O3.2.3

=Institutional e-learning technology plans are formally endorsed and explicitly supported by the institutional leadership.=

Evidence
Inglis (2007) has further found that there are 2 broad types of ways in which institutions are communicating e-learning strategy. The first is through discrete e-learning strategy documents and the second is embedding e-learning strategy in more general documents. Comparison of the documents at many universities showed that when e-learning strategies are embedded in general documents that the range of aspects of e-learning covered tends to be less. Inglis concludes that there is currently no consensus on what information these documents should contain or how they ought to be structured. However, he speculates that employing a standard approach will bring benefits to universities and groups of universities.

Resources
Bates (2007) describes the transition to e-learning at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Instructors in academic departments indicated in discussions that they wanted to see a set of core values and principles for the development of e-learning if any plan was to receive their support. They wanted assurance of job security, without workload increases. Some examples of the core values agreed upon are:

1. E-learning will be used only where there are clearly identified benefits (educational, financial, strategic positioning, etc.). 2. Decisions about appropriate use of e-learning is an academic decision to be made at departmental level, but based on knowledge and understanding of the strengths and limitations of e-learning. 3. E-learning is not being used to replace instructors but to strengthen their role in teaching and learning. 4. Increase in workload for instructors and students is to be avoided by following best practices in e-learning, which includes team work, quality assurance processes, new approaches to teaching and learning, organizational change, and project management. 5. Instructors will have adequate time and resources for training in the use of e-learning. 6. E-learning materials and programs will be developed in a cost effective manner, although costs will vary depending on the market and the requirements of the subject matter.

By establishing this sort of plan, many potential points of conflict were avoided in the transition to e-learning. The core values also provide a framework to evaluate and guide decisions in an environment of trust.