‘Lessons Learnt’: the student view in the #VLEIreland project

Deirdre Ryan,Angelica Risquez

doi:10.22554/ijtel.v3i2.40

Abstract

This paper offers an overview of general results and of longitudinal aspects of the data collected to date from student populations which generated from the #VLEIreland project. We argue how results shed light on common misconceptions around VLE usage, and what VLEs can offer from a pedagogical perspective. Building on previously published research results; this paper incorporates a total of 22 data collections, representing almost 24,000 responses, and deals with the general findings and some trends emerging from the data. Overall results year on year have shown that VLEs are used frequently and increasingly by the respondents, but much remains to be done in order to incentivize their use to generate student engagement, and move beyond the use of VLEs as content repositories. While being mindful of the methodological limitations of survey methods relying on self-selection, the breadth and scale of the data gathered across thirteen institutions over a decade offers a degree of reliability, and we attempt to mount a strong challenge to some common myths around the use of VLEs in our discussion.

Highlights

The widespread investment in virtual learning environments (VLEs) by higher education institutions is often largely driven by political and contextual considerations, rather than by evidence of pedagogical impact
The results presented here are based on the survey of student attitudes and usage of VLEs that has been run for a decade in the Irish higher education sector, which we came to term #VLEIreland
Student reports have supported that there is potential for making more and better use of the VLE to bridge the online communication gap between teachers and students, supporting class based interaction. These findings suggest a model of VLE usage as being a platform for the solution of existing problems

Summary

Introduction

The widespread investment in virtual learning environments (VLEs) by higher education institutions is often largely driven by political and contextual considerations, rather than by evidence of pedagogical impact. In order to inform the return on investment from VLEs from both an economic and learning perspective, it is crucial that patterns of actual user engagement by students and teachers are explored (Naveh, Tubin & Pliskin, 2012). We know from our experience as academic developers that VLEs and similar online tools can be harnessed very successfully to facilitate pedagogical approaches that emphasize student engagement and teaching innovation. We have learned from our practice that we need to be cautious when making claims about the use and impact of the VLE as a game changer. Research into the use of VLEs (Blin & Munro, 2008; McGill & Hobbs, 2008; Sun, Tsai, Finger, Chen & Yeh, 2008) showed that VLEs are used, by and large, to facilitate ground-level pedagogical functions related to access and delivery of content, management of class administration and communications.

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion