Sarah Holyfield (March 2003)
Conclusions
The vision of the MLE is the creation of a seamless environment for learners which involves ‘the whole range of information systems and processes of a college or university (including its VLE if it has one) that contribute directly, or indirectly, to learning and the management of that learning’. A few years ago this would have been a futuristic vision, but the maturing of technologies has meant that more recently the HE and FE sectors in the UK have been working very hard to make it a reality. This sort of major change inevitably goes through cycles beginning with those brave enough to pioneer new developments ‘having a go’, followed by a period of reflection to analyse and learn from this work, before a far more widespread and mainstream development takes place. It seems we are presently in this period of reflection. This report has explored the ways in which it might now be possible to define the vision of the MLE in a more precise way.
This report has looked at diagramming as a small but revealing aspect of this first phase of exploration, and suggests that the next phase will involve a deeper connection between previously separate but relevant disciplines. In the past it has been felt that the world of business has had little to say to the world of education, but now these boundaries are becoming less appropriate, and arguably the automation of the processes of a large organisation has much in common with the development of an MLE. There is however one very important difference in that the product of a business is usually something relatively straightforward and quantifiable, but the process and outcome of learning and teaching is not ‘tractable’ in this way.
The IT world is also recognizing that many project failures have been the result of a gulf in understanding between the IT world and the business world. There is a new professional area emerging known as the ‘hybrid’ or ‘bridger’ and it may be argued that Learning Technologists and many Educational Developers have been playing this role in educational institutions.
In order to develop a shared understanding of the MLE, it is necessary to use a common language and in the long run it is likely that such a language will develop. Presently, there is a wide range of vocabularies and notations which make communication difficult at times, and which reflect the very interesting stage we are in.
This report suggests that in the process of clarifying the approaches we take to diagramming, and in the development of a comprehensive set of requirements we may be able to take a step towards this goal. A number of recommendations are made below which may help in this process.
Recommendations
- Develop guidelines for diagramming in relation to the MLE - It may also be useful to develop training materials, and make tools and methodologies available, both online and face-to-face
- Develop the MLE Requirements list further - This will have to be an ongoing and iterative process, and there is a danger in such a rapidly evolving field that such a list may be seen as final and definitive at some point. Many methodologies exist for this sort of exercise as indicated in footnote 9, page 25. The list attached as an appendix represents a beginning for discussion, and is incomplete in many respects, e.g. PDP/PDR. It may be useful to have a workshop followed by online activities.
- Learn from experience - Develop evaluation tools, build a resource bank and gather -Case studies, Experiences, Stories, Useful examples and models Links. Consider how to do this in the most useful and accessible way
- Provide forums for debate and discussion - These might include workshops, and online activities and forums, the question to be addressed is how to involve the community as widely as possible in the process
- Unexpected scenarios - It would be useful to begin to gather examples of unexpected outcomes to share with the community as these can provide very useful and revealing insights – e.g. see example of ‘what is a student’ in footnote 10 on page25, consider also the example of ‘what happens when a student changes their address?’ and the practical implications of this question.
Appendix to report - MLE Requirements analysis
In the appendix to the report the author has attempted to develop a set of requirements which could characterise an MLE. This explores another way of describing an MLE through the development and articulation of an agreed set of requirements - it is a draft and should be regarded as work in progress.
Developing a Shared Understanding of the MLE: the role of diagramming (PDF)
