I would like to second Peter's point about useability.
Having spoken to a great number of people about use of all sorts of
different learning platforms, ease of use by staff has very often come out
as a hurdle inhibiting adoption.
And we have recently done a study of 12 schools using the Frogteacher
learning platform/digital environment, that has 'Office-like' tools that all
staff in the schools can use very easily to edit and develop the system in
the ways they need to. Many of the schools commented that the ability for
all staff to make step-by-step development of use has been critical in
increasing usage. (White paper at
http://www.frogtrade.co.uk/index.phtml?d=202255).
And if you think about a learning platform as being the tool through which
teachers/lecturers exert their professionalism, it makes absolute sense that
you have to have a system where management and development of the system can
be delegated throughout the staff (teaching and admin), without them needing
recourse to people willing to learn more 'technical' skills.
There was also an article in IT Week (15/1/07) quoting a Deloitte report
that businesses are realising they cannot afford a digital divide in their
workforces and "need to be in a position where the vast majority of
employees interact with the vast majority of the technology needed to do
their jobs with little need for training".
Regards
Roger.
Roger Broadie,
Director, Learning Markets Analysis Ltd.
[log in to unmask]
direct tel: +44 1 354 695583
direct fax: +44 1 354 696647
Mobile +44 7710 328672
http://www.learningmarketsanalysis.com
LMA Ltd Head Office, 99 High Street, Chatteris, Cambs, PE16 6NP, UK.
Tel +44 1 354 695583, Fax +44 1 354 696647.
on 1/29/07 14:20, Peter Kilcoyne at [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Laurence
> Could you tell me what research shows it doesn't matter what system was
> used and that institutions using learnwise or Black CT etc have the same
> degree of engagement in elearning as those that use Moodle. My
> experience from working at the West Midlands RSC was that every
> institution that chaged to Moodle had a huge increase in elearning
> activity. I think if you spoke to any institution that had been using
> say Learnwise and then moved over to Moodle you will find that the
> amount of engagement from staff had increased dramatically. Thie
> usability of the two systems are not even comparable. This in my belief
> and not the price of Moodle is I think the main reason for its success.
>
> I recently started working at a college that was using WebCT for 6
> years, after 5 months of using Moodle we have had more than a 100%
> increase in the numbers of staff actively using a VLE. I think this is
> fairly typical of the experiences of other institutions
> Regards
> Peter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Peter Kilcoyne
> Sent: 29 January 2007 13:44
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VLES] BECTA's Learning Platform Services Framework
>
> Laurance
> (and everyone else) I originally sent this message to the list on Jan
> 10th (during the period you mentioned) I think Adam has accidently
> resent my email back to the list Peter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Laurence Fouweather
> Sent: 29 January 2007 11:41
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VLES] BECTA's Learning Platform Services Framework
>
> Hi Peter
>
> If you look in the archives of this list - you will see that it was
> discussed at some length in the week beginning 10th Jan. Basically if
> you read the BECTA learning platform framework it is about supply of a
> service - not a particular platform. It seems they wanted to ensure that
> schools/LEAs investing in a VLE (LCMS/LMS/Learning platform) had a list
> of checked out suppliers who could supply and properly support a system.
> There is nothing to stop a school asking for open source from one of the
> suppliers or just using one if it wants to - but any school should at
> least read the framework and think about all the issues involved .
> Research in HE/FE shows that it doesn't matter whether Moodle/other open
> source system or BlackCT/Learnwise etc. is chosen - what matters is how
> it is used to support and develop the learning and teaching carried out
> by the teaching staff. It is not the technology that matters - it's
> making sure it is used effectively to support L&T. If it isn't - why
> bother?
>
> Laurence
>
> Laurence Fouweather BSc MSc MBCS MIET
> Director
> Oxford Academic Technology Ltd
> Tel: +44 (0)1865 451 670
> Mobile: +44 (0)7968 692 380
> Fax: +44 (0)7813 889 526
> Web: http://www.oxact.com
>
>
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