Someone posted a message to another list asking what were the identifiable
benefits by colleges which had already installed a VLE. I thought it worth
forwarding, unedited, one of the responses, from Phil Butler:

STARTS

When I was a Champion some years ago...
Firstly, the use of VLE's is,in my view, an important strategic decision by
any college in terms of it's value as an 'agent of change'.  Shamelessly, I
shall refer you to an article of Chris Barber, JISC RSC Yorkshire and
Humberside, where he quotes me:

http://www.rsc-london.ac.uk/curriculum/MLE_VLEupdate.htm

As a Champion working in a large FE College, having a VLE was a useful tool
for approaching ILT staff development can really kick start institutional
change if approached in the right way (one of the benefits of sharing
experiences).
Secondly, as a Course Manager I developed a course 'housed' within a VLE (NB
different from an online course!).  The students greatly enjoyed viewing
video clips, online tests, etc. It also made teaching more interesting for
me.  This all had an unexpected spin-off...  and I will tell you a story;
whilst tidying my desk (a task I did regularly every 10 years or so) I came
across a timetable from the early 1980's.  Noticeably a full-time student
was FULL-TIME, attending lessons virtually 9 - 5 every day.  Nowadays the
same learning is delivered in at least half that time.  Consequently, a
students' college experience suffers and learning loses status taking a
lower priority in their lives.  This impacts most when they have long
extended periods where they don't attend at all and we see the first major
dent in our retention statistics.  Along came the VLE!  Completely
unplanned, my students were using the communication tools within the VLE to
hold group meetings over weekends.  I jumped at the chance to incorporate
this and set assignments to bridge Xmas and other long gaps.  Later I found
useful tactics in writing assessment criteria to ensure that all students
used the communication tool for these meetings, online discussions, etc.
Not only did learning become more enjoyable but I benefited with my
retention and achievement statistics, pleasing my Head of Dept as she would
be praised by her SMT, and so on. Smiles all round!  Oh, when I was a
Champion...
Philip Butler, ILT Curriculum Advisor
JISC RSC London


Geoff Minshull
Direct Learn Training
Online services to education, project management and evaluation,
deafness/disability consultancy
Web:   http://www.directlearn.co.uk/ - last updated 08.04.02
Tel:   01629 540386
Fax:  01629 540820
Mob: 0771 264 7600

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