Virtual learning environments (VLEs) (or, outside the UK, learning management systems) are found most often in educational settings and can be either commercially produced or open sourced. They are online environments containing documents, exercises, assessments and teachercontrolled monitoring, assessing and management tools. They may also function as a portal for learners to access a wider array of services than their learning materials.

If the institution that you are working for or with uses a VLE then you will usually be expected to provide materials that either use its tools or fit in with it. This is actually an excellent way of integrating your material into the mainstream teaching and learning development, and will often raise your profile with both learners and teaching colleagues. As each VLE is different, it is only possible to give very general advice here:

You may wish to develop standalone information literacy modules. It would be a good idea to check whether there are any open educational resources (OERs) you might be able to use. If you work in UK further or higher education, have a look at JORUM (www.jorum.ac.uk). Before starting on a major project, do think quite carefully whether your content will be used. There are lots of examples of online tutorials that have taken a lot of time to create and have not been used cost-effectively.

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