While the limitations of the Virtual Learning Environment are clear, the idea of a Next Generation Digital Learning Environment is not without its own problems. First among these is the fragmentation of academia that the concept of an NGDLE perpetuates. What of research? Of alumni? Of administration? Creating a modern ecosystem to support just one of these would be akin to Apple creating an ecosystem of apps to support only cyclists.

A vision of the core concerns for the future academic environment were identified several years ago by Jisc members and others and tackled through the Open Academic Environment project. I wasn’t involved then but this work already reflected extensive real world experience with the VLE model, exhaustion of the idea of a standalone Virtual Research Environment and familiarity with the academic IT landscape.

Today the OAE software is controlled by the Apereo Foundation and available to the global academic community via *Unity [1] which provides a cloud hosting at cost for universities in perpetuity (which is where we at *Research come in). It has tenancies for 20,000 academic and research organisations and has established Single Sign On with about half of those [2]. Its modern UX and node.js-based stack continues to be developed by Stakeholders. It is used by increasing numbers of universities around the world for research, administration and learning. In France it is receiving consistent support from government and supports a national network of more than 70 universities.

This doesn’t mean the OAE is a fully formed alternative that can replace your university’s VLE today. But that is part of what it could become. And It does mean the OAE, and the thinking behind it, should I think be central to this NGDLE discussion.

I wasn’t involved in the OAE at the outset, but John Norman at Cambridge was, and could say more [3]. My own take on the current issues can be found in a recent essay in *Unity [4].

[1] http://www.unity.ac
[2] http://oaeproject.org/2015/12/11/reintermediation.html
[3] https://twitter.com/jrnorman
[4] https://research.unity.ac/content/rr/ryg0a36M