LITERATURE REVIEW

Quality Assurance in Teaching and E-Learning

Quality Assurance In Teaching And E-Learning

Introduction

Teaching at any level is a rewarding career, but early childhood teachers have a special opportunity to help children in their earliest stages (Jochems et al, 2009. Early childhood education programs at Ontario colleges teach students the skills they need to get children started on a successful journey through the education system. In terms of everyday technology, there is a vast array of electronic and digital equipment that permeates young children's lives and shapes their understanding of the world) ( McVay Lynch, 2011). This includes barcode scanners, calculators, camcorders, cameras, cash machines, computers, console games, dishwashers, laptops and tablet PCs, ICTbased 'smart' toys, microwave ovens, mixers, mobile phones, networked desktop PCs, photocopies, scanners, televisions and washing machines ( Naidu, 2011) . There is evidence to suggest that most young children aged from birth to five years are growing up in media-rich digital environments in which they engage actively from a very early age. Family members are positive about this and actively promote the use of new technologies through on-going social-cultural practices of the home (Evans, 2008).

Early Years practitioners are also generally positive about the role of electronic media and ICT. There do appear, however, to be a gap between children's access to and use of new technologies at home and in the Early Years setting, and between maintained and non-maintained settings (Latchem & Lockwood, 2011). Smaller and non-maintained settings in particular need assistance in gaining access to and use of hard and software. It is difficult to see how this situation can be alleviated without a system or facility for lending hard- and software to settings without permanent facilities, and to childminders, whose work of its very nature is very small-scale( Marland, 2008).

Technology is central to every educational institution. Without incorporating technology into every aspect of student activities, no educational institution can expect to succeedor excel (Weller, 2011). E-learning is designed to provide students with uninterrupted access to education through electronic media (Stephenson, 2011). This paper reviews and discusses strategies to enhance the quality of e-learning and instruction for freshman by analyzing the e-learning experiences of early childhood education in post secondary education context.

Literature Review

Distance education and e-learning

Distance education has a rich theoretical framework (Holmberg, 2009; Keegan, 2010; Lockwood, 2010; Moore & Kearsley, 2010; Peters, 2011) and has been well served by a well-respected literature, in particular by a book series published by Kogan Page (Open and Distance Learning Series) and Routledge (now RoutldegeFalmer). There exists a broadly accepted literature relating to most aspects of practice including instructional design (Lockwood, 2011; Melton, 2008), pedagogy (Evans, 2008; Latchem & Lockwood, 2011; Marland, 2008; Morgan, 2008) and management (Freeman, 2008; Rumble, 2008). Many of these principles have been expanded on within more recent works specifically associated with e-learning (Garrison & Anderson, 2011; Jochems et al, 2009; McVay Lynch, 2011; Naidu, 2011; Salmon, 2011; Stephenson, 2011; Weller, 2011). The dates of these books, all from the same publishers, are ...