E- LEARNING AS PART OF OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING

Open distance learning, a type of learning that was used for a long period of time by universities and other learning institutions, has finally developed into an efficient learning solution, by the intensive use of modern learning systems based on the information and communication technologies, also being referred as e- learning. In present, open distance learning cannot be conceived without the use modern e- learning technologies, these two terms being highly correlated. Information and communication technologies, by the use of computers and mass media, made open distance learning as efficient, or even better than most of the traditional learning methods. The distance between the teacher and the students becomes now irrelevant, the way an e- learning course is written having now a much greater importance. For all this reasons, the teachers that intend to develop an e- learning course must follow a certain pattern if they want to obtain the best efficiency. The use of multimedia and internet is the main cause of the differences between a traditional course and an e- learning based course that is developed for open distance learning. Teachers and course developers must be able to transmit useful knowledge to students in the most efficient way by these means and substitute the absence of traditional classes. The students must be guided through the course contents interactively, so they can learn and develop the required abilities. Once the above mentioned barriers are overcame, e- learning based open distance learning brings a number of advantages to those that take part in the learning processes.