Theories on which e-learning is based
The philosophy of e-learning is based on learning using a set of applications, and providing communication techniques through networks and other means for exchanging information. Some of the theories on which e-learning depends can be reviewed as follows:
Communication theories.
Communication is a process in which the teacher or the designer of the educational material simplifies the information, skills and experiences of his students using all available means that help him to do so, and there is a modern trend linking what is psychologically within the learner and the communication processes.
This is expressed in the process of communication from the human being to the devices developed in education, and from the developed devices to the human being.
Constructivism Theory.
E-learning is based on self-learning, which takes care of providing education that is compatible with the characteristics of each learner, which means individuality, interaction, making the learner the focus of the educational process, and providing the learner with the opportunity to discuss and dialogue with his classmates or with the teacher.
The constructivists (John Dewey and Jean Piaget) believe that the learner is the one who builds his learning and interpretation in the light of his experience, and knowledge is built from experience, and that learning is the personal interpretation of the world.
It is an active process during which meanings are built on the basis of experiences, negotiation and sharing, and multiple viewpoints to cause changes in internal cognitive representations through participatory learning, and in realistic situations, and this theory uses the fields of study.
Activity Theory:
It does not focus on the educated individual as the unit of analysis. Rather, there is a larger social unit of analysis, the group, that seeks to pursue the achievement of a particular goal in a meaningful way. The Soviet psychologist Vygotsky laid the foundation for this theory and developed what is called the concept of the zone of proximal development.
The term has become part of mainstream thinking in pedagogy. The zone of proximal development is defined as the distance between a learner’s current conceptual development, represented by his current ability to solve a problem independently, and his potential ability, represented by what he could achieve under guidance or cooperation with his peers.
information processing theory:
The effectiveness of learning depends on the learner’s method of processing and processing information, as well as the method of introducing this information into his knowledge structure, and the progress of communication means and its language has an impact on the psychology of information processing.
According to this, the human mind receives information from the external environment in order to store it and retrieve it again when it is needed, generating responses that include processing and representation of information, and retrieving information again when it is needed.
Cues summation theory:
The stimuli included in e-learning programs are numerous and varied, such as: sound, texts, graphics, still images, and moving images, which aim to provide the learner with knowledge. Therefore, the theory of stimuli collection is closely linked to e-learning programs and skills development.
It helps in the interaction between the learner’s cognitive styles, which helps to retain this information in the learner’s long-term memory, and facilitates its recall in subsequent learning situations.
It is noted that the multiplicity of stimuli, especially visual ones on the computer screen, leads to distraction, which may be an impediment to the learning process. When designing the proposed unit, we must take into account that the screen contains the appropriate number and type of stimuli.
Motivation theory: Motivation Theory
Motivation, as a psychological formation, is a state of change arising in the activity of an organism that is characterized by excitement and behavior directed towards achieving a specific goal. Motivation is one of the basic conditions on which the achievement of the goal of the learning process depends.
Whether in learning methods and methods of thinking, or collecting information and knowledge, or in solving problems, and in order for the benefit to be achieved and the learning to take place, the learner must maintain the continuity of the learner’s motivation in order for the behavior to remain active by linking what was learned in a previous session with what is learned in the subsequent session.
This may be achieved by asking introductory questions at the beginning of each session of presenting the educational content in the form of sessions, each of which contains lessons distributed during the study of the electronic unit, which helps in increasing motivation towards learning.