Saarbrücken (GER)/Sevenoaks (UK), May 2009 - An independent study recently launched by eLearning and advanced-content-solutions provider IMC (UK) Learning Ltd revealed that although three quarters (74%) of universities have virtual learning environments (VLE) to support teaching and learning, only 14% of lecturers publish their recorded lectures on them.
The survey, entitled 'Examining eLearning in Higher Education: Perceptions and Reality', asked 125 academic and operational staff in universities, business schools, and university colleges their views on eLearning. Specific focuses were how it is currently used in universities and the perceptions of its benefits and shortfalls.
The research found that even though a large percentage said their universities had a VLE, very few use it to its full effect. Only 16% of the whole sample recorded their lectures, with 14% publishing these to a VLE for students to access at a later date. In addition, only three in ten (29%) of those who use eLearning frequently/always add questions or documents to their lectures and only 15% frequently/always post-edit lectures and content, despite 48% acknowledging that eLearning is popular with students.
Dr. Dirk Thissen, managing director at IMC (UK) Learning comments, "Using eLearning to support face-to-face courses can enhance the learning experience of students. Producing content by recording lectures and post-editing or adding documents and questions will add value to the material and can be used to populate a VLE effectively."
When asked which elements of eLearning respondents found the most useful, three in ten (31%) commented on the automatic synchronisation of recorded data, with the same number stating the combination of video, audio, and annotation. Slightly fewer (29%) highlighted the variety of output formats. Smaller numbers pointed to 'one-click' publishing to a VLE (19%) and full text search in published recordings (17%) as useful when recording lectures.
Thissen continues, "It is clear from the high number of universities that have a VLE that eLearning is on the agenda at higher education institutions. The issue is how much eLearning is used by lecturers as part of their teaching and learning programmes."
"From the research, the popularity of eLearning among students and academics is clear to see. Despite this, academic staff do not necessarily recognise the productivity and cost-saving benefits of eLearning. Rapid authoring tools provide lecturers with a means to record, edit, and add documents to their lectures quickly and easily in order to enhance the learning experience of their students."
