Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Women and the Information Society
Convener: Pieke Hoekstra, the Netherlands
Concepts for Life-Long Learning on the Internet
Uta Krope and Dr. Thieler-Mevissen, German Federation of University Women
E-Learning via Internet can be used by persons of every age, independent of their place of residence. It offers the possibility to acquire the individual skills and knowledge that make it possible to use the information society profitably and meaningfully. The advantage of using the Internet lies in the fact that the training takes place on the individual’s own computer. This paper presents different concepts of E-Learning.
Synchronous instruction signifies that all participants are offered the same learning-material at the same time, as happens, for example, in a virtual classroom. Asynchronous instruction signifies that participants will be provided with training material, in such a way that they can acquire their knowledge on their own, supported by tutors. The forms can also be combined. The paper demonstrates different Internet-programs, which are suitable to work out the varying kinds of teaching. Some examples demonstrate the broad possibilities of Internet-based E-learning. They are developed by members of the group “Senioren-lernen-online” (Seniors-learn-online) in Germany, who offer Internet lessons for seniors by seniors.
Uta Krope is a graduate in business and management. She has worked as a software engineer and a teacher. From 1989, as a teacher in an in-service teacher training institute, she offered PC courses for women, and courses in online teaching, experience she transferred to the 2002 organization of a group of seniors offering online teaching by using the virtual classroom of “Centra” and other web-conference rooms.
Gerda Thieler-Mevissen , PhD. in Mathematics, has worked as a researcher and lecturer of Information Systems. In the last years her main work lay in the improvement of PC-knowledge of unemployed women. She is a teacher in the group Seniors-learn-online.