Use Of Virtual Learning Environments Research Articles

Le rôle des médias sociaux dans l’enseignement des langues étrangères : une étude de cas pour le FLE

While language teachers are quite used to using online resources in their teaching, the integration of social media is still relatively rare. However, since one of the key objectives of language teaching is to facilitate interaction and communication, language teachers should be encouraged to consider using these tools to make their students’ language learning experience richer in terms of authentic communication. The increased use of virtual learning environments (VLE) in Higher Education has facilitated greater student engagement with online activities and VLEs such as Moodle include many social media tools, allowing educators to incorporate them easily into the learning platform.The aim of this article is to examine how multiple social media tools could be used for teaching French as a foreign language as well as to report on the outcome of a single-case research project, which sought to establish students’ receptiveness towards the use of multiple social media tools for language learning.

A framework for developing competencies in open and distance e-learning

<p>Many open universities and distance education institutions have shifted from a predominantly print-based mode of delivery to an online mode characterised by the use of virtual learning environments and various web technologies. This paper describes the impact of the shift to open and distance e-learning (ODeL), as this trend might be called, on the course design practices of faculty members at a small single-mode distance education university in the Philippines. Specifically, the paper presents and analyses the faculty’s perspectives on how their course design practices have changed and issues and challenges arising from these changes. The findings suggest that faculty training programs in ODeL should aim to develop a comprehensive range of ODeL competencies in a systematic and coherent way. Based on the findings, as well as research on practitioner development in teaching effectively with technology, a framework for developing ODeL competencies among faculty is proposed. Aside from covering the four areas of change in course design practice identified in the study, the framework also specifies levels of expertise (basic, intermediate, and advanced), indicating degrees of complexity of the knowledge and skills required for each area at each level. All of the competencies listed for all four areas at the basic level comprise the minimum competencies for teaching an online distance education course.</p>

The development of a learning community in an e-learning environment

One of the practical problems posed by the increasing use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) and learning management systems (LMSs) is the need to create a cohesive learning community among students who access online courses. This article describes an online language course whose main aim was to develop a learning community in which participants felt confident enough to share their work with others, and to offer and receive comments on their assignments. The course was designed for students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) at a university in Korea. The main features of the course were that students were encouraged to collaborate in pair and group discussions, and to post their work in the VLE so that others could read and comment on it. Data was gathered from the students’ journals, their assignments, feedback and comments posted on the web board, and e-mails to the instructor. The results showed that, in the process of completing the course, the majority of the students reported a strong sense of ‘belonging’ to a learning community, developing a close rapport with other students by sharing their work, exchanging comments and taking part in discussions. The students felt proud of their work as well as of the process of working together with others. The results suggest that opportunities for social interaction and feedback play a crucial role in developing the emotional connection which helps to create a collaborative learning environment and support an effective learning community.

SPAR Editorial: Pictures to Help People Think and Act

On the 7th March 2012 a Colloquium was held at the Open University in Milton Keynes in the UK. The Colloquium was intended to be about diagramming and had the title: ‘Pictures to help people Think and Act’. The Colloquium was supported by the Open University and by the eSTEeM Centre at the OU. eSTEeM brings together academics in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to promote innovation, scholarship and enterprise in open and distance learning. Much of the work of eSTEeM focuses on the effective use of learning technologies at scale. The portfolio of projects includes work on e-assessment, mobile learning, online laboratories and the use of virtual learning environments. With the backing of eSTEeM, academics and practitioners gathered from around the UK in order to talk and share thinking about the use of diagrams in many facets of education. In exploring the role of pictures and diagrams in learning topics included: • Why diagrams are useful? What is special about them? • How people use rich pictures to help them think and act. • Online use of diagrams to help people. • Communities and diagrams.

The Use of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and Social Network Site (SNS) Hosted Forums in Higher Education

Grounded theory is used to examine the role and application of both educator-led and student-led forums within a virtual learning environment (VLE) of a higher education institution (HEI). The study reports experiences and perceptions of academics in two faculties (business and technology) in the HEI who use both asynchronous VLE forums and social network sites (SNSs) such as Facebook. Interview data were transcribed, coded and analysed to identify emergent themes and patterns of commonality. Differences between faculties are identified, including those relating to the type, frequency and breadth of forum usage. The results suggest that students' voluntary use of SNSs as a complement to formal learning is culturally embedded in the HEI and constitutes a widely accepted ‘integral’ part of the learning experience. Such rapidly evolving usage could present future challenges for educators, not least because SNS-hosted learning materials and patterns of SNS use may be obscured from them. There are also challenges relating to educators' duty of care, surreptitious exchange of information (for example, assessment information) and unhelpful criticism of HEIs.

