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i start read E-learning in the 21 th century by:Garrison and Anderson ( 2003).
very interesting book for those who are interested in the distance education in general and e-learning in particular. so far the book is easy to read (and that what i notice of Anderson’s writing style).
first Part:
at the beginning the authors identified e-learning as learning via the internet. they are talking about how education is shifting from teaching into teach students about learning by themselves and that is because of the huge information explosion this age witnesses. so we need to help the students to deal with this information explosion by teaching them how to be better learners for life: self-directed learning. in addition to focus on the development of the critical thinking.

they also stress the idea that they depend on: collaborative and nonconstructive view of teaching and learning. where the relationship is strong and needed between the personal knowledge (personal making sense) and the social influence in shaping this educational experience. so this is a relationship between inner and outer worlds. this view is supported by Dewey (1938) who says that this relationship between the subjective and objective worlds is important in away that collaborative allows ideas to be communicated and confirmed. in this sense, the internet provides a powerful source of information but it needs continuity to be educative.