海口挖掘机报名多少钱:Virtual learning environment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a softwaresystem designed to support teaching and learning in an educationalsetting, as distinct from a Managed Learning Environment (MLE) wherethe focus is on management. A VLE will normally work over the Internetand provide a collection of tools such as those for assessment(particularly of types that can be marked automatically, such asmultiple choice), communication, uploading of content, return ofstudents work, peer assessment, administration of student groups,collecting and organising student grades, questionnaires, trackingtools, and similar. New features in these systems include wikis, blogs and RSS.

While originally created for distance education, VLEs are now mostoften used to supplement the face-2-face classroom, commonly known asBlended Learning.

These systems usually run on servers, to serve the course to students Multimedia and/or web pages.

In ‘Virtually There‘ a book and DVD pack distributed freely toschools by the Yorkshire and Humber Grid for Learning Foundation(YHGfL) Professor Stephen Heppell writes in the foreword: "Learning isbreaking out of the narrow boxes that it was trapped in during the 20thcentury; teachers‘ professionalism, reflection and ingenuity areleading learning to places that genuinely excite this new generation ofconnected young school students - and their teachers too. VLEs arehelping to make sure that their learning is not confined to aparticular building, or restricted to any single location or moment."

Contents

• 1 Similar terms
• 2 Facilities
• 3 Popularity
• 4 Transferring course content
• 5 Systems available
• 6 List of some virtual learning environments
  • 6.1 Learning management systems
  • 6.2 Course management system
  • 6.3 Virtual learning environment
  • 6.4 Other descriptions
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 Further reading

Similar terms

A VLE is a computer program that facilitates computerized learning or e-learning. Such e-learning systems are sometimes also called Learning Management System(LMS), Course Management System (CMS), Learning Content ManagementSystem (LCMS), Managed Learning Environment (MLE), Learning SupportSystem (LSS) or Learning Platform (LP); it is education via computer-mediated communication (CMC) or Online Education.

A more correct term may be a virtual environment for learning,rather than virtual learning environment. This removes any ambiguitiesand identifies that it is the environment which is virtual and not thelearning.

In the United States,CMS and LMS are the more common terms, however LMS is more frequentlyassociated with software for managing corporate training programsrather than courses in traditional education institutions.

In the United Kingdom and many Europeancountries the terms VLE and MLE are favored; however, it is importantto realize that these are two very different things. A VLE can beconsidered a subsystem of an MLE, whereas MLE refers to the widerinfrastructure of information systems in an organization that supportand enable electronic learning on a wider scale. In fact a ratherpedantic reading of the term MLE could be extended to encompass thephysical environment in which learning takes place (i.e. a school).Also the use of VLE avoids confusion with the use of LMS to mean"Library Management System" (which is more commonly referred to as Integrated Library System, or ILS, in the United States).

Becta, in the UK, have coined the term learning platformto cover both MLE and VLE as used in the schools sector. ‘The termlearning platform describes a broad range of ICT systems used todeliver and support learning. Through a learning platform, hardware,software and supporting services are brought together to enable moreeffective ways of working within and outside the classroom. At theheart of any learning platform is the concept of a personalized onlinelearning space for the pupil. This space should offer teachers andpupils access to stored work, e-learning resources, communication andcollaboration with peers, and the facility to track progress.‘ – DfES Making IT Personal leaflet, March 2006.

Greenhead Collegeis one notable user of the VLE system, where it is used extensively byboth students and members of staff, and this was noted by Becta in anawards ceremony. Another user of VLE is Woodhouse College

The Royal Society of Chemistry is pioneering an on-line VLE for Chemistry which is aimed at A-level students and their teachers in the UK.

Facilities

A VLE should make it possible for a course designer to present tostudents, through a single, consistent, and intuitive interface, allthe components required for a course of education or training. Althoughlogically it is not a requirement, in practice VLEs always makeextensive use of computers and the Internet. A VLE should implement all the following elements:

• The syllabus for the course
• Administrative information including the location of sessions, details of pre-requisites and co-requisites, credit information, and how to get help
• A notice board for up-to-date course information
• Student registration and tracking facilities, if necessary with payment options
• Basic teaching materials. These may be the complete content of the course, if the VLE is being used in a distance learning context, or copies of visual aids used in lectures or other classes where it is being used to support a campus-based course.
• Additional resources, including reading materials, and links to outside resources in libraries and on the Internet.
• Self-assessment quizzes which can be scored automatically
• Formal assessment procedures
• Electronic communication support including e-mail, threaded discussions and a chat room, with or without a moderator
• Differential access rights for instructors and students
• Production of documentation and statistics on the course in the format required for institutional administration and quality control
• All these facilities should be capable of being hyperlinked together
• Easy authoring tools for creating the necessary documents including the insertion of hyperlinks - though it is acceptable (arguably, preferable) for the VLE to be designed so that standard word processors or other office software can be used for authoring.

