Can all face to face education be successfully converted to e-learning?

Ross Woods, 2014, first written on LinkedIn.

"Can all face to face education (f2f) be successfully converted to e-learning? If not, what would be the limits, even if we could invent new on-line media?"

Let’s start by pointing out that "all" is absolute and tends to pre-determine a "no" conclusion. Even one example of f2f that could not be "converted" would produce a "no" answer.

Before answering this question, I'd also qualify the word "converted." First, it implies that content was originally in f2f form and than transposed into e-learning, but e-learning programs are normally best designed and developed afresh in e-learning formats. Second, on-line education in radically different formats might be not at all the same as an f2f version but still be equivalent, that is, achieve the same learning objectives for the same student population.

A few kinds of f2f education cannot be made into e-learning, the most conspicuous being:

• practical subjects where f2f classes and practicum are necessary,
• students with behavior and learning problems,
• students who, due to learning style, temperament or culture, need to be in the same room with the instructor at least some of the time to satisfy some kinds of interpersonal needs, regardless of educational aspects.

But the direction of cultural change is clear. Younger people are already "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001) and are becoming more accepting of a video link or simulated reality substitute, in the same way that people came to accept letters and telephone calls as substitutes for face-to-face meetings.

I’d also expect advances in technology to make people feel even more like they are meeting face-to-face. For some kinds of topics, videoconference to large screen already has nearly all the benefits of actual presence.

In answer to the original question, "No, not all f2f education be successfully converted to e-learning. But education could eventually be almost all e-learning, because most f2f education could be successfully expressed in an e-learning format.