Opportunities and Challenges using Virtual Learning Environments in Universities in the UK - Assignment Example

Running Head: Opportunities and Challenges using VLEs Opportunities and Challenges using VLEs: A Case Study, Universities in United Kingdom [Writer’s Name] [Institute’s Name] Opportunities and Challenges using VLEs: A Case Study, Universities in United Kingdom Abstract The days of technology have started and this is not a new story. Technology is being incorporated in every kind of organization. Every other major sector is making use of technology in several ways including the educational departments as well as the organizations. Technology is another means of performing tasks faster and in an organized manner. In the educational sector, the face of technology that is being used is inclusive of multimedia, projectors and so on. In addition to this, the newer system that is being used these days is known as virtual learning environment. This software system is being used these days to support teaching as well as learning. Many countries have started using this software system as it has been of much help. Such countries include the United States and European countries including UK. Universities and the other level of academics are making use of VLEs in order to make the system easier for teachers as well as students. Introduction Ma (2005) says that the world has become more than just a global village. The global village with the services as the internet at the most has caused to decrease the distances in the world. The younger generation is seen on the internet making newer social contact sung the social websites as well as the platforms. In the name of gaming zones, the youngsters are seen interacting with more than hundreds of the people over the internet in the discussion forums giving newer ideas about the certain games as well as the newer details. These are the brains and the minds, as it has been noticed, who are working best over the internet. These are the innovative and the creative brains who need to be devoted to the education other than just the fun part. As the internet is now the part of every one’s life therefore the ways are needed in which these brains make use of their intellect in an interesting manner. And here the professors and the professional from the information technology sector gather together to make the most of the internet. The education can be spread over the internet, is the rationale of the upcoming IT professionals. The education can be made available to the students in the same form as the social interaction platforms brings the people closer as well as the online gaming discussion portals that brings the gamers together. Rationale of VLEs Education if, be made available to the people over the internet can be one of the main usages and advantages that can be gathered of the internet. The people who are unable to gain the education owing to the factors of distances as well as the time, can be brought closer together through these innovative rationales being implemented over the internet. Students on an international scale need to be gathered as there intellect needs to be used as well as enhanced so as to be used in the higher education. The researchers need to be gathered over the internet so as the enhancements in the research takes place. VLEs in British Universities The Global learners have converged in the platform of education in the twentieth century time and it has increased the passion within the people of lifelong learning. Web based technologies are being used along with virtual communities so as to enhance the learning process. These virtual communities are equipped with the abilities to connect people and learners from all around the world to one geographical platform and help them achieve one common and mutual purpose and that is the attainment of knowledge with education. Within an educational setting the VLEs is the name of the latest software technology making ways into the educational facilities ranging from universities to high schools so as to save the time of teachers and students. According to Weller (2007), VLE is an advanced phase of software technology that has been incorporated in many organizations, from ecommerce to online business dealings as well as transactions and much more. Hartley, Woods and Pill (2005) have added that the addition and mentioning of the term Distributed learning would not be a wrong move. This term has been used by UK based scholars who have described the spread of knowledge in an unlimited way, without the limits of time and space where the rationale is “anytime” and “anywhere”. However, an addition that has been made by the scholars in this case is the on campus learners as well as distance learners. In the case of United Kingdom, especially by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency that is known to be the non departmental public body that deals with the schools and educational facilities based in UK, the terms VLE as well as MLE are the favored ones. In this perspective the main fact that needs to be realized is that the terms VLE and MLE are two different logics in the case of virtual education. Some of the main universities offering VLEs include the University of Wolverhampton. UK is one of the countries which is truly enjoying the benefits of VLE as well as the ICT infrastructure and it is needed that this should be maintained. At the university level as well as the other levels of the education sectors the opportunities in VLE need to be explored and exploited. By making the right exploitations UK can become one of the world leaders in online education. The main aim of the education departments all around the world including the British universities, has been to provide fast and reliable education to students by saving the times of the students and the mentors. The rationale that is employed by VLEs is the use of faster and the most available facility, which is the internet, by providing the most reliable assessment tools for the coursework to be marked in an easier way. The concept that has been realized by the teachers at the British educational institutes in Britain is that VLE provides many helpful tools for use in educational institutions or coursework such as course content uploading, communication, assessment of the students’ work, the administration and handling of student groups as well as grading, questionnaires and tracking tools that help in taking the coursework in the smoother and a much more organized manner. Barajas (2003) says that in UK, it has been noticed since some past years that there has been an increase in the trend of distance learning as some of the students prefer to get education sitting in their homes rather than crossing the borders for it. It has been noticed in the case of the British Education system that most of the younger students take up jobs after high school which does not lend them any spare time to complete their studies. The VLEs as realized by the British mentors can be of help. In this case of distance learning, education can be spread at different levels and throughout the different corners of the world making access of education easier for distant students. Distant learning is the process that has been articulated because of virtual learning environment being provided to students. Virtual learning