e-Learning for Environment: Improving e-Learning as a Tool for Cleaner Production Education

Abstract: The achievement of a sustainable society is ultimately an educational enterprise. E-learning has a role to play in this endeavour, as it permits global access to environmental education, independent of time and place,once the courses are available on the Internet. Besides reaching new target groups not able to attend higher education on campus, e-learning may potentially be a more resource efficient way of delivering education compared with conventional education in physical classrooms. However, the technologies that enable the use of e-learning represent a filter that reduces the communication possibilities among the course participants and makes it difficult to simulate an academic dialogue. Therefore, there is a need to explore ways of how to improve e-learning as a tool for Cleaner Production education. This thesis provides a background to e-Learning for Environment. The Empowered Learning Model is introduced to provide a structure of how to support performance improvements through education. Three key areas of relevance are studied:computer literacy, collaborative e-learning and environmental competence. Each area is illustrated with experiences from developing, offering and evaluating IIIEE’s e-learning courses 1998-2000. The result of the thesis is an action model to be used by developers and evaluators of e-learning courses.