Electronic education system model

E-learning(1) efforts and experiments currently receive much attention acro ss the globe. The availability of electronic and web-enabling technologies also dramatically influences the way we view the learning strategies of the future [Kramer, B. J. (2000). Forming a federal virtual university through course broker middleware. In Proceedings. LearnTec 2000. Heidelberg, Germa ny, 2000. Hiltz. S. R. (1995). Teaching in a virtual classroom. In Proceedi ngs. International conference on computer assisted instruction.(ICCAI'95), Taiwan, March 1995]. However, due to disappointing experiences in wide spre ad implementation of computers in schools [Foshay, W. R. (1998). Education technology in schools and in lousiness: a personal experience. Education Ho rizons, 66(4),154-157], many are already predicting the failure of web tech nologies for learning [Rogers. A. (2000). The failure and the promise of te chnology in education. Global SchoolNet Foundation, 27 May 2000 (http://www .gsm.org/teacharticles/promise.html)]. It is indeed likely that e-learning, making use of technological advances such as the Internet, may also be dis satisfying and frustrating unless we design electronic educational models t hat can avoid potential complications. In this paper, we define and describ e an electronic educational system model (EES model). The aim of this model is to assist the designers of different e-learning settings to plan and im plement a specific learning situation, with the focus on the individual req uirements and milieu of the learning group. The EES model is composed of fo ur layers, each consisting of different objects (components) addressing iss ues specific to each layer. When constructing a learning situation, the pla nners, schedulers and facilitators come together with a clear view of their particular learning situation in mind. They then use the EES model to desi gn their course layer by layer, including objects from each layer. Each obj ect consists of one or more methods/strategies to be implemented in order t o achieve the learning objectives of the course. This approach promises to increase the chances of successful and quality implementations [Cloete, E. (2000). Quality issues in system engineering affecting virtual distance lea rning systems. To appear in Proceedings. COMPSAC'2000. Taiwan. October 2000 ] with as few frustrations and disappointments as possible. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.