VLEs, Virtual Learning Environments, Course Management Systems, LMSs, Learning Management Systems
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What are they?
To quote Britain and Liber (1999), “Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are learning management software systems that synthesise the functionality of computer-mediated communications software (e-mail, bulletin boards, newsgroups etc) and on-line methods of delivering course materials. ... Most of these systems are intended not simply to reproduce the classroom environment ‘on-line’, but to use the technology to provide learners with new tools to facilitate their learning. They aim to accommodate a wider range of learning styles and goals, to encourage collaborative and resource-based learning and to allow greater sharing and re-use of resources.”
How can I use them with my students?
At the simplest level, you can use the VLE just to store materials for your students to read, such as reading lists, lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations and other uploaded documents. You can also include links to Web-based resources that you want them to read (e.g. journal papers), thereby saving them from typing lengthy URLs.
However, VLEs also incorporate a whole range of tools that are covered separately in Phoebe, including discussion forums, blogs (or journals), wikis and quizzes. So, once you know what tools are available in your VLE, you might like to consult the relevant Phoebe pages for ideas on using those tools.
VLEs can also support assessment, enabling you to collect students’ written work (if done electronically e.g. in Word) and to record their grades.
Examples
In an extensive report of their research into designing for learning with VLEs, Vogel and Oliver (2007) single out several examples of the creative use of VLE tools by a number of practitioners, including:
- Using the journal (or blog) tool to "trigger a private dialogue" with individual students, by asking them targeted questions and providing feedback within the journal itself. Each journal should be private to the student authoring it and to the teacher.
- Using the journal (or blog) tool to test knowledge and consolidate learning with regular formative tasks and/or revision questions. However, to maintain students' motivation it's essential to give feedback as soon as possible after the student has completed a task (i.e. within minutes or hours, not days).
- Storing students' work as a form of e-portfolio
- Using a discussion forum linked to uploaded video recordings of performances by drama students to stimulate discussion and critical reflection. A set of ground rules was followed, aimed in part to develop students' skills as sensitive critics and commentators.
- Three are many casestudies of practitioners using Moodle and LAMS to deliver learning in the outputs of the JISC D4L programme.
Where can I get one?
Your college or university will almost certainly have its own VLE, so contact your IT support officer or staff development (CPD) team to help you get started. Otherwise, you need considerable technological knowledge to set up and maintain a VLE, so if you work on your own it’s best to find other ways to support your students: e.g. by obtaining the required tools separately.
What else do I need to know?
As with all technologies it is important to consider accessibility aspects when using a VLE. A casestudy on Making mainstream Moodle content more accessible Examines the way Wiltshire College adapted existing systems and created some clever new ones to incorporate good accessibility practice in the creation of mainstream e-content.
