The VLE makes an excellent support mechanism for any course, which in
many ways can be more useful than "traditional" methods.
For example, how often have you tried to phone your college to get hold
of a member of staff? How accessible are you over the phone, or how
often are you at your desk (do you even have a desk - part-timers and
hot-desking, etc...)?
The advantage of a VLE discussion group is that it is asynchronous and
therefore you are contactable at any time. Well isn't that what e-mail
is about? Well the advantage of a discussion group is that other
learners can contribute and benefit from your advice/support you give
that student.
You can also put resources, assignments, handouts, etc on the VLE and
therefore avoid having to maintain a file or filing cabinet or resources
room for your students - also has the advantage that you can track who
takes what and you never need stand at the photocopier again... Of
course if you post resources ahead of your lessons, you never need to
print anything again and have the bonus that some students might have
read (so are more prepared) for that particular lesson.
Also because the resources are available, students who miss lessons can
easily catch up - it's amazing how many students leave a course because
they have missed one lesson and feel that they won't be able to catch
up.
On the VLE, the WCC use, we have virtual noticeboards which allow
notices (read that as anything, not just notices) to be posted whenever
you like and you can decide when they appear (and when they disappear -
from view so making it even easier the following year).
You can also use the VLE as a project/thesis support mechanism,
therefore allowing people to work where they want to, why using your
"normal" lesson time to support individual learners.
There are of course all the other advantages of VLEs, but if "you are
not planning to change your teaching methods" then you can't take
advantage of such things as the NLN materials, sharing resources,
collaborating on resources, replacing lessons with online discussions,
online assessment, e-tivities, etc, etc...
One of the advantages of using the Virtual Campus, a VLE, ILT in general
is the time it can save as well as enhance the learning process.
Why do people use Whiteboards or OHP, why not dictate to students?
Why do people spend time preparing handouts, again why not read them out
to the class and dictate? You wouldn't need to spend time preparing the
handouts then.
Why do people prepare OHP slides (handwritten and PowerPoint) again why
bother?
Why do people spend hours during the average week photocopying missed
handouts when they could spend less time posting them to the Virtual
Campus and allowing the students to access them online in their time
rather than waste yours.
Why do people spend hours during the average week photocopying handouts
in general when they could spend less time posting them to the Virtual
Campus and allowing the students to access them online in their time
rather than waste yours.
Why do people spend hours creating learning resources when if they
shared across a programme team, across a curriculum area, across a
college, across a consortia... you could spend more time supporting your
learners.
It may seem daunting to change your teaching methods, but if the change
enhances learning, and possibly save you time, then I don't see that as
bending to technology, but just taking advantage of a tool.
Hope that helps
James Clay
Director Western Colleges Consortium
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.westerncc.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Ken Smith
Sent: 18 December 2002 19:33
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: who needs a VLE?
Something to ponder while you are away.
In an FE situation with courses that rarely contain more than 30 people,
if you do not have a large number of distance learners and are not
planning to change your teaching methods, just what are the advantages
of using a VLE.
Of course, you may have decided to change your teaching methods. If so
is this not a matter of us bending to suit the machine when it should be
the machine that is bending to suit us?
Ken Smith
ILT Specialist
RSC South East
Work: 0118 967 5451
Mobile 07814 023986
http://www.rsc-southeast.ac.uk
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