Research in E-learning

I am privileged to work in an Institution which is very strong on research. This extends to my area of interest - Learning Technology. The London Knowledge Lab produces a wealth of excellent research which can support educators in the teaching. Taken in isolation, they are interesting and stimulating (some more so than others).

However, I feel that if we are looking at promoting the use of Learning Technologies then banging the research drum shouldn't be our priority. We need to educate the educators on Web 2.0. I say Web 2.0 because this is an easy general term which describes the current climate and what we need to tap into. Educate the educators sounds obvious and people will say - "Yes, but also we need to...". Well there's no point getting to the also if the first issue is not address. By all means, pedagogy is important but the practicalities must be addressed first. I strongly believe that once our educator understanding the underlying ethos or Web 2.0 and it's different elements, they can be largely trusted to incorporate then into their teaching effectively. Proper understanding of what something is for is key. Most will not be inclined to read any of this research. But show them a new tool and what it can do is more likely to be well received.

There's more to say here, but I wanted to get my thoughts down quickly.