The European eLearning Programme(s): Between rhetoric and reality

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study conducted by the author on the implications of e-learning programmes for the higher education systems of the member states of the European Union. The study takes a look behind the scenes of the eLearning Programme and other e-learning actions within other European programmes by tapping into the perceptions of academics at universities in the European Union (in three principal countries - Germany, Portugal and Sweden - and six secondary countries - Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom) who have participated in or have knowledge of the logistical and administrative burdens of European e-learning projects. Through a series of in-depth open-ended interviews conducted on location, via the telephone or over the Internet, the study investigates the interactions of academics and researchers with the European-funded programmes in e-learning. Several interviews with members of the European Commission offer an inside look at the dynamics of the programmes and confer a 'humanistic' perspective to the stern letter of the legal documentation. The personal accounts are used to build a 'composite picture' of common themes related to the processes involved in developing and conducting e-learning projects under the eLearning Programme and other European programmes, shedding new light on the levels of initiative that go into the actual preparation of e-learning projects.