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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