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Guide

Technology and tools for online learning

Provides guidance, resources and case studies around the use of technologies to support online courses and distance learning programmes.

Archived
This content was archived in July 2021

About this guide

  • Published: 20 January 2016
  • Updated: 22 June 2016

View full guide as a single page

Contents

Technology and tools for online learning
  • Broad technological issues
    • Choosing appropriate technologies
      • Integrating external tools with existing institutional technologies
    • Supporting staff and student-owned technologies
    • Using and managing disruptive technologies
    • Creating, managing and archiving learning content
    • Using open content
    • Technical standards and data management
  • Specific technologies for online learning
    • Assistive technologies
    • Presentation and multimedia technologies
    • Social networking tools
    • Mobile technologies
    • Gaming, simulations and virtual reality
    • Virtual learning environments (VLE)
    • E-portfolios
    • Online assessment
  • Summary

Most institutions use technologies to make their courses more engaging and improve access to learning for students. As new technologies have become more reliable, viable and sometimes more affordable, they’ve brought exciting opportunities to reconsider how we teach, engage with or involve learners in different ways.

Online learning offers institutions a way to take advantage of these opportunities, either for large scale distance learning courses or as an element of existing face-to-face courses.

This guide considers a range of factors that contribute to ongoing capacity for online learning provision. It offers guidance, resources and case studies to support the development and use of technologies to support online courses and distance learning programmes.

We also consider barriers and highlight actions you can take, illustrated with examples from institutions that have developed useful approaches to overcome them. 

Your institution will need to consider some fundamental questions to assess how they can use and integrate a range of technologies to support online learning. Throughout the guide, we highlight these questions and offer some ideas and examples.

Use our checklist (Word docx) which highlights key questions you may be considering for online learning provision. Your institution may be planning to adopt new models of online or distance learning or may be integrating online learning into existing courses. This checklist can be useful for both scenarios. 

The checklist provides groups of related questions that could be considered by teams, committees or individuals. Some of the questions require institution-wide consideration, whilst others may also need to be considered at a departmental or course team level. The checklist includes strategic and operational aspects as well as more specific questions for individual courses, modules or learning activities.

Related guides

The guide is part of a series around the development and provision of online learning:

  • Scaling up online learning focuses on institutional aspects and considers demand and market intelligence, business models and strategic planning, and operations and procedures
  • Curriculum design and support for online learning considers curriculum design and support needs of staff and students.
  • Broad technological issues
  • Specific technologies for online learning
  • Summary

Book Navigation

  • Broad technological issues ›
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