Educating the Future with Disruptive e-Learning Solutions

e-Learning is having a strong impact on Higher Education. It is reinventing approaches to education and is causing sharp debates among its practitioners about the future direction of learning. Advocates argue that e-learning is a viable option to combat the high cost of higher education; that it extends educational opportunities to a greater number of students; that it trains students for the emerging Knowledge Economy. In fact, the e-learning education market has seen a continuous influx of new players; not only are traditional universities going online, but for-profit universities are emerging, some having a global reach, and most recently MOOCs (massive online open courses) that are offered as online education for free—many from elite universities that were the last to go online. These developments have created debates over assessment and accreditation. Educator Clayton Christensen calls e-learning “the great disrupted” that is transforming the higher education landscape. Yet even with the steady increase of e-learning options, e-learning is still regarded as inferior to traditional forms of learning. Critics regard is as too business and vocationally orientated, unmindful of questions of quality. This paper looks at some of the issues surrounding the controversy of e-learning options and makes some recommendations as to its improvement.