environment is the reality that has improved the portal of distant learning in many perspectives. As technology gets advanced better use of it is made in the fields required. However, the misuse and disorganization in this case can lead to a loss of the rationale that is associated with technology in use. Disorganization in the context of inaccurate tools and in the case of the use of inaccurate multimedia can lead to disorientation in the user as well as disengagement from the rationale of work. The enthusiasm that is associated with a certain educational activity might be lost if technology is used in an unorganized manner. For the use of virtual learning environments the educational departments at the British universities are to set a criterion for the use of VLEs so as they define the needs to be working along the lines of VLEs. VLE, if being used by the educational system, must match the educational requirements by the university or any educational facility. Preston (2004) says that education and knowledge go hand in hand, as they are necessary for each other and any one of these being missing cannot be appreciated. This has been considered as one of the most important requirement in technological times. The integration of knowledge and education can be done by means of using information technology mediated educational learning strategies. Moreover, this is the scenario calling for the use of VLEs. Virtual learning environments are being utilized by many of the institutions in modern days and these include scholastic, industrial as well as the technological institutes. VLE can be well thought-out as one of the most reliable E-learning tools as it can be helpful for E learning in the case of students as well as professionals. Information technology professionals at British universities As has been realised by the IT professionals working within the British education institutes, the concept of VLEs arises from the use of computational systems, including various computer related technologies especially the types of software in various kinds of activities that are mediated by communication as well as information technology. These are the virtual environments which make sure that various kinds of media as well as resources are used so as to make the best use of technology. Ghaoui (2003) says that the usage of media as well as resources can bring in the best kind of knowledge to students where knowledge is in an even more organized form. This is the platform that also allows an interaction between the people and students including the different professionals and this has been the main concept in the use and integration of VLEs in education. Only through this communication can the knowledge gap be narrowed and resolved and that can be one of the ways to reach the goals and aims related to the use of VLEs. The educational institutes in Britain have been trying to use the software system in the education sector so as to allow the knowledge gap between the education and the students to be dissolved in the best and the fastest way possible. It can also be used as a main logical support for distance learning systems. Moreover, VLEs can also be of great support in the case of traditional and customary activities that are usually observed in classrooms or any educational environments for that matter. These activities can be carried out over the internet increasing the interaction taking place between the students and the mentor thus decreasing the gap between education and knowledge. Other than the British institutes, the other countries including Australia as well as Saudi Arabia have been using other terms for VLEs and these are Course Management System (CMS), Learning Management System (LMS), Learning Content Management System (LCMS), Managed Learning Environment (MLE), Learning Support System (LSS), Online Learning Centre (OLC) or Learning Platform (LP). These are all the courses that are representing the online learning systems. According to Weiss, Nolan, and Hunsinger (2006), MLE is the term that is much wider in its meaning as compared to VLE. In the case of virtual learning the wider infrastructure of virtual educational learning is supported by MLE in an organization while VLE being in use in the educational facilities. Comparison of the previous day and the VLE days: British universities Older times have been recognized by the mentors at the British institutes as hard work in making lectures, organizing assessments and assignments and making traces on the students. The powers of the internet and information technology had not been known. There had been some educational back drafts that have been committed. Major errors have been made in the case of course designing that include a failure to engage the learner and an inability to realize the outcome of course contents. When MLE as well as VLE are used in schools based in UK, for this purpose the terms that are usually used to denote both is the “Learning Platform”. UK based professors and academic researchers have a belief that the learning platform makes use of all ICT based systems in education and to support learning. All the educationally supportive services, the hardware as well as the software are integrated in ICT systems in such a way so as to bring educational activities together inside as well as outside the classroom. In this way the student gets personalized as well as an online learning space making the teachers make use of stored courses, e-learning sources, make the communication with the others through peer communication portals as well as the facility of tracking process. Dale, Holland, and Matthews, (2006) say that it has been seen that most of the UK based educational institutes as well as universities have started to work around the lines of VLE or Course Management Systems (CMS) and here it is being used as an adjunct to the traditional courses including distant learners. Moodle has been created in the modern days while in the previous days online e-learning system had been managed by WebCT and Blackboard. There are many changes that needed to be made in these two software and they are in need of better up gradation as here is the part where the users of these two software make the instructors feel the need for more. Moodle as VLE in UK institutes Educational and learning infrastructures in some of the British education sectors face greater challenges these days which include providing the learners with education of higher quality and lower cost. Financial capital as well as human resources is deemed to be lesser in this geographical distribution. British people belong to an open source community whose project management abilities have been able to let them step up and make changes in the field of education in a virtual sense. The braining together of two professions as information technologies as well as the masterminds of the education sector have been able to together produce the latest generation virtual learning software, Moodle. Moodle can be the new hope for global learners. Martin Dougiamas, while working on his PhD at the Curtin university, designed the program and it has been his inspiration ever since as another socio-constructivist approach. Moodle by its footage had the features that excelled in the approach that was given to it so as to support learning. Laurillard (2002) says