I was recently asked to review an e-learning product produced by a major organisation. It used video, graphics and animation and cost tens of thousands of pounds to produce. Its designers and promoters were keen to emphasise its use of up-to-date technology. It was relatively entertaining. However, it had little to do with learning. The designers had missed the point completely. The objectives and process of learning had disappeared beneath a host of technologies.

E-learning products have to recognise the learning objectives that they have been developed to fulfil. The most commonly referenced framework is the one developed by Bloom. He proposed three domains; cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Most professional testing takes place within the cognitive domain where Bloom suggested six levels; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The structure of the e-learning should reflect the objectives of the testing. For example, if the questions are primarily about the recall of knowledge, then learning aimed at developing a student's analysis skills is largely irrelevant. The opposite is also true.

People Learn in Different Ways

It has also long been recognised that people learn in different ways. The articulation of these different styles is largely attributed to David Kolb (1983). The learning styles of Honey and Mumford are also well known. They distinguish between activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists.

Successfully engaging participants with different learning styles has long been a problem for 'face-to-face' training. Too much training only uses one style, often the preferred learning style of the trainer! Unthinking reliance on group work is particularly problematic, as different learning styles engage differently in such work. Some embrace it, some want to lead it and others feel that it is a waste of their time and are unwilling or unable to participate. Unless the objective of the learning is group work itself, then group work favours certain learning styles at the expense of others. The nature of the assessment also has to be considered. The group production of a certain technical model is not necessarily good preparation for an individual attempting an examination where they will have to demonstrate skills of analysis and synthesis using this model.

E-learning opens up the opportunity of allowing learners to participate in different ways. E-learning should allow different routes for learning, at the same time bearing in mind how that learning will be assessed.

For example, people who prefer the 'assimilating' learning style will not be comfortable if they are thrown into a learning situation without notes and guidance. Thus the e-learning solution should have a route where learners can read notes, listen to lectures and reveal the answers to practice questions. Similarly, people with an 'accommodating' learning style will become frustrated if they are forced to read lots of instructions and listen to presentations. The e-learning product should allow them to gain 'hands on' experience immediately.

The issue for e-learning designers is not the exploitation of as many technological variations as possible, but the provision of solutions that accommodate different learning styles and recognise how that learning will be assessed.

There is concern that e-learning products will be seduced by style and image, at the expense of effective learning. Effective learning needs to take into account at least four issues. These issues are the likely prior knowledge of the learner, the preferred learning style of the learner, how learning will be assessed and the technology available to the learner.

The ability to adapt to different learning styles should be one of the key benefits of e-learning. This flexibility is very difficult to address in face-to-face learning. This is the real challenge of e-learning, not to provide vacuous entertainment or exploit technological opportunities for their own sake.

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