An investigation into copyright concerns as a barrier to the widespread development of e-learning practice within scottish further education colleges

Abstract

Electronic learning has the potential to transform the way teaching is both designed and delivered. Government at local, national and international levels have heralded the advent of e-Learning as a positive contribution towards the achievement of a wider lifelong learning agenda. In actuality, the adoption of online learning practices by public education providers has been much slower than anticipated. Frustrated by limited progress to date, educational agencies have recently sought to identify major factors impinging development. Variables such as access to technology, adequate funding strategies and increased awareness of initiatives at senior level within educational institutions have all become the focus of further research. The issues of cultural change among academic communities and re-engineering of operational procedures within schools, colleges and universities can be seen as the key determinants of successful widespread adoption and development of e-Learning practice. This article reports the findings of research carried out within the Scottish further education community. The primary research conducted investigated academics' copyright concerns as a barrier to the widespread adoption of e-Learning practice. The study surveyed Scottish further education academic staff regarding levels of usage of existing e-Learning environments and found copyright concerns to be the legal area of most concern, even greater than data protection or freedom of information. Copyright was the most frequent area of request for legal awareness training among teaching practitioners. The survey and report takes account of major initiatives in e-Learning development including JISC studies, funding council reports and governmental strategic planning. Detailed consideration of the impact of these initiatives form a major part of the secondary research along with an analysis of staff development support to date. A need for coherent training and guidance focused on practitioners' needs was highlighted by the research. Reflections were that this had not yet been made available in a form recognised by the practitioners. Following the adoption of the European Union Copyright Directive into British law in 2003, the exemptions afforded to education have been radically altered. The article also contains an in-depth analysis of these changes and a review of existing literature on the subject. It makes recommendations for future support and highlights the need for a strategic approach to e-Learning development with clear guidance information available to all.