In addition, the VLE should be capable of supporting numerouscourses, so that students and instructors in a given institution (and,indeed, across institutions) experience a consistent interface whenmoving from one course to another.

Popularity

Universities and other institutions of higher education are increasingly turning to VLEs in order to:

• Economize on the time of teaching staff, especially when they are also involved in research and administration. The extent of the economy over traditional "talk-and-chalk" teaching is not yet clear, but for instructors without web development expertise, using a VLE absorbs less time and produces a more professional result.
• Provide a service for students who increasingly look to the internet as the natural medium for finding information and resources.
• Ensure that quality control requirements are met by providing a standard vehicle for collecting the required information
• Facilitate the integration of distance and campus-based learning. or of learning on different campuses.

In the UK schools are being encouraged to make use of Learning Platforms. The DfES in the UK government has published an eStrategy^[1] outlining priorities that include every learner in schools having access to an online learning space and e-portfolio.^[2]

Transferring course content

Most VLEs support Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)as a standard way to upload, launch and track courses. There are nocommonly used standards that define how the learner‘s performancewithin a course should be transferred from one VLE to another.

Some institutions have attempted to combat this problem by agreeing in collaborative to share common platforms. Use of open source VLEs such as Moodle(moodle is also referred to as a CMS or Course Management System) havemore recently enabled institutions to share content more easily. Forthe schools sector in the UK the DfES via Becta has defined a Learning Platform "conformance framework" to encourage interoperability.^[3]

Systems available

For those wishing to deliver e-learning there are many free open source and proprietary VLEs available for use. On-demande-learning services are also a popular choice because they can bedeployed in minutes and don‘t require instructors & institutions torun their own servers.

Many VLEs are placed on a web server. In a typical VLE there are oneor more programs or languages that provides the user (Teacher-Student)interface, and which interacts with a database. For example, a VLEmight use PHP as its web language/program, with MySQL as a database.

VLEs are increasingly found in new niches. These include newemerging technologies, as well as specialized markets. A VLE can bedeployed on a USB drive as a child, which synchronizes from time totime with its web based parent. VLEs can be used for training or insomething as specialized as to meet ISO 9000 certification requirements.

One extremely ambitious VLE project takes the "virtual" part of Virtual Learning Environments very seriously: Sloodle [1]. Sloodle is a merge of Second Life, with its virtual reality, and Moodle,with its course management system. While early in development, thisapproach hints at new options for enabling learning in a social,immersive, and interactive way.

A 3D virtual learning environment called Edusimbrings a lessons driven 3D virtual environment to the classroominteractive whiteboard surface allowing the direct manipulation of 3Dvirtual objects.

List of some virtual learning environments

Learning management systems

• ANGEL Learning
• Claroline
• Scholar360

Course management system

• Dokeos (free software and open source)
• ILIAS (free software and open source)
• KEWL.nextgen (free software and open source)
• Moodle (free software and open source)
• Sakai (free software and open source)

Virtual learning environment

• CyberExtension - Virtual Managed Learning Environment

Other descriptions

• Apex Learning - K-12 online course service and AP test study
• ATutor - LCMS
• Blackboard - a family of software applications designed to enhance teaching and learning
• Dokeos - elearning and course management web application
• FirstClass - messaging and communications solution
• Sakai Project - Collaboration and Learning Environment
• WebCT - (Now a part of Blackboard) software applications designed to enhance teaching and learning
• eFront - An Open-Source web-based Learning Management System

See also

• History of virtual learning environments
• Learning Management System
• Content management framework
• E-learning
• Computer-assisted language learning
• Becta
• Second Life
• Edusim

References

1. ^ eStrategy
2. ^ e-portfolio
3. ^ Becta.org

Further reading

• Jenkins, M, T. Browne and R. Walker (2005). VLE Surveys: A longitudinal perspective between March 2001, March 2003 and March 2005 for higher education in the United Kingdom. UCISA. Retrieved August 8, 2007 from http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/groups/tlig/vle/vle_survey_2005.pdf
• Morgan, G. (2003). Faculty Use of Course Management Systems. 2, Retrieved November 27, 2005, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0302/rs/ers0302w.pdf
• Paulsen, M. F. 2003. Online Education and Learning Management Systems - Global Elearning in a Scandinavian Perspective. Oslo: NKI Forlaget.
• Heppell, S. (2007). Virtually There : Learning Platforms - YHGfL/Cleveratom ISBN 987-0-9556006-0-9