I am not sure if we are quoting from the same document. My copy of the
report "THE STATE OF ILT IN FE COLLEGES" November 2001, states that "51%
of respondents say they are using a VLE an increase on the 30% last
year." So I guess you are reading last years report.

The interesting statistic is this "The use of in-house developed systems
has ballooned... accounting for 17%"

It is stats like these that really worry me. Either those responding
have differing definitions of what VLEs and MLEs are or the chances of
getting interoperability working across the secotr is doomed. How on
earth can colleges afford to produce and support their own - are they so
cash rich? I know what the development and supports costs are in terms
of a fully functional VLE - it ain't cheap!!!

Certainly one of the issues the e-Learning strategy taskforce will be
looking at is "Defining interoperability standards for UK post-16
e-Learning environments." This will include multi-channel delivery and
not just PC based work. It may sound like this is already being done but
believe me it is not. God and his dog seems to have jumped on the
bandwagon and whilst all are quoting IMS and SCORM (mostly without a
clear understanding of what they are) - none, to my knowledge, have
addressed the real issues of UK interoperability across the educational
sector. Each sector appears to be going its own way.

If we are to get value for money we MUST address the standards issue
both at a cross-platform and cross-target-audience level.

Can we imagine differing standards for "compulsory", 6th Form, FE, WBL
and FE education? What a nightmare.






-----Original Message-----
From: Geoff Minshull [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: 06 February 2002 13:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: e-Learning strategies PS

At 16:18 01/02/02 -0000, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>Not if the research from BECTa and FERL is anything to go by. It
depends
>on the sector. In terms of HE WebCT and Blackboard are clear runners
but
>Learnwise from Granada currently outperforms all others in terms of UK
>market penetration in the FE and LEA sector.
>
>Steve
>

Are you sure about this Steve? I know you are connected with Learnwise,
so
assume you know how many systems have been sold, but the becta survey
actually says:

"30% of colleges already make use of Virtual Learning Environments
(VLEs)
to deliver on-line learning.  WebCT is the leading VLE used (18
respondents), with Virtual Campus and NetG Skill Vantage also well clear
of
the field (13 respondents each). 10 respondents use in-house systems and
8
use the North Yorkshire and Humberside colleges' OnLinM system."

Also, as a general comment (not to steve or anyone in particular, just
the
reminder I periodically post...) the list is not to be used as a
marketing
tool; on the other hand, we do welcome suppliers offering their
expertise
in general issues. It's a fine line, I know.

Geoff
Geoff.

Geoff Minshull
Direct Learn Training
Online services to education, project management and evaluation,
deafness/disability consultancy
Web:   http://www.directlearn.co.uk/ - last updated 05.01.02
Tel:   +44 (0)1629 540386   Mob:  0771 264 7600   Fax:  +44 (0)1629
540820

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