Time to get innovative with digital learning environments
For those working in higher education, the virtual learning environment (VLE) holds the position of centrality over all other education technologies. For some this environment is a land of educational opportunity, (if only people would use it better), for others it’s a place of frustration, compromise and confusion.
All universities are seeking to take advantage of digital technologies to enhance and improve student learning and experience, and so, the continuous focus on this most principal of education technologies is an inevitability. Just like email in the workplace, the VLE has become an entrenched part of the educational experience in universities. This has often meant that the myriad discussions around its use and future have been mostly based on analogy and not first principles thinking, although there are some exceptions.
The minimum standards of VLE usage documents produced by many universities and circulated to academics to adhere to, is a classic example of thinking and strategy that fails to break down a problem effectively. It seeks to place all the onus on the academic to effectively utilise the technology, which on the surface seems to make a lot of sense. However, it’s akin to giving someone a wheel of hues and telling them to use colours consistently. What I and others are saying is that not only do VLE’s need to be radically simplified to enable consistent use, but they also need to be developed in an interdisciplinary way by professionals that have a strong grasp of design (particularly usability and user experience) and digital learning. The design, development and management of virtual learning environments has seemed fundamentally siloed from user experience design and the dynamism that’s seen in web development and design fields. This is best demonstrated by Blackboard, once the leading VLE on the market, it’s increasingly finding its former dominance challenged by Canvas. Recently, Blackboard’s very first customer Cornell University ditched the platform for Canvas, the university reported that they felt Blackboard has “stopped innovating and had fallen behind”, adding that Canvas was “easier to use and more technologically advanced”. The growing popularity and adoption of Canvas is no doubt down to a range of factors but the ease of use comment is compelling, and at least at a surface level Canvas seems to have understood aesthetic usability effect, whereas Blackboard would struggle to look any more incongruous in today’s landscape.
The lack of dynamism, which can prevail within digital technology in universities is certainly problematic and is an area where stronger focus on professional development, recruitment, turnover, motivation and culture would inevitable help. There are other factors which have lead to stagnation, like the centrality of the VLE, not simply for learning but the links that have been established with administrative systems, this has restricted advancement whether the will is there or not. To untangle and move forward from this will require leadership, boldness and innovation, but there are opportunities for those willing to take the step.
The number of university tie-ups with OPM’s does seem to show there is a market and a desire to improve and scale up digital and online education provision. Others have questioned whether this is a short-term approach that doesn’t enable universities to develop their own capacity in digital education, which I’m inclined to agree with, and if that’s the case why aren’t universities looking to develop their own digital learning environments for students on-campus and further afield? This leads us back to thinking, the arguments against are often based on analogy and not on first principles. The research strand of universities is often seen to be the inhibitor of education, but perhaps somewhat ironically there is much to learn here when it comes to boldness, problem solving and innovation.
