E-learning. A New Environment for Engagement

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

The emergence of digital media is currently affecting our society across the board. However, until now our educational system has been relatively unaffected. Building on Marshall McLuhan’s point that media are environments, we argue that our schools will eventually need to adopt digital media in their learning methods, i.e. e-learning. There are at least two strong arguments for e-learning: 1) it will help schools staying in tune with the rest of the society. 2) digital media offer opportunities to learn in new, activating ways. We use Andy Clark’s extended mind thesis to argue how technologies can scaffold interactive learning and make it more engaging. The article analyzes e-learning, first by defining four aspects that are affected by it, and finally we sketch four levels of e-learning. On the basis of this analysis, we use a case topic (World War 2) to demonstrate how e-learning in practice can take various shapes.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of McLuhan Studies
Volume2
Pages (from-to)117-130
Publication statusPublished - 2012

ID: 106060778