This article reports the development, validation and use of a survey for assessing students' perceptions of their e-learning environments. The Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) was administered to 325 students, 131 in Australia and 194 in Hong Kong. The data were analysed to examine 1) the reliability and validity of the survey, 2) differences between the perceptions of a) students' actual and preferred environment, b) students and their teacher and c) male and female students and 3) whether associations exist between students' perceptions of their e-learning environment and their enjoyment of e-learning. In addition to quantitative data, unstructured interviews were used to provide a more in depth understanding of the e-learning environments created. These data provide valuable feedback to educators working in e-learning environments to help teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of the environment and to make adjustments and improvements as required. ObjectivesCreating, maintaining and working in e-learning environments is challenging and, to date, there has been little evaluation of the quality of such learning environments. This study aimed to provide educators with a tool that could be used to obtain feedback on students' perceptions of their e-learning environments.The objectives of the study were:1. To validate the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) as a tool to provide educators with information about students' perceptions of e-learning environments.2. To use the new questionnaire in investigating differences between the perceptions of: a. students' actual and preferred e-learning environment; b. male and female students; and c. teachers and students.

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Designing and implementing effective e-learning is a complex process, which involves many factors. Lecturers need to constantly consider, evaluate and adjust these factors to provide effective e-learning environments for students. In this paper, we report on the design and development of the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES), an instrument which can be used to gather and represent data on students' 'actual' (experienced) and 'preferred' (ideal) learning environments. We describe the use of this instrument in blended learning environments with university classes, illustrating how OLES can be used by educators striving for good practice in the design of effective online learning environments.

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