Pros and Cons of E-Learning:

Cantoni, Cellario & Porta (2004) and Zhang et al (2004) have identified some advantages and disadvantages of e-learning. The researcher has tabulated these for easier understanding and comparison, which can be found in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Advantages and disadvantages of e-learning

Advantages Disadvantages

Less expensive to deliver Self-paced

Faster

Provides consistent content

Works from anywhere and any time Can be updated easily and quickly

Can lead to an increased retention and stronger grasp on the subject

Can be easily managed for large groups of students

Students have more control over the learning process and have the possibility to better understand the material, leading to faster learning curve

Students may have the opportunity to enter a risk-free simulation environment Reference: (Cantoni, Cellario & Porta, 2004)

May cost more to develop

Requires new skills in content producers Has to clearly demonstrate a return on investment

Related technology may be intimidating, confusing or simply frustrating, lacking part of the informal social interaction and face- to-face contact

Enabling technology might also be costly, especially in case of advanced visually-rich content

Requires more responsibility and self- discipline for the learner

Reference: (Cantoni, Cellario & Porta, 2004)

Lack of immediate feedback in

asynchronous e-learning

Increased preparation time for the instructor Not comfortable to some people

Potentially more frustration, anxiety, and confusion

Reference: (Zhang et al, 2004) Learner-centered and self-paced

Time and location flexibility Cost-effective for learners

Potentially available to global audience Unlimited access to knowledge

Archival capability for knowledge reuse and sharing

Reference: (Zhang et al, 2004)

In their work, Zhang et al (2006) highlight some benefits of e-learning compiled from other research; these include:

1- provides time and location flexibility;

2- results in cost and time savings for educational institutions; 3- fosters self-directed and self-paced learning …

4- creates a collaborative learning environment …

5- allows unlimited access to electronic learning material; and

6- allows knowledge to be updated and maintained in a more timely and efficient manner (Zhang et al, 2006).

As e-learning term emerged, two types of paradigms for university education have emerged; in-presence modality and distance modality (Cantoni, Cellario & Porta, 2004). The differences between the two can be summarized as in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Differences between In-presence and Distance modalities

In-presence modality Distance modality

Characterized by the class Personalized for the student

Centered on the teacher Focused on the student and controlled by him/her

Has predefined schedules and time extents

Occurs only when required May make use of technology based on

teacher‘s competence

Conveyed by means of technology based on student‘s acquired knowledge

Student plays reactive role Student plays proactive role

As these two paradigms have emerged, it means that some traditional universities might be converting their traditional education process into an e-learning format. By this, traditional universities might face some problems. The conversion process ―may represent a complex endeavor, and require accurate planning; monitoring and control‖ (Cantoni, Cellario & Porta, 2004), so that the process is made ―effective and economical‖ according to (Cantoni, Cellario & Porta, 2004).

In their work, Zhang et al (2006) state that, when supported by constructivist theory, ―web-based learning should enable learners to engage in interactive, creative, and collaborative activities during knowledge construction.‖ (Zhang et al, 2006). According to Yang & Liu (2007), despite advantages of web-based learning systems, there are some limitations. These limitations are: ―No human teacher expression and explanation, No synchronization and match between course materials and their explanations, Lack of contextual understanding, just-in-time feedback and interactions, and lack of platform-independent standardized materials‖ (Yang & Liu, 2007).

Chassie (2002) shows some arguments and counter arguments related to e-learning. Faculty members from University of Washington quoted in Chassie (2002) argue that ―education is not reducible to the downloading of information, much less to the passive

and solitary activity of staring at a screen…". They also argue that "Distance education is not for students, particularly undergraduates." They claim that online learning is too private. This, they argue, reduces human interactions, which is not good for learning. Other people arguments include; the argument that distance education is not for every course and it is easy to lose interest when there is no peer pressure if there is no high level of motivation. As a result of this, it would be easy for students to drop out (Chassie, 2002). One of the counter arguments is that ―research showed that e-learning can be as effective, and in some cases more effective than classroom-based programs‖, and ―some students reported that they have received more attention and interaction with instructors than in traditional classroom‖ (Chassie, 2002).

Even within the e-learning setting itself, some learning environments might be better than others. It has been claimed that ―distributed interactive learning environment (DIL) is superior to distributed passive learning environment (DPL)‖ (Khalifa & Lam, 2002) quoted in Yang & Liu (2007).

In summary, there are several advantages, disadvantages and limitations of e- learning/online learning. The limitations are:

1- No human teacher expression and explanation,

2- No synchronization and match between course materials and their explanations,

3- Lack of contextual understanding, just-in-time feedback and interactions, and lack of platform-independent standardized materials (Yang & Liu, 2007).

Some other disadvantages include those listed by Cantoni, Cellario & Porta (2004) and Zhang et al (2004). These are:

4- Cost more to develop,

5- Require new skills in content producers,

6- Has to clearly demonstrate a return on investment,

7- Related technology may be intimidating … lacking informal social interaction and face-to-face contact,

8- Enabling technology might be costly especially in case of advanced visually-rich content,

9- Requires more responsibility and self-discipline for the learner (Cantoni, Cellario & Porta, 2004),

10- Lack immediate feedback in asynchronous e-learning, 11- Increased preparation time for the instructor,

12- Not comfortable to some people (Zhang et al, 2004).

In addition to these, Chassie (2002) lists some of the arguments against e- learning/distance learning as

13- It is not for students especially undergraduates, and not for every course, 14- It is too private reducing human interaction, which may lead to losing

interest; therefore resulting in high dropout rate (Chassie, 2002).

As we can see from the above, although e-learning has many advantages over traditional learning, it also has several limitations and disadvantages which make neither of the two extremes superior over the other. So, in the effort to move to e-learning or to distance modality, universities found themselves offering a mixture of the two (with the exception of pure virtual universities or pure e-learning settings), which is called blended learning.