MegaTrends in E-Learning Provision

http://nettskolen.nki.no/in_english/megatrends/

Via the sporadic but often interesting e-learning reviews site comes a note about this large-scale study of, well, large-scale European e-learning providers (or “megaproviders” as the report calls them.)

Of most interest is perhaps the “Analyses of European megaproviders of e-learning” and the “Recommendations for robust and sustainable large-scale e-learning”.

Me, I’m not so sure I’m even keen on the notion of “megaproviders” any more, if I ever was. Some of the recommendations seem a bit obvious (“Recommendation 13: Robust, sustainable and large-scale e-learning initiatives should make sure to receive support from their top management” – uh huh) while others (“Recommendation 6: Use standard and widely-used technologies; widely-used technologies enable students to apply the software and hardware they have at their
disposal with little need to buy and install additional equipment.”) don’t seem to me to go far enough in decrying errors we continue to make.

Still, the report authors and funders are to be commended for having the courage to examine the host of failed projects to date and try to learn from these. There is a lot of material here and much good stuff to be digested over the next week as I dig through it. Enjoy! – SWL