The Auricle

The Observer article of last 21 March doesn't pull any punches. The ending has the real 'sting in the tail'. I've got a few comments to make so if you're interested read on. I'm not sure that the many HE and FE institutions running apparently successful e-learning programmes and projects would be happy with the assertion that “With the exception of the Open University, there wasn't an HE institution in Britain that knew the first thing about e-learning”. While the press office at the Open University must be delighted with the publicity, sweeping general, and inaccurate, assertions like this simply undermine the credibility of the whole article; as do strong hints that it was the Observer's articles that let the 'cat out of the bag'. What's important in all of this is that the concept of e-learning in UK higher and further education is not damaged by any media feeding frenzy that may arise due to the 'restructuring' of the UkeU.