The state of digital education

Here's a fascinating graphic depicting the state of digital education that shows that elearning saves money compared to instructor-led training. That's a sad and misleading statistic. Just having completed an e-learning course, I think that those two types of instruction are very different, requiring different learner skills and providing different learning opportunities. One of the findings of the past years in education is that one size does not fit all. Any educator worth his or her salt will use digital technology very judiciously to empower learners and allow them to access materials and social learning contacts they wouldn't otherwise have.

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Ann Foreman: Encouraging Learner Autonomy

A talk I missed at IATEFL, and I've been kicking myself for it ever since, was by Ann Foreman, the Information and Communication Technology Coordinator at the British Council in Bilbao, whose blog is an incredible source of information on using web technologies wisely in teaching. Her blogname "Encouraging Learner Autonomy" (http://encouraginglearnerautonomy.blogspot.com contains the message. Her "how tos" are clearly written - lists! - and easy to follow.

Her blog is written systematically, starting out with "What are blogs?", so you can work through it step by step. A recent post includes directions for her students, "Read, listen and record a podcast task", which gives you a very good impression of the skills and hardware you and your students will need if you are going to do a podcast project together. Ann Foreman's blog is yet another reason to take off a week and to do some online self-study.

With people like this involved in promoting Learner Autonomy, I'm seriously considering joining the IATEFL SIG www.learnerautonomy.org.