The paper is written by the Insight's Interoperability editor Riina Vuorikari for the Online Educa-conference that takes place in Berlin in early December 2003.

Presentation given at Online Educa is available here in .sxi
Presentation given at Online Educa is available here in .ppt

The paper claims that until now (i.e. when the data was gathered in late 2002), it appears that decision-makers and national agencies have taken short term measures to get up and running with VLEs, without considering the adoption of a longer-term eLearning strategy that includes thorough consideration regarding interoperability on a large scale, i.e. use of open standards.

The paper further proposes that, instead of each country continuing developing their separate VLE-initiatives, a pooled effort of resources and development skills be used to develop a system that is open and adaptable. Each country could customise the VLE giving it “the look and feel” they wish.

The paper has the four following sections:

1. Importance of VLEs: Views from National Agencies
2. VLEs and Interoperability Issues
3. Situation in Schools
4. Future Development

Download the 4-page paper.