Author: Cristina Leston-Bandeira, c.c.leston-bandeira@hull.ac.uk

JISC e-Learning Activity Area: Technology-enhanced Learning Environments

Higher Education Academy Subject Centre: Sociology, Anthropology and Politics

This case study illustrates...an effect on learning, an effect on student personal development, student satisfaction with e-learning, innovation in learning and teaching, staff satisfaction with e-learning, a positive effect on recruitment, use of resources

Technology Used

What technologies and/or e-tools were available to you?

Merlin was used, as it satisfied both institutional and departmental considerations. Blackboard is also available, but lacks the simple and user friendly approach that Merlin has. Blackboard does not promote the sense of an e-learning community through the discussion and exchange functions that Merlin operates. Besides this, Merlin is a highly effective tool for communication purposes, as it is very personalised and interactive, something that Blackboard did not offer. Communication was to be one of the key uses of the VLE. These considerations were important when thinking of the ease of use that was required from a teaching point of view, an administrative view and a student view. It also had to be capable of integrating the University's other resources, and where applicable making clear what was and was not available to them. An example of this, was the Library services for distance students. The costs of using the technologies available outside the University's existing VLE resources would have been too high for the department to sustain.