What Lecturers Say Helps and Hinders Their Use of a Virtual Learning Environment to Support Face-to-Face Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of issues lecturers said they faced when using a virtual learning environment (VLE), such as WebCT or Blackboard, to support their face-to-face teaching. It draws on data collected for doctoral research that explored the reasons lecturers gave for their use of a VLE, the teaching approach supported, and the factors affecting this use. It concentrates on the latter and as such contributes to an under-researched area by reporting the subjective views of academics who have adopted information and communications technology (ICT) to support their teaching. Four sets of issues were identified: student, technical, pedagogic, and institutional. These are summarised and discussed with reference to comments made by interviewees, and the implications for different audiences are outlined.