Abstract
E-learning is viewed as an innovative approach for delivering quality-designed, learner-centered, interactive, and facilitated learning environments to all, anywhere, any moment by putting in use the skills, knowledge, and resources of diverse technologies together with other teaching and learning resources suited for open, and distributed learning environments. Success story in an e-learning system involves a clear process regarding planning, designing, developing, evaluating, and implementing online learning courses where interaction is actively encouraged and facilitated. Emotional experiences can easily provide multiple challenges to students' online and classroom engagement and academic performance. For example, academic fears have wide-ranging effects, affecting strategy use, classroom and/or online performance, and subject choice. This chapter will therefore discuss emotional elements and their impacts in learning platforms in open and distributed environments.
TopBackground
Emotional challenges in the learning and teaching process, whether face to face or ODL, have for some time now been the discussion in the education sector. Students and teachers have been faced with these challenges as long as the existence of education. A stable mind would grasp and consume content in a stable manner. A disturbed mind has very little to grasp and generate. This paper will therefore look at different emotional factors and how these affect learning in open and distributed environments.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Achievement Emotions: Achievement activities and to success and failure resulting from these experiences.
Topic Emotions: Have to do with content. Examples are empathy with the fate of one of the characters portrayed in a novel, fear and frustration when dealing with medical related issues, or enjoyment of a painting discussed in an art course.
Learner Focused: Designing curricula which has the learner as the center of attraction.
Emotions: A strong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.
E-Learning: Learning conducted via electronic media, typically on the internet.
Epistemic Emotions: Are emotions aroused by mental problems, such as surprise about a new task; strong desire, confusion, and frustration about barriers; and delight when the problem is solved.
Emotional Intelligence: The capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.
Social Emotions: Touch on either teacher or student attitudes, examples are love, sympathy, compassion, admiration, contempt, envy, anger or social anxiety.