e-Learning – Experience from the Energy Academy distance training project

Academic and professional education programmes currently available in the areas of energy and environment cannot fully satisfy market demands. Furthermore, closed and isolated systems, such as islands, face additional problems due to geographical discontinuity.
The role and the potential of e-learning in both instructor-led (synchronous) and online (asynchronous) course delivery in such isolated systems are investigated. The discussion focuses on the ”Energy Academy”, a distance learning programme of continuous education and training on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Energy Savings for local administration officials and for persons involved in the formulation of energy and environmental policies in the Aegean islands of Greece.
The programme has been developed by the Environmental & Energy Management Research Unit, School of Chemical Engineering - National Technical University of Athens, and Ios-Aegean Energy Agency, a nonprofit organization focusing on increasing the islands' energy production from RES and promoting energy efficient technologies and practices. The main characteristics of the programme and of the web platform that supports it are presented. From the experience gained during the first two years, it could be said that the programme has come to fill a training need and satisfy an existing demand. The increasing number of participants and the programme’s evaluation by them, have shown that it has achieved its goals, at a great extent. Some failings, however, like the high dropout rate and the rather low percentage of the target audience in the participants, should be taken into account for the programme’s continuation.