Uptake and usage of Virtual Learning Environments in the Irish Tertiary Sector: Findings from a multi institutional student usage survey.

In early 2008 Six Irish tertiary institutions conducted an online survey of their students usage of Virtual Learning Environments in their respective institutions. The survey used a common set of questions. Five of these institutions have, on condition of anonymity, pooled their results for comparison and study and this paper presents the findings of this research.The five institutions represent a diversity of organisational histories and VLE systems. It is often assumed that technology issues are a key driver of VLE uptake and usage, however, the data indicates that these technical issues have relatively little effect on the ground. Organisational factors, such the maturity of the implementation, are shown to have a more substantial effect on uptake, usage and utility of the systems.The paper also discusses issues around the conduct of the survey, confidentiality and data sharing, and the potential for ongoing surveys to build into a longitudinal data set.