My personal definition of eLearning is very broad and includes a variety of digital mediums such as videos, blogs, moodles, blackboard, peer to peer collaboration, share point, Khan Academy, Lynda by LinkedIn and just about any structured online learning platform that aims to educate users on a particular topic or set of objectives.
My personal definition of Management of eLearning is simply, “the individual or individuals who create & design the objectives, interface, modules and flow of an eLearning platform.”
My next statement would be, “not all eLearning platforms” are created equally. Both academically and on a personal level I have experienced eLearning platforms and “architects” or eLearning designers that are more efficient and more effective than others. However, what may be easy for me, may not be easy for others.
For example, as an online student at the University of Illinois enrolled in the M.ED EPOL HRD program, I have experienced 8 different courses with 5 different professors. Each of which has their own style and designs their course in a unique methodology. I think if every course was exactly the same in design and delivery I may have lost interest by now. Especially being so remote and far removed from the university. I have experienced professors who rely solely on moodle and others who incorporate additional online learning resources like blogs, zoom, group projects and CGScholar. In short, each professor has his or her own style to manage the elearning process. Each course has furthered my knowledge of HRD and eLearning.
On a personal and professional level I have used elearning modules in some form for over fifteen years. When I bought my first motorcycle in the late 90s I used to read a lot of text based blogs from motorcycle community groups. For example, fifteen years ago if I searched for a thread about changing a chain on my motorcycle community members would scan and upload black and white pages from motorcycle manuals and explain procedural steps in a list form. Today a vlogger uploads a highly edited and professional grade video demonstrating the process step by step. This form of peer sharing has been invaluable to me.
On a professional level, my job as a work force planner in human resources, often requires me to use advance functions in databases like excel or Microsoft access. My employer does not provide training so most of the time I find myself using online videos or blogs to learn things. Also the development of Lynda.com is a tremendous help. Users can access hundreds of elearning modules, all of which are managed individually under the umbrella of LinkedIn.