Learning online may not be for everyone, but those who enrol in online education programs in Australia can be assured that they will be learning through some of the most innovative systems available.

Online education developer Colin Beer says Australia is gaining momentum in online learning technologies, surpassing Canada and the US on this front and gaining on the European leaders. He believes online courses are gradually becoming the preferred way of learning in the tertiary sector.

Online education developer Colin Beer gives Aussie online courses the thumbs up.Beer, a CQUniversity expert in online course technologies, says Web 2.0 has transformed online learning, while applications like Skype (video chatting) and Scopia (video conferencing) along with discussion forums and online chats are making online learning more interactive than face-to-face learning. "Online learning is a more interactive approach to learning. It gives students the chance to liaise with each other and lecturers on subject matter much more easily."

"Online courses require vastly different technologies than face-to-face," says Beer, who believes matching technologies to the subject matter and the lecturer are the key aspects that will make a course successful. "We work on this two-pronged approach and we also ensure that lecturers are given a lot of professional development in new online elements." He said he had found lecturers to be happy to change with the times and keep current with technologies as long as they were given the appropriate training to do so.

Recently appointed Learning and Teaching Education Developer Helen Keen Dyer knows all too well the importance of designing engaging online material for a mix of students, having spent 12 years involved in education programs for the Department of Community Safety (previously Emergency Services).

Once a volunteer ambulance officer and later a qualified paramedic, Keen Dyer was quickly noticed for her unique teaching abilities and employed in paramedic education, both in teaching and management roles. However, for the last three years she has been responsible for building online and flexible learning objects for volunteer rural fire fighting programs, a role that won her an Australian Safer Community National Education and Research Award.  

This experience will stand her in good stead as she launches into her education development role at CQUniversity, where she is based in Bundaberg, in Queensland's Wide Bay region. However she won't be short of challenges as she faces designing online classrooms for the vast array of courses offered by the University, trying to meet the needs of a hugely diverse student body.

"My role primarily is about what I can bring to the University community and lecturers to help them to educate their students," said Keen Dyer, who acknowledged that CQUniversity's students come from a range of backgrounds and experience. "One of the biggest challenges in this role is to develop learning objects for such different learning styles and for such a broad range of study areas."

She explained that in developing online material for courses, you have to first develop an understanding of the subject matter, even if it is on a basic level. This is not an easy task considering the University offers online courses in health, education and law through to engineering and the sciences.

Education developer Helen Keen DyerAs she familiarises herself with course offerings and staff, Keen Dyer is excited about the opportunities ahead. "I am really enthusiastic and passionate about catering online learning to so many different students that are enrolled here at CQUniversity. It is sure to be challenging and rewarding."