E-learning as new supporting instrument of learning in the knowledge society

The technological evolution had a great impact on the teaching-learning system in the field both of learning and updating, facilitating the contact and the supply of the services to the teacher and the student, improving the communication and optimizing the use of human and instrumental resources. E-learning appears like a real alternative in the knowledge society, no more just a supposition for the future, but a further possibility for the learning.
Properly used, in fact, e-learning allows to change the way of enjoying and teaching, turning unilateral communication and supervision from the top down in a group work, of interaction and cooperation among equals. The main figure is not anymore that of the teacher, but there is the development of a community set up by teachers, tutors and students that are depicted like “a community which builds knowledge” . Naturally, the presence of the teacher can’t be replaced, but computer instruments can represent a valid and powerful support to the traditional didactics. Indeed, the better results are achieved with a blended choice where one part of the course is supplied with the presence of traditional frontal lessons and another online with activities and exercises to carry out within a platform and instruments for the interaction among the different actors.
In short, the way of teaching changes: the student is put in the condition to learn something not only and solely by the teacher’s lesson and the study of the books, but also through the intellectual exchange among colleagues thanks to the interaction favoured by Internet. Therefore, you don’t simply want to pass on the knowledge by this method, but the aim is to make the students interactive not only with the teacher but also between them and to encourage them to make a personal learning path, to think autonomously and to take original initiatives for the resolution of a problem of common interest.
The main issue of this thesis is just the relationship learning/technology and, in particular, how the technology managed to change the ways of supply and fruition of learning. A theoretical description is accompanied by the development of the prototype of an e-learning course for the learning of the English language.
The chapter 1 includes the definition of e-learning and its historical origins with its three evolution phases: the DT of first generation, the DT of second generation and the DT of third generation, and the first computer programs for the self-learning: Computer Aided Instruction (CAI), Computer Based Training (CBT), Internet Based Training (IBT), Web Based Training (WBT).
The concept of e-learning is introduced in the chapter 2 as the possibility of learning exploiting Internet and the diffusion of distance information. There is also a description of its technological features, the e-learning platforms, the learning objects and the professional figures that are outlining always more clearly in the various steps of the planning, production, supply and evaluation e-learning service.
The chapter 3 introduces the methods and the instruments used for the realization of an e-learning course, while the chapter 4 introduces the contexts where e-learning is “involved”. It deals with online courses for school and university training and applications of e-learning in telemedicine, business and business training.
In the last chapter, in conclusion, the theoretical applications of e-learning, in this case in the learning of English, are put into practice. The prototype of a web portal is realized, which contains online lessons and tests of grammar and vocabulary.