implementing e-learning Core Good Practice Models

Managing Risk

Setting out your strategic intent can give you a basis for defining the scope of your e-learning implementation and pretty soon you will be asking yourself 'what will it cost?' and 'what could go wrong?'. Risk Management is an essential part of good management practice and is featuring increasingly prominently on the agendas of senior managers and the education funding bodies. Whilst risk management applies to all areas of institutional activity its relevance is particularly clear in relation to projects, particularly projects with an IT or systems component such as implementing e-learning tools. It is probably fair to say that risk management is the single most important component of project management, and so JISC infoNet has produced an infoKit with a focus on managing risk as part of a project approach. This includes links to materials on the risks specifically associated with e-learning which are outputs from a joint project at the University of Strathclyde and Kilmarnock College funded by the JISC.

Risk management is fundamentally about making better decisions. In education, as in any other environment, you can't decide not to take risks: that simply isn't an option in today's world. All of us take risks and it's a question of which risks we take. The materials within the infoKit will help you evaluate your own approach to risk and give you some practical suggestions on how to manage the risks you do take.