The use of virtual learning environments and their impact on academic performance

Links have been reported in the literature between lecture attendance and academic performance. The effect of a student’s use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) on their academic performance has not been the subject of extensive research, but is likely to be of interest to both students and the lecturers who develop resources for a VLE. This paper presents an examination of two modules from the 2010/11 final year BEng Civil Engineering course at Loughborough University. Data from the students’ academic performance is compared with the VLE’s usage logs in order to identify relationships. Correlations differed for the two modules but were generally weak.

Dyslexic students in higher education and virtual learning environments: an exploratory study

AbstractThis paper presents the results of an interview‐based study of the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) among dyslexic students. Interviews were carried out with 12 informants who had been formally diagnosed as dyslexic. The informants were either enrolled in a university or college programme, or had graduated less than a year before the interview. The findings reveal that dyslexic students experience a number of challenges associated with VLE use, including information overload, imperfect word processing tools, inadequate search functions, and having to relate to more than one system at a time.

U-SEA: A Learning Environment Ubiquitous Using Cloud Computing

The spread of the use of virtual learning environments presents a great potential for the development of applications that meet needs in the area of education. In view of the importance of a more dynamic implementation and that it will be able to continually adapt to the needs of students, it was proposed and developed the U-SEA (System of Teaching Adapted Ubiquitous). A software built on the basis of the virtual learning environment Moodle, having as main purpose the adaptation to the context of the computational student, glimpsing techniques characteristics such as the suitability of the environment the connection speed of the user, provided with an infrastructure for Cloud Computing.

Fluência digital e uso de ambientes virtuais: caracterização de alunos de enfermagem

O objetivo do estudo foi caracterizar o perfil de licenciandos de enfermagem, identificar a fluência digital, o conhecimento, a habilidade e o interesse no uso de ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem. Trata-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa, exploratório-descritiva realizada com 51 licenciandos de enfermagem por meio de questionário. Dos participantes do estudo 51 (100%) afirmam ter conhecimento em informática, sendo que 26 (49%) indicam um nível intermediário; 47 (92%) fazem uso diário da Internet; 51 (100%) navegam em redes sociais e possuem e-mail; 51(100%) utilizam MSN e 32 (62,7%) Skype; 41 (82%) acessam Chats, 33 (64,7%) Fóruns de discussão e 22 (43%) Blogs; 33 (64,7%) utilizam frequentemente o Moodle e 26 (51%) o COL; e a grande maioria (45- 88,2%) relatou interesse no uso de ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem. Os alunos foram considerados fluentes digitais e apresentaram conhecimento, habilidade e expressivo interesse no uso de ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem em sua formação acadêmica.

Identifying different registers of digital literacy in virtual learning environments

In this paper social semiotics, and systemic functional linguistics in particular, are used in order to identify registers of digital literacy in the use of virtual learning environments. The framework of social semiotics provides means to systemize and discuss digital literacy as a linguistic and semiotic issue. The following research question was investigated in the paper: What different registers of digital literacy could be identified when students and teachers communicate and interact in a VLE?The research question was answered by, initially, an application of social semiotics to virtual learning environments, and its relation to the knowledge domains of everyday, specialized and reflexive digital literacy. This application was then further developed, using an analysis of a course specific use of a virtual learning environment in a case study. The study identified discrepancies between the digital literacies of teachers, designers and students. These discrepancies mean that a shared semiotic register was sometimes difficult to maintain. The conclusion is that the designers and teachers as co-designers of virtual learning environments need a better understanding of everyday digital literacy in order to design more sufficient learning environments. The paper shows that digital literacy must be considered as a situated practice, and that it concerns functional and communicative competencies rather than acquiring a set of technical skills.

Review of Pain Content in Three-Year Preregistration Pediatric Nursing Courses in the United Kingdom

The results of several studies suggest that gaps remain in nurses' knowledge about pain in children, and particularly regarding pain assessment, analgesic drugs, and nondrug methods, suggesting a need to explore the pain content of preregistration nursing curricula. Over the past decade, the way nurse education is delivered has changed with the advent of the internet and the use of virtual learning environments. This study, therefore, explored the depth and breadth of pain content in 3-year preregistration pediatric nursing courses across the U.K. as well as ascertaining how this content is delivered. The leads for pediatric nursing at all 56 U.K. higher education institutions running the 3-year preregistration pediatric nursing course were e-mailed a questionnaire. Participants were asked to indicate whether topics are covered in the program, and if so how it was delivered. Results suggest that preregistration pediatric nursing courses in the U.K. do not always equip students to manage pain effectively in clinical practice. There appears to be limited content on pain in nursing curricula, with several institutions not covering key topics. Most teaching is delivered face to face with limited workbooks and virtual learning activities. Further research is needed in this area to ascertain the impact of this on the quality of care provided.

