C.

McAvinia,
Chapter 1 - Enter the VLE,
Editor(s): C. McAvinia,
Online Learning and its Users,
Chandos Publishing,
2016,
Pages 11-34,
ISBN 9780081006269,
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100626-9.00001-0.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081006269000010)
Abstract: In this chapter, a short history of the development of online learning in
higher education will be presented as a backdrop to the introduction of the virtual
learning environment in higher education institutions in the late 1990s and early
2000s. Computerisation and the arrival of the Internet have coincided with other
changes in the organisation of higher education (for example, semesterisation and
modularisation). Early experimentation with technology in the disciplines was
succeeded by national and local strategies, digitisation projects, and piloting
networked learning in institutions. This chapter describes the establishment of
academic development units and e-learning support services as part of the wider
changes taking place. The ways in which educational theory has informed the work of
these central support services are reviewed, and the challenges facing supporters
in their work are outlined.
Keywords: Academic development; Computerisation; Higher education; History of
educational technology; VLEs