Students learn basic technical skills while using computers to research topics, write reports, get feedback from teachers and deliver their work electronically. E-learning, the delivery of courses via computer, allows schools to deliver classes to students who live off campus or who want to fit school around their work schedules. IT also helps corporations lower training costs and quickly deliver the latest information on product use to customers worldwide.
Education and training organizations considering using IT should plan for the cost of staff training, new IT infrastructure, software licensing, course ware, technical support and maintenance. Consider using an online or "cloud" IT service providers for infrastructure, software and support to control costs. Students considering online learning should think about losing some of the social aspect of classroom learning.
According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children ages eight to 18 already spend more than seven hours daily with digital media. Time spent online, combined with decreasing support for physical education in schools, are contributing factors to child obesity. In the case of K-12, Introducing more media time at school may negatively impact the development of social skills.
A 12-year study by the U.S. Department of education shows that students often perform better with online learning than with traditional classroom education. Major universities like MIT are now putting much of their undergraduate course materials online for free. Online learning has the potential to offer anyone with an Internet connection access to an inexpensive education.
Educational assessment is increasingly being automated to collect testing information continuously over a student's entire career in school. Expect more school districts to use automated assessment to track progress and create highly individualized study plans. As budgets become stretched, expect more states to follow Florida in allowing students to take their entire K-12 education online.