Modern trends in education: issues of e-teaching and e-learning

Abstract

The present situation in education one can characterize as a rapid growth and expansion of e-teaching and e-learning. However, in many universities this is just a linear transfer of “classroom” model of teaching and learning to the web media. Often e-courses delivered are nothing more than lectures notes and PowerPoint files uploaded to the net, the web is simply being used as a medium for delivery of instructions created within another frame-work. While classroom teaching and management strategies are well documented, the on-line learning environment presents different challenges and benefits. Teaching in an online environment calls for different pedagogical approaches and a special set of teaching skills. In Belarus, we are short of appropriate both methodic and practical recommendations on how to develop and how to conduct on-line courses. To improve the situation and change it properly it is necessary to understand and analyze the main changes taking place in the sphere of education and educational services within last 15–20 years. My talk is an attempt to overview current world literature on contemporary pedagogical issues connected with e-teaching and e-learning.