2. Why might you want an MLE?
A version of the core material comprising this section is available for download as a printable version in pdf format. (The Adobe Acrobat Reader to allow viewing of pdf files is available for download here).
This section advises you on how to examine and establish the reasons why you might need an MLE and what it will offer your institution.
Who should read this:
Senior managers, heads of service, academic leaders, and representatives of teaching and research staff.
Outcomes:
If you follow this process you will produce a policy document outlining the institution's deliberation and decision, demonstrating its involvement of the possible stakeholders and what it seeks to achieve from the particular proposed implementation
Approach:
The aim of this section is to tackle the fundamental question which must begin every process of MLE implementation. Namely , do you actually need a Managed Learning Environment? In an ideal, uniform world, of course, the answer would be a simple yes or no but unfortunately we are not dealing with a homogenous environment where every FE institution is like every other, and in turn like all of the HE institutions. Not only are there considerable differences amongst FEIs, HEIs, and between across the sectors, we are also dealing with a world of variable resources, and one where some institutions are further developed than others.
This therefore necessitates a different approach to answering the question. That is to say the method adopted in the following discussion, is one of presenting you with some guidelines, but more importantly to illustrate how other institutions have gone about attempting to answer the question for themselves.
The first stage in answering this is to split the question into key topics. These are again in the form of questions but correspond to the rest of the sections for this part of the infoKit:
Why might you want an MLE? This presents a summary of the many advantages and drivers commonly aired to support the implementation of an MLE.
How have others gone about answering this question? Here we will look at the methods other institutions have adopted to start to answer the question.
Who should be involved? Here we look at the various stakeholders; who might have input to, or would be affected by, discussions surrounding MLE implementation.
What are the questions you should be asking? Although the directness of 'Do we need an MLE?' has an attractive simplicity it is clear that to answer this question you will need to address some key topics and this section will outline some of these.
Issues. Although this breaks away from the questioning format it is worth pointing out further issues which need to be addressed or will arise as a result of starting on this path. Many of these will be picked up in subsequent sections of the infoKit.
