Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The VLE is Dead

Some sectors are just discovering Virtual Learning Environments so it is premature to hail the death of these systems. I think the most telling point is the question to academic audience
How many of you would go to your Virtual Learning Environment to learn anything ?
For this audience a VLE is barren closed sterile environment suitable for learners but not a place where they would go to learn.

Have a listen - excellent speakers and the discussion is really broader than a discussion about the technology it is really a discussion about the organisation of learning within an institutional framework.

This is another excellent session from ALTC2009 . As you might expect I think they are setting the benchmark for using technology to share sessions at the conference.

2 comments:

Colin Maxwell said...

I liked this video, but its just telling us that VLE's are old technology and that newer technology is available that can better be used for education. Teachers can be coralled into using VLE's when it doesn't suit the students or the subject. Better to give teachers more freedom to use more technology to suit their own needs and needs of students. Unfortunately some Local Authorities and Colleges block access to really useful tools. VLE's can be limiting, and I love my VLE (Moodle), but it only plays a tiny part in my online delivery, which includes blogs, websites, interactive timelines, wikis, web conferencing, etc.

Joe Wilson said...

Colin you are right. The other thing about some of the other tools is that they exist outwith the VLE.
I sometimes feel that many my FE Colleagues disappeared behind the firewalls of their VLE's around 2003 and are missing out on debate which is running in School sector on use of technologies in classroom particularly but also around curriculum for excellence.