CESA Discussion Paper #67

REVISITING eLEARNING CHALLENGES IN THE 

POST-PANDEMIC PERIOD: FROM RHETORIC TO REALITY

Submitted by Dr. Nicos Souleles

​In the beginning...
In 2005, six years after the term ‘e-learning’ was devised, I authored a paper titled “Staff use of e-learning and graduate competencies for the knowledge economy: A study of the misalignment between rhetoric and practice” (2005). Incidentally, ‘e-learning’ became ‘elearning’ without the hyphen in the early 2000s as online learning became widespread. This paper examined the dominant rhetoric of this initial period of elearning adoption by higher education (HE) institutions and the professional development of academics. At the time, the rhetoric was alarmist. For example, the Commission of the European Communities (2000) warned about addressing the skills gap in elearning and information and communication technology (ICT) skills as a pre-condition for participation in the global knowledge economy (KE). It was argued that participation in the KE has numerous advantages, such as increasing individuals' knowledge, boosting economic competitiveness and generating employment opportunities. Likewise, the consultation paper 'Towards a Unified eLearning Strategy' by the Department for Education and Skills (United Kingdom) (2003) explicitly outlined the interrelationships between skills, education, and KE, as well as the British government's commitment to incorporating the e-agenda into HE curricula through a systematic approach and nationally integrated strategies. A report by the Education Network Australia also addressed similar themes (2003).

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