A New Pathway for E-Learning: From Distribution to Collaboration and Competence in E-Learning

The article describes the current challenge for e-learning in higher education, which is to support development of competence. This poses great challenges to e-learning in higher education, mainly because the way it has been designed, in many cases, does not fit with supporting competence development. Rather, it facilitates the mere transfer of knowledge. Two different modes of e-learning organization are differentiated and described: the distributive and the collaborative e-learning modes. It is argued that the collaborative mode holds more potential for competence development than the distributive mode. Since the declaration of the “no significant difference phenomenon” (Russel, 1999) the question of how e-learning 1 can make a difference compared to non e-learning has changed its meaning. The focus of Russell’s work has been the comparison between e-learning, distance education, and traditional face-to-face educational settings. Today it is widely accepted that this was a comparison between apples and oranges because media not only changes the educational organization, but also demands a changed pedagogy and carries meaning itself. 2

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