Teaching millenials: eLearning principles

When in April 2001, MIT announced they would release their curricula for free to the world via Web, this marked the beginning of probably the biggest educational revolution in our history.  Led by a noble idea to make education serve the needs of people living in the digital age, they pioneered the transformation of traditional education.Almost fifteen years later, this initiative is showing no signs of slowing down.  Now more than ever, education is affordable, accessible, and, most importantly, effective.

According to some predictions, by 2020 half of all classes will be taken online.  When compared to today’s statistics that say that at least one class is taken virtually, these predictions are astonishing.  Obviously, we are rapidly turning to virtual classrooms.  With the rapid advent of communication technology, time, space, and money, no longer pose obstacles for improvement.  This is why electronic forms of learning provide just about the perfect framework for lifelong learning.

Firstly, eLearning engages students into personally relevant experiences.  Moreover, it encourages the development of essential skills for the 21st century: creativity, critical thinking, meaningful collaboration.  Finally, it enables simulation.  In other words, eLearning creates authentic atmosphere and deepens the understanding of real-world issues by fully engaging students into problem solving.

The ultimate goal of eLearning is to instill a high value of learning and foster lifelong learning.  In other words, there is something far beyond academic achievement, that is, the learners’ ability of active contribution to the learning process.