E-Learning Management System Essay Example for Free

E-Learning Management System Essay Philippines-based LexioNet Corporation launches the countrys first and only SCORM-compliant Learning Management System (LMS) and online campus. Philippines-based LexioNet Corporation announced the release of the countrys first and only Learning Management System (LMS) that conforms to the rigorous specifications of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), the de-facto global standard in Web-based learning. Widely adopted by the US government, large business enterprises and academic institutions worldwide, SCORM primarily addresses issues of interoperability between e-learning content, tools and systems. The Lexioâ„ ¢ Online Campus, powered by the companys SCORM-compliant engine, is an interactive learning environment that makes teaching and learning a fun and engaging experience. Students can study and practice any time, from any computer with access to the Internet. Teachers and courseware developers, on the other hand, can create rich and reusable Web-based learning content using a variety of SCORM-compliant authoring tools. All Lexioâ„ ¢ virtual classrooms have exclusive forums for online discussions to facilitate student-teacher interaction, team learning, and collaboration. Moreover, Lexioâ„ ¢ has multilingual features and offers a broad spectrum of basic course materials that go beyond geographic borders. Bong Cosca, LexioNet CEO, said the launch of the Lexioâ„ ¢ Online Campus represents a significant milestone in the Philippines efforts to accelerate economic growth through educational development, information technology and globalization. E-Learning Management System by Angelo. G. Garcia || Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online Manila, Philippines — Never mind that we are the texting or the Facebook capital of the world, the truth is the Philippines is still far behind as far as e-learning is concerned. While most countries are now adopting technologically-based learning experience in their education systems, the Philippines is yet to start on a 12-year basic education curriculum. The government has no concrete plans either when it comes to e-learning. For instance, Singapore’s Ministry of Education created a solid e-learning plan in their education system as early as 1997. Today, in Nanyang Girls’ High School in Singapore, students are provided with iPads as part of their e-learning system. â€Å"Students today do not learn the same way like their parents did. Children today are so engrossed with their devices. They don’t even talk to parents anymore, everybody is looking at their gadgets and the interaction is not there anymore,† explained Paul Tan, department head of Information and Communication Technology, Nanyang Girls’ High School. This school also uses a system that allows students to access their lessons anytime, anywhere. Students just need a strong wi-fi connection wherever they are and they are good to go. â€Å"Learning should be extended. Learning should go beyond the four walls of the classroom. We capitalize on the technological environment. E-learning makes it possible to do this even beyond the school walls. There are many possibilities in learning. Learning should be colourful and exciting but it has ultimately one goal — to educate the students,† Tan shared during the Diwa e-Learning presentation at the recent Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines Conference (CEAP), held in Davao City. When Singapore started their Information Communication Technology (ICT) Masterplan 1 in 1997, they started with the foundation, training teachers with the basic use of technology and building the necessary infrastructure support. Then came Masterplan 2 which focused on what technology to use in the system. And then it was time for Masterplan 3, the actual integration of ICT in the classroom. All in all, it took them 14 years to achieve the system that they have now. In this system, schools are connected to the internet, a necessary tool in e-learning. Technologies such as Google Earth and Global Positioning System (GPS) are being used in Geography classes, for instance. â€Å"We really encourage them to think beyond the box. They can learn anywhere. Apart from the technology, the walls in classroom are painted with a special kind of paint that allows the student to use whiteboard marker to just write to express their ideas,† Tan said. Singapore also tells its students to use better social networking websites like edmodo.com, a secure website that connects teachers and students. This site also allows teachers and students to collaborate, share content, access homework and grades. â€Å"We aim to have a student-centered learning through engaging lessons. So instead of Facebook, our students use a website that is safe and purely for education,† Tan shared. However, Tan qualified, technology does not replace everything in school. He said that teachers still play a vital role in education. â€Å"Students can get a lot of information online. How to turn this information to knowledge, that’s where teachers come in to verify and explain to the students about all these information,† he said. Tan shared that the most important part of this education revolution is commitment. â€Å"The government is committed, stakeholders are committed, students are interested, teachers want to learn. Commitment from all parties is very important.† In the Philippines, several schools are already starting to adopt e-learning in their education system. One such school is Don Bosco Technical Institute (DBTI) in Makati which has been using the Genyo e-Learning program by Diwa Learning Systems for three years now. Genyo is the first and only fully-integrated online learning management system for basic education. DBTI first started with teacher training in 2006, and it was not surprising that there was initial resistance from the faculty. But they forged on, said DBTI-M high school principal Lito Tenerife, even conducting constant dialogue with parents to make sure that everything was explained to them. By 2009, the school had already subscribed to the Genyo e-learning management system covering five subjects: Filipino, Math, English, Science, and History. Classrooms were connected to the internet, and equipment like laptop computers and projectors were acquired. Tenerife said that the impact on students already shows. â€Å"If a teacher announces to the students that tomorrow they have Genyo, they participate as if it’s their last day in school. It becomes a motivation factor that upon knowing that the following day they will have Genyo classes.† â€Å"Education today is not business as usual. The classrooms and learners of today are totally different from the learners that we were in high school. As responsible educators and policy makers, we need to take a closer look on how we are doing things,† explained Jose Maria Policarpio, executive director of of Diwa Learning Systems. It is a fact that today’s students belong to the millennial generation. They are children born in 1990 onwards. They have short attention spans. They are multi-taskers. And they are highly intuitive in technology. â€Å"These students have different learning styles. Some are auditory, some are visual and some are tactile. They learn best when they touch things, when they interact with things. We have to respect that if we want to be effective. We have a declining quality of education in the Philippines. We have to get our act together. If our basic education is not so firm, we should start with that,† Policarpio stressed. He recommends that before a school goes into the e-learning bandwagon, they should carefully plan first like what Singapore and Don Bosco Technical Institute did in their respective systems. E-learning systems should be easy to use. They should motivate students to learn. It should be something the students have no previously access to. It should go beyond traditional techniques. But first, the schools, and the government for that matter, should be willing to invest in their students’ education. â€Å"The ineffective use of technology must be corrected. Many use the PCs just to look for information, which is like looking at an encyclopedia. There are many effective technologies, the PowerPoint for example, it give you a new way of delivering your old content. Levelling, technology should afford to democratize education. Whether you’re rich or poor, disabled or abled, you should be able to get education. It should be transformative and should offer something new in doing things. Technology should be used to serve a purpose. Technology should not be used for technology’s sake,† Policarpio ends.