• How is learning delivered in each curriculum area at present?
• What percentage of practitioners make notes available to learners?
• What percentage of practitioners make notes available to learners in electronic format?
• What percentage of practitioners utilize computers in their teaching?
• What percentage of practitioners are incapable of using a computer?
• What is the organisation's 5 year plan for teaching and learning? (Where do management/the governors/other stakeholders see the organisation in 5 years?)
• What is the learner to computer ratio?
• What is the current state of the computer network?
• Who is providing support for your computer network / servers?
• What skills are there in-house to produce eLearning materials?
• What skills are there in-house to implement an eLearning environment?

Resistance to change?

1) Fear of "The Unknown"

Fear of the unknown is common throughout the world in whatever context - it can be scary to think that you will be entrusting part of your lesson to a system you initially know nothing about. Teaching staff become defensive over having to change the way they deliver lessons, the "old-school" brigade may be extremely reluctant to changing the way they've taught their lessons as they're nearing retirement. Perhaps you can recognise these people as they refuse to allow computers or DVD's or Interactive Whiteboards into their classrooms or, if they are there they don't use them. To overcome the fear of the unknown it is important that you educate the staff - let them know what the plans are and reassure them that they'll be given support at each stage. Most of the time the fear of the unknown lies with the belief they'll be stuck with a system they know nothing about and will be forced to teach using it.

2) Fear of constraint over method of teaching

Fear of constraint over method of teaching comes from a worry the VLE will replace their current teaching style. It may also stem from a worry they'll not be able to do everything they need with the environment. It is important to understand the ways in which the VLE can aid teaching and learning and that staff feel confident in the use of the environment. If staff can be shown ways the VLE can be used in their lessons and outside to support extra-curricular work, they can start to determine the way they want to integrate a new tool into their everyday teaching life. It is important to reassure them it is a TOOL and not a constraint, a tool that is to be integrated as part of their teaching rather than replacing their teaching.

Constraint comes from rigidly enforcing a "single method" or sometimes from enforcing a VLE that does not easily integrate with your organisation's style of teaching. Subjects are different, teaching staff are different so it should not be the case that the VLE enforces a single teaching style but rather assists in various aspects of teaching.

3) Fear of staff with knowledge

Fear of staff with knowledge relates to the worry that the person (or persons) responsible for the creation and development may leave the organisation or go on long-term sick leaving chaos back at the point(s) of delivery. This fear is extremely common especially in senior management - a worry that they're dependant on staff for the survival of the learning provider, or a realisation that they have to release control of something so important to someone that may not be on the senior management team. It is extremely important that you have procedures in place to ensure if one person (or one team) is carrying the project there can be a method of picking up the pieces if it all goes wrong staffing-wise.

You may find that the thought of an external company holding all the code and servers your virtual learning environment resides on is a much worse scenario than an internal system that allows access to the underlying system code and readily available backups and documentation. Remember - you want to be able to backup your information from the environment so that grades, content and important learner information are not lost in the event of system-failure. If you have an external company hosting all of your information ensure they have a strict backup policy that includes disaster recovery plans. One of the items auditors usually pick up on is ensuring there are backup procedures in place for data retention and for software or hardware support if the company you're dealing with goes bankrupt.

Not everyone will understand the VLE, not everyone NEEDS to understand the underlying system so it should not be used as an argument unless you plan to implement a system and you do not have the staff (or ability to resource or train staff) to do the implementation.

Having a handy checklist of things to discuss can be extremely useful - such as the one below:

1. What do we hope to achieve?
2. What staff do we have available to implement/support/maintain this Virtual Learning Environment?
3. What hardware / software do we have or require?
4. What are the cost implications of each system?
5. Which systems are available in our price-range and what are their good and bad points?
6. What is our timescale for implementation?
7. Which systems have we seen and been impressed with?
8. What things have we identified that we need and these systems don't offer?

At the end of the day you are trying to decide which option is cost effective to your organisation and which will offer the best support to teaching and learning in your organisation.

Steps 2: Direction? Where are we heading (if we keep going)?

and 3: Situation Now? Where are we now? - Specifically? Evidence?

Learning Providers may wish to...

1: - use one or more of the 7 Interactive Generic eLearning Positioning Statement Tools (GeLPS Tools)

Why would these tool be used?

• To raise a learning provider's awareness of their organisation's current position in relation to ILT/eLearning
• To identify the 'positional variance' within and across their organisation
• To assist learning providers in the writing of...
  
  • the ILT/eLearning Strategy (including the implementation of a VLE)
  • the ILT/eLearning Action Plan (including the implementation of a VLE)
  • the Self Assessment Report (SAR)
  • the vision statement for the development of ILT/eLearning
  • other strategy and policy documents
  • funding bids
• To provide additional documentation for Inspection.
• To demonstrate a commitment to ILT/eLearning within the organisation by...
  • raising awareness of the organisations vision
  • demonstrating that the staff's perception of the current position is valued and
  • engaging with all employees

Click the links below to use the appropriate tool...

1. Vision & Strategic Planning
2. Teaching and Learning
3. Assessment and Verification
4. Learner Support
5. Staff Development
6. Infrastructure and Equipment
7. Managing and Implementing ILT and eLearning.