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E-learning is in a rather extraordinary position. It was born as a ‘tool' and now finds itself in the guise of a somewhat wobbly arrow of change. In practice, changing the way thousands of teachers teach, learners learn, innovation is promoted and sustainable change in traditional institutions is achieved across hundreds of different disciplines is a demanding endeavour that will not be achieved by learning technologies alone. It involves art, craft and science as well as technology. This paper attempts to show how it might be possible to capture and model complex strategic processes that will help move the potential of e-learning in universities to a new stage of development. It offers the example of a four-quadrant model created as a framework for an e-learning strategy

This paper highlights the potential of three-dimensional multi-user environments such as Second Life (SL) from the perspective of future developments in the service of learning. It notes trends within the SL innovation to date, including the provision of realistic settings, the exploitation of pleasant simulated environments for groups and the links with other learning technologies. It also considers the creativity sparked by SL's potential to offer the illusion of 3-D 'spaces' and buildings, and points to infinite imaginative educational possibilities. It explores aspects of the construction of virtual representations of learners and teachers as avatars, and reveals a wide range of intriguing issues yet to be researched. IntroductionA systems approach to creating and constructing the future examines the necessary intertwining of advances in economics, technology, sociology, engineering, biology, pedagogy and many other disciplines (Laszlo, 2006). Futures studies and research use theoretical models and deductive methods for describing the likelihood of an event and the conditions under which it is prone to occur (Bell, 1997). That is not what I am attempting here. But instead to stimulate systematic and imaginative thought about the future of three-dimensional multi-user virtual environments (3-D MUVEs) for learning by examining the intertwining of accessible developments, expectations and options. We need much stronger visions to help us get ready and to point the way to evidencebased research, rather than merely 'reacting'.

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