As e-learning and technologies advanced significantly, practitioners and academics must find new ways to make the most of this rapid development. In the past, research development in this area was mainly focused solely on technological aspects and more recently, on e-learning and technologies for individualized learning. Much work has been done in this area to enhance e-learning systems. In this research, we proposed that an ecological and holistic approach is required for an improved learning environment. To do this, the concept of ecosystem will be explained, followed by a rationalization of this application to learning and e-learning. A definition to learning ecosystem (LES) is provided and this generalized definition is further applied to the e-learning ecosystem (ELES). Hereafter an identification and examination of the e-learning ecosystem will be presented in detail. Finally, an application of the e-learning ecosystem in small-and-medium sized organisations (SMEs) will be discussed. Prior to this, an overview on the usage of e-learning in SMEs will also be given. We conclude by highlighting the need to emphasize on the ecological and holistic approach for the development of more effective learning environments.

This paper presents a conceptual approach and a Web-based service that aim at supporting self-regulated learning in virtual environments. The conceptual approach consists of four components: 1) a self-regulated learning model for supporting a learner-centred learning process, 2) a psychological model for facilitating competence-based personalization and knowledge assessment, 3) an open learner model approach for visual interaction and feedback, and 4) a learning analytics approach for capturing relevant learner information required by the other components. The Web-based service provides a technical implementation of the conceptual approach, as well as a linkage to existing virtual environments used for learning purposes. The approach and service have been evaluated in user studies in university courses on computer science to demonstrate the usefulness of the overall approach and to get an understanding of some limitations.