Providing a platform for parents? Exploring the nature of parental engagement with school Learning Platforms

This paper investigates how schools are supporting parents' involvement with their children's education through the use of ‘Learning Platform’ technologies – i.e. the integrated use of virtual learning environments, management information systems, communications, and other information and resource-sharing technologies. Based on in-depth case studies of six primary and six secondary schools across England, the paper explores the various ways that schools are implementing, adopting, and using Learning Platforms to engage with parents. The paper also considers how these technologies are being received and used by parents. A number of underlying issues and tensions behind parents' engagement with school Learning Platform technologies are considered, and the potential of digital technologies to reconfigure pre-existing school/parent relationships is examined.

Design Education Online: Learning Delivery and Evaluation

AbstractOnline learning has been recognised as an effective pedagogical method and tool, and is broadly integrated into various types of teaching and learning strategies in higher education. In practice, the use of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in higher education has become an integral strategy for quality education. The field of design education, however, has not been researched extensively in regard to online learning, delivery and evaluation. This article discusses design education from an online learning perspective. It proposes an integrated framework with three key components for online learning via VLE including an interactive delivery structure, communication channels and learning evaluation. Additionally, the article describes and evaluates how VLE sites for two design units were built based on an integrated framework and student learning experiences. The results indicate that online design education should be integrated with various educational values and functional features in a systematic manner, and requires designing learning evaluation protocols as part of learning activities and communicative forms within online‐based learning sites.

AmbiLearn

In educational institutions computing technology is facilitating a dynamic and supportive learning environment for students. In recent years, much research has involved investigating the potential of technology for use in education and terms such as personalized learning, virtual learning environments, intelligent tutoring and m-learning have brought significant advances within higher education but have not propagated down to Primary Level. This paper discusses AmbiLearn, an ambient intelligent multimodal learning environment for children. The main objective of this research is to redress the limited use of virtual learning environments in primary school education. With a focus on multimodal presentation and learning environments, AmbiLearn explores the educational potential of such systems at Primary school level.

Comparison of the instructional efficacy of an internet-based temporomandibular joint (TMJ) tutorial with a traditional seminar

There has been growing interest in the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) by universities over the past decade to supplement traditional teaching methods. In this study a tutorial providing information about the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), temporomandibular disorders and teaching of a thorough TMJ examination was developed on a VLE platform to enable students to enhance their examination and diagnostic skills. The success of this VLE tutorial was compared with conventional teaching by a cross-over trial. Thirty students were initially randomly allocated to one of two groups; Group 1 completed the VLE tutorial and Group 2 attended the face-to-face seminar in the first instance. The groups then crossed over and had the other method of teaching provided. The findings from the cross-over trial and the students' feedback indicated that no differences were found between either teaching modes, and both are equally effective at delivering information to students. In addition, the order in which the students received the teaching did not make a difference, but giving the teaching twice reinforced their knowledge. There is a strong case to be made for introducing clinical lectures on a VLE platform, and this form of e-learning is, in general, well perceived by new generations of students.

Teachers’ and students’ perspectives on teaching and learning through virtual learning environments

The aim of this investigation was to get an insight into how teachers and students responded to the use of virtual learning environments (VLE) in engineering education and what their expectations were from online courses. Teachers designed their online courses with the assistance of a support e-learning team and questionnaires were used for teachers and students to express their views on the online courses. Teachers pointed out that the online courses by themselves would be able to tackle limited lecture time and strengthen the students’ background knowledge. Students, on the other hand, stated that their difficulties regarding the courses could be facilitated by using a more interactive teaching approach with the use of collaboration tools and receiving individual feedback. Thus, students suggested that teachers adopt a more student-centred approach by using VLE. Teachers’ and students’ perspectives were related to their personal characteristics, as students were more familiar with everyday e-communication tools.

