Thanks for this, and to all who contributed. Yes, I do think this
California State framework looks good, and I think we will make use of
some of this as we work on our own standard. I'll keep the list
informed.
Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Michael Penney
Sent: 19 April 2007 14:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VLES] Quality standard for VLEs?
California State University, Chico, has put together a nice set of
rubrics for evaluating quality in online courses, perhaps these could
serve as a starting point?
http://www.csuchico.edu/celt/roi/
We're working on a nice assessment tool for Intel's Moodle rollout (June
07) that enables rubrics and assessments to be embedded within the
course, and potentially then reported dynamically.
Best
Michael
On Apr 19, 2007, at 4:46 AM, Tony Delahunty wrote:
> Hi Ray, yes true, there's lots of debate and divergence still on what
> systems should do and do do, and that's been aired on this list, as in
> BECTA's Learning platform functional requirements 'Conformance
> Framework' last year (mainly schools-focussed :
> http://schools.becta.org.uk/upload-dir/downloads/
> functional_req_learning
> _platforms_v1.1.doc), and that discussion will still run a good while
> yet.
>
> But I was trying to focus on something a bit more local and modest:
> the
> quality not of the platform itself but of a particular installation or
> instance of it: i.e. at the institution level: is your VLE (whether
> it be WEbCT or Virtual or Bodington or whatever....) easy to find,
> navigate, clearly laid out as to purpose, declare who's owning and
> running it, does it have help for users that works, is it supported in
> a clear and effective way, is it updated and dated appropriately,
> etc?; and, still more important, at the course level, i.e. for the
> instances within that VLE: are the resources in them clear and
> meaningful, do they evidence a learning style or theory, are they
> targetted to the learning objectives and assessment criteria, are the
> resources dated and badged with a named author, is obsolete material
> removed, are the activities maintained or marked in some coherent way,
> do they run well cross-platform, etc etc? In other words, I'd like to
> have an internal standard that we can say VLE course X adheres to it
> but VLE course Y does not because it's not been updated or some links
> are broken, or there's no clear sequence or whatever. And clearly the
> standard would need to be fairly general, so as not to prescribe
> particular learning styles or approaches.
>
> Should be simple enough, eh?
>
> Btw, I think you can't send attachments directly to the list, so try
> links if you have them out there, otherwise Geoff may be able to post
> them for you.
>
> Tony
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Ray Tolley
> Sent: 19 April 2007 12:00
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VLES] Quality standard for VLEs?
>
> Tony,
>
> How I agree with you! However, first there needs to be an agreement
> of semantics before we can ever agree on the function of a VLE,
> Learning Platform or PLE - or even begin to define quality standards.
> (I am also an affiliate member of the Chartered Quality Institute - so
> I do understand your questions.)
>
> In order to define the functionality of a VLE we really need to remove
> the clutter of all the other attached functionality. I humbly attach
> two discussion documents, admittedly focussing on the needs of both
> Primary and Secondary schools.
>
> This raises another serious issue for me. I am well aware of the vast
> progress made by many in the Tertiary sector. The universities and
> some CPD suppliers in particular have pressed ahead and developed very
> efficient systems which work for a specific delivery of well defined
> courses. I would not like to see this limited perspective of a 'VLE'
> becoming a national standard. The PLE should not be thought of as a
> static platform - it should be 'dynamic' in several ways.
>
> For a start, there is the serious problem of the compatibility of VLE
> systems - as far as my limited understanding goes SCORM and SIF are
> not dealing with the same protocols.
>
> Secondly, Portability: What happens when a good A-level student (with
> a precious e-portfolio and a well-developed PLE) moves to HE. Can he
> not take his PLE with him? And then Durability: Can the PLE become
> more refined as maturity increases?
>
> Thirdly, Aggregation: Surely our FE and HE students come with a lot
> of precious 'baggage', experiences, informal qualifications, expert
> skills etc.
> And what of APL? Surely, a good PLE must be capable of recognising
> both formal and additional 'qualifications' and directing/re-directing
> the student's learning pathways and methods, along with providing
> Assessment and feedback?
>
> Fourthly, As useful as Moodle is, I am not sure that Moodle (as a
> platform) can deliver the full range of services I would expect from a
> PLE.
>
> In the UK I understand that presently there are over 1000
> organisations issuing qualifications - and this number will only
> increase over the next few years with the increasing development of
> e-learning. Yes, Tony, the matter of defining a quality standard is
> desperately overdue.
> But perhaps Becta, JISC and other organisations are already talking to
> each other?
>
> These ideas, and others, are explored a little further:
>
> See my website and select VLEs&PLEs > page 3
>
> I would appreciate the thoughts of others....
>
> Best Wishes
>
> Ray Tolley
> ICT Education Consultant
> Maximise-ICT
>
> www.maximise-ict.co.uk
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Tony Delahunty
> Sent: 19 April 2007 09:00
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [VLES] Quality standard for VLEs?
>
> Morning all.
>
> Does any one have a quality standard for their VLE? We now have an
> established VLE (Moodle since you ask) rolled out across all
> curriculum areas, and visible and relevant in some way at least to all
> students (whether for their own course, or as the portal for College
> info and generic resources). Even a cursory look (and we allow our
> users to roam fairly freely across course areas) shows great
> inconsistency - eg some areas are rarely updated, have no clear
> structure or roadmap, resources are obviously out-of-date (or undated,
> unsourced, incomplete etc).
>
> What we'd like to set up and aspire to is some kind of service level
> standard or quality mark - we already work to the Matrix standard
> (http://www.matrixstandard.com/) for information advice and guidance
> services, which covers some of this; and there are various Web
> design/accessibility standards and checks you can run (though again
> I'd welcome suggestions for the most appropriate); but what about the
> pedagogy or at least teaching practice embodied in a VLE course - eg
> does it have a clear roadmap, is there a range of resources, does it
> give a sense of distance travelled, is it dynamic, etc etc?
>
> Suggestions or ideas welcome, either for appropriate external
> standards, or from your own quality procedures. What I'm thinking of
> ought to be generic enough to apply to any learning platform/VLE (not
> merely Moodle installations), and to be transferable.
>
>
> Tony
>
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