Glossary
As with many industries, the e-learning market place is awash with terms, abbreviations and language that can be somewhat confusing.
This glossary of terms aims to de-mystify some of the terms you may come across.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Asynchronous Learning | Interactions between instructors and students that occur periodically and with a time delay. For example, self-paced courses taken online, Q&A mentoring, online discussion groups, and email. |
| Authoring tools | These are pieces of software that allows users to create multimedia content and to build programmes, without needing to have coding skills. |
| Blended Learning | Where a programme combines face-to-face classes with content delivered online. |
| Courseware | The sum of all the technology and content used to present an e-Learning programme. |
| e-Learning | Describes the use of digital media, information and communication technologies in education and includes all forms of educational technology in learning and teaching. |
| Flipped classroom (learning) | Describes a situation where learners are asked to work through online content in their own time outside the classroom, and then the face-to-face time is used to discuss problems and examples. |
| HTML5 | Hypertext Markup Language v5. HTML is the standardised method for tagging files for web pages. HTML5 is a modern extensible markup language that can be used to describe presentation semantically. Not only does HTML5 include more semantic tags than its predecessors but it also includes a markup specification called Microdata, allowing the meaning of the content to be tagged more specifically. HTML5 provides a good foundation that can be easily ported to other devices and formats in a meaningful way. |
| ILT (instructor-led training) | Refers to any traditional programme in which the learning is led predominately by a tutor. |
| Instructional design | This is the term the industry uses to describe the process of developing an "efficient, effective and appealing" e-Learning course. |
| LCMS (Learning Content Management System) | An LCMS provides an authoring application, a data repository, a delivery interface, and administration tools. The authoring tools provide templates and storyboarding capabilities, and may be used to convert existing content. |
| Learning environment | The physical or virtual setting in which learning takes place. |
| Learning object | A reusable, media-independent collection of information used as a modular building block for e-learning content. Learning objects are most effective when organized by a meta data classification system and stored in a data repository (such as an LCMS/LMS) |
| Learning portal | Any website that offers learners access to learning and training resources from multiple sources. |
| LMS (Learning Management System) | Software platform used to manage the learning process and the associated content. For example, the Learning Line from Coracle. |
| LRS (Learning Record Store) | A digital place to store learning records. |
| MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) | MOOC’s are online courses offered for free with the aim of attracting very high enrolment numbers. Providers often charge for ‘value added’ parts such as final assessments and certificates. Future Learn was a high profile UK example launched in September 2013. |
| Open learning | Where learning is more than a simple knowledge transfer; where organic development of learning can come about from, for example, studying outside of a formal environment. The use of social media style tools can facilitate this goal. |
| Open source | An all-encompassing term denoting software which is available to others for use and which, depending on licence terms, can be modified and distributed onwards. |
| Programme evaluation (or course evaluation) | The process of assessing how well any learning works, with a view to making improvements, justifying resources used or spreading lessons learned. |
| SaaS | Software as a Service is online software sold on a subscription basis and designed to run behind a firewall on a local area network or personal computer, as opposed to delivered 'shrink wrapped' for local installation. |
| SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) | This describes technical specifications that enable the re-use of web-based learning content across multiple environments. SCORM dictates how an LMS must make the API (Application Programme Interface) available to the content, so content developers know exactly how to write the code to locate and call the API. |
| SME (subject-matter expert) | As the name suggests, an expert able to advise on or develop learning for a particular topic. |
| Social learning | This is where a platform is designed for learners to express their views and opinions on what they are learning. These debates can result in more knowledge being gained, along with a greater understanding of the material. Integrating social media into learning can further develop the learning. |
| Storyboard | A term taken from the audiovisual industry; storyboards are used in e-Learning to represent graphically and in simplified form a learner's journey through a course. |
| Synchronous Learning | Real-time, instructor-led online learning in which all participants are logged on at the same time and communicate directly with each other. Interaction may occur via audio or video conferencing, Internet telephony (e.g., Skype), or two-way live broadcasts. |
| Tin Can API | Also known as Experience API, this is a specification for learning technology that makes it possible to collect data about the wide range of experiences a person has online and offline. It can be thought of as next generation SCORM. |