The Next Generation of E-Learning: Strategies for Media Rich Online Teaching and Engaged Learning

In a short span of three years, the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore witnessed significant growth in the adoption of e-learning. With the use of professors-friendly e-learning applications, NTU has been able to achieve critical mass buy-in by the academic staff when the e-learning take-up rate achieved 85% of the existing NTU course curriculum. As NTU moves on to celebrate the third year of e-learning, measures were taken with the careful design considerations that aimed to “humanize” e-learning, that is, make e-learning interactive and engaging with active collaborations and student learning involvement. This includes the proliferation in the use of the video talking head format synchronized with the lecture presentation, live audio-video delivery, text chat and document annotations of a lecture presentation and delivery. This paper reviews the processes NTU adopted in adding the human touch to traditional e-learning projects and serves as a good case study for other institutions with a similar aim to achieve interactive and engaged online learning.