Innovation in e-Learning through Sponsored Project Based Learning

Enriching learning and its effectiveness by providing enhanced learning experience for students have remained a common concern for any e-Learning initiative. With the web 2.0 Internet technologies interesting possibilities are emerging. However, implementing the latest technologies alone may not guarantee success. In this regard a sound learning model is evolving in a logical progression. Library and information support, collaboration and faculty support, interactive design, creating communities of practices and computer supported distributed collaboration are the logical evolution of the model. Extending the collaboration to provide field experience and on-the-job application through "sponsored project based learning" (SPBL) is another innovative approach that can be adopted for the purpose of adding the component of authentic learning experience for the students. In this paper the authors will first briefly discuss the e-Learning approaches and its advantages. Thereafter they will explore the learning opportunities that could be offered, for example, in the JIU's learning model design. They will present the innovative SPBL model to service learning from the practitioners' perspective in a fully online learning environment. This approach allowed the students pursuing education through fully online mode to connect with people in their communities and linked theory to practice enriching learning greatly. (authors)