-----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 ***************** List information: ***************** Remember - replies go by default to the entire list. Access the list via the web on http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/vle.html The Ferl VLE Focus Area is at http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?page=76 To unsubscribe, email [log in to unmask] with the message: leave vle