Technology moves so fast and it is easy to find that last years cutting edge learning technology is now old news! Everyone cannot be expected to test and try out the latest technology but the organisation should have a process in place by which some individuals or teams take on the responsibility of keeping up to date with new technologies, reading reviews, speaking to users and developers and deciding when and if new technologies can offer improved performance over existing ones.

You may not be directly involved in this process, but you should be aware of how and if it is undertaken.

For serious learning technology users there is a fascinating study completed in 2009 by the Open University – A Study into the Effective Use of Social Software by Further and Higher Education in the UK to support student learning and engagement. This study looks at the value of Blogs, Wikis, Second Life and a vast range of state of the art technologies as learning support tools.

JISC provides a good overview of Technology Enhanced Learning Environments on its website. It presents 4 types, Personalised Learning Environments, Virtual Learning Environments, Physical Learning Spaces and Mobile and Immersive Learning Environments. All are explained on the web site.

Related Resources

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  Definitions: Technology enhanced Learning Environments
  

  JISC provides a good overview of Technology Enhanced Learning Environments on its website. It presents 4 types, Personalised Learning Environments, Virtual Learning Environments, Physical Learning Spaces and Mobile and Immersive Learning Environments. All are explained on the web site.

  http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/themes/elearning/tele/definitions.aspx