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E-Learning Regions & Cities

Oxford Conference, June 2005
Report by Steve rayson, Sales & Marketing Director, Epic

The conference pulled together an interesting mix of people from across Europe with different perspectives on e-learning. Some of the key issues arising from the various sessions included:

The importance of learning networks

The morning covered the importance of e-learning in regional development. Whilst there has been a lot of talk about the knowledge economy it was felt that less attention had been paid to the importance of learning. It was argued that learning is one of the most important social processes and is central to the process of adaptation to new technology and ways of working.

Learning is an interactive process which requires networks. Thus regions require clusters of companies and organisations to form smart networks where ideas are shared and partnerships are formed. In essence it was argued that one of the most important elements in successful economic regions was the ability to form learning networks. In this way companies and organisations can learn from each other to develop new products and services.

e-strategies not e-learning

Anne Wright from DfES talked about the importance of integrating technology into the learning mainstream. For her it is about developing an e-strategy rather than e-learning. E-learning tends to imply something separate which it is not. It is about harnessing technology for learning. Anne picked up a number of key themes for the future:

• Personalistion & choice
• Flexibility & independence
• Sharing, collaboration and co-creation

Whilst everyone was committed to sharing and collaboration a number of issues were raised. For example, sharing material can suggest shared ownership. This can create IPR problems.

Anne also pointed out that nearly 100% of students at university have access to a virtual learning environment, thus the use of
e-learning technologies is already being integrated into education.

E-portfolios

Anne Wright is also working on e-portfolios and later in the day demonstrated the e-portfolio system developed for ELWA (Education and Learning Wales). This is a personalised webspace designed to support career choices and decisions. It covers a range of areas such as:

• Who am I?
• Self-assessment tests
• Reflect – Act - Review
• Action plans
• My skills
• My interests
• My achievements
• My learning style
• My working style

There were some interesting issues raised regarding e-portfolios and their use in various institutions. For example, who owns the
e-portflio, who can delete records and so on.

What keeps businesses awake at night

Laura Overton focused on some of the key issues that keep managers in businesses awake at night. These include:

• Competition
• Quality
• Lower pricing
• Technology
• Turnover of staff

Laura argued that e-learning should be designed to address these issues and seen as a tool for business productivity. The focus of e-learning should be on solving business problems such as:

• Compliance
• Sales
• Talent management

Challenging content

A strong plea was made for challenging and engaging content. It was felt that still too much content consisted merely of reading on screen followed by an assessment. Emma Goss from the local authority Improvement and Development Agency gave a session on the importance of good instructional design.

Overall, the conference raised some interesting issues.