130 Review of Pain Content in Three Year Pre-Registration Children's Nursing Courses in the Uk

Background: The results of several studies suggest that gaps remain in nurses' knowledge about pain in children, and in particular to pain assessment, analgesic drugs and non-drug methods, suggesting a need to explore the pain content of pre-registration nursing curricula. A review of pain content in pre-registration courses in England found that most curricula included less than 10 hours education on pain (Twycross 2000). This concurs with the findings of a study carried in the USA by (Graffam 1990). Since these two studies were undertaken, the way nurse education is delivered has changed with the advent of the internet and use of virtual learning environments. This study will explore the depth and breadth of pain content in three year pre-registration children's nursing courses across the UK and will ascertaining how content is delivered. Method: Higher education institutions running the pre-registration children's nursing course in the UK. Data collection: The questionnaire used by Twycross (2000) was revised to reflect changes in how nursing courses are taught and new knowledge is assessed. Participants were asked to indicate topics covered in the programme, and how this was delivered. Procedure: A copy of the questionnaire was emailed to the lead for children's nursing in each institution. A reminder email was sent out after three weeks. Results: The findings indicate there are wide variation in the pain content of pre-registration nursing curricula in relation to number of hours, content and how the student knowledge

Key issues in marketing education: the marketing educators' view

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the views of UK marketing educators about critical issues in teaching and learning of university‐level marketing education, and to compare these views with the views of other stakeholder groups.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was administered to members of the UK Academy of Marketing; 51 completed, usable questionnaires were returned.FindingsRespondents believe that teaching international students, plagiarism and providing feedback to students are the three top‐priority issues in teaching and learning. Perhaps surprisingly, e‐learning and the use of virtual learning environments are considered to be relatively low‐priority issues.Research limitations/implicationsThe low‐response rate is a limitation of the study. The study detected some interesting similarities and differences of opinion between marketing academics and deans of business schools, between pre‐ and post‐1992 universities, and between professors/readers and those in lecturing positions. Notably, the lack of agreement between marketing educators and deans over the importance of relating research to teaching (educators allocate this greater importance) and e‐learning (deans allocate this greater importance) suggests areas for careful consideration in the development of teaching and learning policies.Originality/valueThe paper is unique in examining the views of university‐level marketing educators about teaching and learning issues. University marketing educators are an important stakeholder in the marketing education process.

Plasticity

Purpose“I can't do online learning”. This is a surprisingly common response from professional postgraduate students who have a narrow view of what online learning might comprise. Images of screen‐gazing at mega‐bytes of text or childish multi‐choice quizzes on CD‐ROMs have encouraged strange reactionary responses from many otherwise engaged learners. This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports a qualitative study which, among other things, aimed to explore the views of higher education (HE) teachers experienced in the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) about the variation and value of specific learning styles and approaches in relation to effective learning in those online environments. University teachers speak readily about learning style preferences, cognitive strategies and andragogical principles (based on Knowles) of self‐directed or self‐managed learning, but often in terms which suggest that VLEs favour certain individual styles.FindingsThe findings from a detailed grounded analysis of interview data from ten enthusiasts for online learning suggest a potential plasticity of online learning environments which can accommodate any style or strategy. There was a sense in the transcripts of a different kind of learning space, which could mould itself to these differences in a way which could not be achieved in a traditional classroom. Some authors, including Palloff and Pratt, identify the importance of differing learning styles and approaches to learning in HE and tackle the issue of how to accommodate such differences online.Research limitations/implicationsThis research suggested that the plasticity of the online learning environment compensated for such variety of style, without the need for engineering learning activities online to cater for specific styles. Online, the time flexibility and potential for learner control can support multiple styles and strategies, provided the teacher has designed the environment to allow this, and of course that the relevant technologies are available to the teacher.Practical implicationsSo, rather than the environment dictating design, within the limits of available technologies, the teacher's approach to design may dictate the degree to which the plastic potential of the online environment is available to the learner.Originality/valueThe concept of plasticity is borrowed from other scientific disciplines. Applying this to the virtual learning space opens up the pedagogical perspective.

Learning and teaching challenges in project management

This paper seeks to examine how considerations of future pedagogy will impact on the student experience. This examination utilises data gathered from a survey of students studying project management. The data are analysed using CATPCA in order to establish the key components of students' experiences. Overall, two key components emerged from the data (representing students' perceptions of what is significant in their project management learning experiences). The first component, transferable skills, addresses parameters such as interpersonal skills, time management, curriculum coherence, critical thinking and communicating. The second component is virtual learning which includes the quality of e-resources and how relevant and accessible information is managed online. We conclude that the effective use of virtual learning environments is more crucial for students who are less skilful at managing their studies independently. This study brings an important contribution to literature on teaching and learning project management as traditionally studies have either focused on teaching and learning (within project management) or students' experiences relating to pedagogic factors generally. What research has not done is link these two concepts together.