Respecting the human needs of students in the development of e-learning

• Authors: Moti Frank;Nurit Reich;Keith Humphreys
• Venue: Computers & Education
• Year: 2003

This paper deals with the process pupils, aged 11 and 12, go through in the course of distance learning using electronic mail. Based on the constructive approach principles for teaching, the idea underlying this course was that students may acquire basic computer skills through experiential learning while actively using the software programs being learned and experiencing through trial and error. During the course of the research, detailed instructions were sent to the learners who performed the assigned tasks and returned the completed work, or any question, problem or ambiguity, to the teacher for evaluation and reassignment if necessary. The teacher's role was that of guide, facilitator, mentor, manager of resources and students and disseminator of tasks and questions. Collection of data was carried out through interviews, observations, questionnaires, tasks that the students were required to send in, and the portfolios that the students were asked to prepare. The data analysis strategy was that of "content analysis". Six themes appeared over and over again and it appears that there are two dimensions that all of them have in common. The first dimension relates to the technological aspect and the second dimension relates to the social aspect. A summary of the findings shows that children aged 11-12 find it difficult to learn in a distance learning computerized environment, a situation in which there is no face-to-face contact with the teacher or with other students. The main conclusions of this paper indicate the importance of personal contact and direct connection between teachers and their pupils. It is important for the teacher to take into consideration and respect the varied and various human needs of the children when developing electronic learning for such young learners.