From Alien to Domestic? Virtual Learning Environment Use from a Domestication Perspective

Abstract

This article proposes to use the concept of domestication as an analytic tool to understand patterns of use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and user attitudes towards VLEs. The data gathered includes semistructured interviews with students and members of staff enrolled in or involved with a distance-learning bachelor program at a Scandinavian institution of Higher Education. The analysis highlights the role played by VLEs in shaping the students’ and lecturers’ routines and use of time as regards to lecture preparations, assignment writing, and discussions. It also identifies challenges related to the integration of the VLE with other related systems and sheds light on the nature of the various social processes that take place through and around the VLE.