-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Megan Robertson

>>One of my major dislikes, however is the difficulty of
cross-referencing and openness. While for student tracking purposes it's
fine to have people actually registered or subscribed to a particular
course, it would be nice to have a 'browse' level that would enable
anyone to look at something of use or interest. At the moment, if I spot
a resource in one subject that could also be of use to students of
something completely different - for example, an article on 'how to
write a business report' in a Business Studies course that could be of
benefit to ICT students doing 'presentation of information' or English
students learning different writing styles - I have to make multiple
copies to go in different 'boxes' :-(<<

Reply:

I suppose a lot depends on the system you use and how you have set it
up.

Within TekniCAL's Virtual Campus and in the way we manage it, you don't
need to make multiple copies of the same materials, it depends on the
visibility. Therefore in your example, a member of staff could do this
with no problems at all. A ICT staff member could add the 'how to write
a business report' to their package/course.

>From a staff point of view, all staff can use all available[1]
materials.

>From a student point of view they can not browse all available
materials, however, some of our colleges are looking at having "virtual"
libraries within the Virtual Campus therefore providing this very
facility if required.

I am very much in favour of openess and sharing of materials, however
not everyone is and sometimes you need to provide a secure system so
that staff feel that there materials are not been "checked" or "assesed"
by other staff - especially in a shared environment like the WCC. Some
staff (and colleges) do not want to share their materials with others
and that is there choice which needs to be respected (and in some cases
is actually a legal necessity depending on the licence).

I realise that the WCC is rather unique in having five colleges sharing
resources, but many of my comments also apply to an individual college
where different departments may not want all their materials shared (and
may only have a limited licence).

[1] available does not mean all, we have four levels of materials on our
shared VLE
        NLN and Commerical - available to all
        Consortium Wide - available to all
        College Materials - only available to staff within a particular
college (and in some cases a particular faculty)
        Individual Course Materials - only available to named members of
staff

James Clay
Director Western Colleges Consortium
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.westerncc.ac.uk

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