Overview

Welcome to the infoKit on Creating a Managed Learning Environment.

The use of technology to support learning and teaching has changed dramatically in recent years.  Most institutions are now exploring the possibilities of e-learning and many have implemented VLEs or virtual learning environments.  The challenge now is to join these learning management systems up with administrative systems and processes to create a seamless and efficient Managed Learning Environment or MLE. This is a big undertaking for any organisation.

Most systems or processes have only a few stakeholders...but an MLE will impact almost everyone in the organisation, and it will mean that academic and systems people have to work together in ways that are quite new to them.

There is no single model for an MLE. The route map your organisation chooses and the functions it chooses to join up depend on your institutional strategy. Your MLE may be quite different to your neighbour’s but one thing is certain...very soon you could find yourself in uncharted territory. A JISC survey in 2003 found that, although 70% of institutions are trying to develop an MLE, none has yet achieved full integration of all its major systems.  You may well be venturing into the unknown.  In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."  This infoKit looks at the experiences of MLE developments to date and tries to show the range of routes you might take, avoiding all the dragons we know about!

This infoKit is a starting point for people across the sector to share experiences and ideas and if you've tackled any of these issues we would like to hear from you - contact us or join our discussion forum and be part of a growing community of MLE developers.

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