A-Z of Top eLearning Trends You Should Know!

eLearning Trends: Staying Ahead of the Curve

It’s no secret that the world of education has advanced significantly in recent years. Thanks to these advances, modern teachers have hundreds of possibilities available to them to improve their teaching skills and the learning experience for their students.

With so many new technologies and developments, it’s easy to get lost in all the terminology, acronyms and different words used in the world of digital education. With this in mind, we have created a glossary of the top elearning trends that every teacher should know.

Do you know all these words? You can find full definitions for these and other terms below the image.

A-Z of Top eLearning Trends

A

App: An app is software designed to allow a user to perform an action or job better. There are all kinds of apps for students available from study tools to online newspapers. Their use has become popular thanks to the widespread use of tablets and smartphones.

B

Blended Learning: An educational technique that combines traditional lectures with online and mobile learning.

Blog: A website in which one or more authors publish free content. Blogs open up a lot of possibilities for online educators and can showcase your classroom to the entire online world. These can be created by students, teachers or both together.

C

Cloud: Also known as “The Cloud”. Refers to storing information on the Internet as opposed to locally on your own computer.

Crowdsourcing: Collaboration between a group of people or community, through an open call (usually online).

Cyberbullying: Any form of harassment, whether psychological, verbal or physical, which is conducted online.

D

Digital Backpack: The digital backpack is intended to be a repository for all digital books needed by students. It means they have access to everything whenever they need it.

Digital Citizenship: Applying human rights and citizenship to the information society and the online world. This subject is especially important these days as students regularly using the Internet to interact with others.

E

Ebook: Digital Book.

ExamTime: Free online learning platform that includes everything you need to apply new technologies to education. With ExamTime you can create, share and discover educational resources such as Mind Maps , Flashcards, Quizzes and Notes.

F

FAQ: An Acronym for ‘Frequently Asked Questions‘. Most websites often have a section that answers frequently asked questions from its members. If you are having problems it’s usually the best place to go.

Flashcards: Flashcards are used to store data, vocabulary or other information. Today Flashcards are digital, allowing students to access them online or from any device.

Flipped Classroom: This is a new trend in teaching. By incorporating digital technologies students study and prepare class material at home and use class time to discuss any problems they had with the content. In essence, it is like students learn at home and do their ‘homework’ in class, guided by the teacher.

G

Gamification: The process of transforming boring monotonous activities into fun and engaging ones by incorporating game mechanics. Giving awards, trophy or collecting points are good examples of Gamification.

Geek: Term used to refer to a person passionate about new technologies and computing. Embrace it!

H

Hangout: A group video conference conducted on the social network Google Plus .

Hashtag: Any term or word preceded by this symbol ->#. Hashtags are very common on social networks (originally on Twitter ) to discuss or share comments on specific topics. Educators have adopted social media and Twitter in particular to create educational communities online.

I

ICT: Abbreviation for Information Communication Technology. It refers to a wide range of technologies that allow for the transformation of information, and particularly the use of computers and software to create, modify, store, manage, protect and recover that information. ICT is also an important step in the improvement and modernization of education.

Interface: The means by which the user can communicate with a computer or platform/app. Includes all points of contact between the user and the computer. Also known as UI or User Interface.

IP: A numerical label that identifies each device uniquely on the Internet (or any other network based on IP protocol). IP addresses can be static or dynamic.

J

Java: A programming language. Check out the recent ExamTime blog series exploring the area or coding. 

K

Kinesthetic Learning: A teaching and learning style in which learning takes place by the student actually carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration. Building models or participating in role-playing are examples of Kinesthetic learning.

L

LMS: Learning Management System. A LMS is a computer program used to manage, document and track the progress and activities of a class. With its use, the teachers and staff can become more effective.

M

MOOC: Massive Open Online Course. This is a form of open and free education through online learning platforms. It’s a growing trend that advocates quality education at no cost.

N

Digital Native: All people born during or after the decades of the 1980’s and 1990’s when digital technology was already well-developed. It’s assumed that digital natives are more willing to understand and adapt to new technologies. The alternative would be a ‘Digital Immigrant’ who was born before the internet became so wide spread.

Netiquette: A set of ethical standards to be used on the Internet. Netiquette is just an extension of the rules of etiquette in the real world within a virtual environment.

O

OSS: Acronym for Open Source Software. These applications have public copyright. Therefore, anyone can freely use and edit them.

P

PLE: Personalized Learning Environment. This is a space in which the student has everything related to their studies and can enjoy a learning experience tailored to their preferences and abilities. ExamTime is a great example.

Podcast: A Podcast is like a radio show but online. It also allows you to download the episodes and listen to them at anytime. There are podcasts on nearly every topic including a vast amount focused on education!

Post: Article or update posted on a blog or on a social network.

Q

QR Code: A QR code is an image that is simply an array of dots or a bar code that stores information. To read them you need a QR code reader. Once scanned it can show you the information stored within the image, commonly a link to a website or video.

Quad-Blogging: Is a novel way of connecting classroom blogs. Instead of blogging in isolation, classes from all over the world group in teams of four and then interact with each other. Having an audience is the best way to get your students excited about blogging.

R

RSS: Abbreviation for Really Simple Syndication. RSS feeds are used to broadcast frequently updated information to users who have subscribed to the content source, usually a blog or podcast.

S

Social Learning: This is based on the idea that students can benefit by studying together and sharing ideas. It encourages the use of social platforms to achieve a common goal.

Social Network: A platform that connects people online. Social networks are based on the theory of six degrees of separation; first proposed in 1929, the theory explains that all people on the planet are connected through a maximum of six people as intermediaries in the chain.

Spam: Spam, junk mail or unsolicited messages (usually gimmicky) you receive in your email or blog.

Streaming: Multimedia content viewed online in real-time. Streaming opens up many possibilities for online education as it gives teachers and students so much resources to work with.

Self-learning: A teaching technique that is based on using the student’s curiosity and desire to learn. The educator’s role in self-study is to facilitate and encourage this curiosity.

T

Tablet: They are usually flat, tactile and have wireless Internet. One of the best known is the Apple iPad.

TED: A non-profit organization that provides a platform for experts in various areas, including education, to give lectures explaining their ideas. These videos are shared online with the entire online community.

U

USB: Acronym for Universal Serial Bus. It was designed to standardize the connection of external devices to computers and other devices and refers precisely to this point or connection port.

V

Virus:  An application with malicious aims to alter the normal functioning of a computer, without user permission.

W

Webinar: Web Conferencing between two or more people that allows attendees to interact and share documents, information and applications. Webinars have been popularized greatly in recent years and are ideal for remote tutorials or classes.

Wiki: Web Site whose pages can be edited by multiple users. The best known wiki is Wikipedia.

YouTube: A website where users can upload and share videos. It is the world’s second largest search engine after Google.

And finally, we have prepared a summary of all the terms in this Flashcard Deck. 

What other educational concepts would you add to our glossary of educational terms? We encourage you to add this page to your favorites as we hope to add more terms regularly.