and practices in order to get a better understanding of what actually contributes to improved learning and increased value creation as opposed to what about technology is just fashionable. This is an exploratory pilot study. The empirical data are intended only to illustrate or exemplify policies and opinions at two organizations. There is no intention to explain what is going on in general in the field of learning and ICT, although what is happening in these organizations may be representative. The overall research questions are: how is e-learning understood, and to what extent is there a relation between e-learning policies and practice?

The literature suggests and the empirical pilot have confirmed that the ICT revolution has had a dramatic effect on universities’ and corporations’ policies and implementation of ICT expected to facilitate learning and to make it more efficient. However, there is insufficient empirical evidence that ICT investments for learning are goaleffective. There is a lack of overall strategies for the use of ICT-based learning. This pilot study found a mismatch between policy writers and staff in terms of the need for pedagogical understanding in planning and implementing elearning. Such understanding is absent in the policy documents but strongly emphasized by staff. This also touches the need to balance individual and corporate needs and goals. Such considerations ought to be reflected in an articulated corporate learning strategy endorsed by the top management and implemented in such a manner that both time and space are created to facilitate learning. Though there are many challenges for organizations embarking on e-learning, knowledge in a number of areas is still scarce. Though there is a lot of information about e-learning solutions, knowledge of actual use is still limited. If e-learning solutions are to improve, one would need more than information on what types of technology are used; one would need to know how they are used. Moreover, knowledge of the effects of e-learning is still limited, especially with regard to long-term effects. Research on motivation and learning styles/orientation with regard to e-learning is another interesting topic, as elearning is often a solitary endeavor. On the organizational side, research into management of e-learning and impact of management on outcomes is limited. This pilot study has made it obvious that more research is needed in order to better understand how ICT-based learning can become more goal-effective and efficient within universities and corporations alike.