that Moodle has the user friendly version that makes its use easier for the mentors and professionals. In the user friendly interface it makes use of the mug shots of participants which helps in the community building. The programming of Moodle has been done in PHP. From around the world including Britain, technology professionals as well as highly qualified teachers have gathered on a platform to meet this challenge. In the beginning moodle.org had been created for the purpose of user interaction as well as support. It has been noticed that as many as a hundred of users can logon on a daily basis to search through the course contents and study forums. Esteemed moodle Features at the British educational sectors Moodle us being used by the mentors at the British educational institutes and has been appraised as of its rationale and the aims that it is associated with. Still there are some features that make educational officers recommend the spread of VLE globally, in the form of Moodle. Moodle offers discourse forums for students as well as teachers. In addition to this courses are available on Moodle in more than forty languages. An additional criterion that is being offered by Moodle is “Teachers" Hands-on Playground". This is the place where teachers have full control over the features of Moodle. In this case it also happens that some of the users might be in need of help in the case of the usage in spite of the fact that the interface is easy and user friendly. In this case Moodle has a huge number of people accessing it; therefore, a user’s problem can be answered or solved in a matter of minutes. Moodle is also supported by the FAQ section that makes it easier to explore and use. Layouts of Moodle The general layout of the Moodle software is shown in the figure. A good thing about it is that the elements on the page can be dislodged and can even be deleted. As the convenience of the teacher asks the sections on Moodle page can be hidden and changed as is wanted. Appraised virtues of Moodle According to Remenyi and the International Conference on e-Learning (2007), Moodle has a modiste mode that allows the ease of use as well as convenience. New fangled functions in this case can be added and deleted by dropping them into the directory of the site where all the functions of the software are stored. New languages can be added in a similar manner and there is a constant exchange of advice. The interface languages can be picked out by the user as he logs on. In addition to this Moodle has been given the ability of keeping a track of the logins that have been made as well as user tracking logs. The bulletin board or the discussion forum is a popular part of Moodle. Students can interact and make communiqué with their teachers as well as the other users from various corners of the world. An extra plug in the module that is available in Moodle is the lecture feedback module. In this case the attendance slips are printed out with a code and are handed out to the students. Using the code the students log on and a lecture feedback is posted by students. The lesson module allows the teachers to ask questions from the students in the form of comprehension or quizzes which allows them to make an assessment of what they have learnt. Journal module is the part where the students can keep a daily lesson diary. Moreover, the assignment module is the part where the student is supposed to submit a file that needs to be evaluated by the mentor. The instructor gives a feedback to the student by the help of a pull down menu that is resent in Moodle for use. Recommendations by the British universities The recommendations of using moodle by the UK based education sector are in the air but the main recommendations that the British universities have re-laid are meant to be taken into account by the other countries as well. The mentors at the British universities and Luppicini (2007) say that Moodle can be of many advantages and it is inclusive of the fact that the global learners can be gathered at one single platform. The high quality instruction being given out by the master teachers can be taken by global learners without any limitations for space, geographical location as well as time. As has been experienced by the British teachers, the subject teachers and subject experts at the various levels can collaborate with each other in many ways so as to make innovations in the coursework. This is the best practice that can help these master minds to succeed in their line of work and they can also pass this innovation on to the next generation professionals as well as the learners. Here with the help of Moodle the teachers and students collaborate with each other in a mutual manner. The creative collaboration can be discussed in many ways and one of the ways includes the organization and amalgamation of the genius built around one single group passionately having the aim of more and useful discovery for betterment. Duffy and Kirkley (2004) add that Moodle is the source of connecting the public as well as the private sector. In this case it can be assumed here that Moodle is the source that connects the public level education sectors as well as the private level education facilities. The teaching and education resources can be used in education facilities of both sectors. Moodle has its roots in Australia. However, these days the main development that is seen in the case of Moodle comes from global collaboration. In the start Moodle had been able to connect New York based executives with nonprofit organization based in Baltimore providing technical assistance to these executives. These are the main sources who are working on making and establishing the communities that cooperate with the innovative learning resources so as to bring together the global learning minds. Education in the Virtual worlds: challenges According to Orange and Hobbs (2000), education has its own importance. However, when it comes to virtual, technological world, there are many challenges that are related to education. The challenges are to be regarded in the case of a student’s perspective. The main problem that has been noticed in the case of virtual education is being up to the mark in relation to the accessibility criteria as the absence of screen readers makes VLE or visual systems being unable to be used by people who are visually impaired. Therefore, here it can be assumed that VLE is the subset of MLE. Most of the educators in the modern world are unaware of carrying out education especially in a virtual world. Virtual learning environments require the conduction of classes, lectures, assessment and discussion to be carried out in an online form and some of the instructors find it hard to carry out these activities as these activities require skills. In some of the cases the membership in the case of the software offering e-learning courses is free and in some cases the software asks for a membership fee of around $10 a month from the students. Opportunities in the virtual learning environments Kafai et al. (2004) say that the popularity of virtual worlds has increased since the last few years where the scenario related to online gaming as well as social networking has increased to a great extent. This has been the reason for the people innovatively thinking of making education go online and not keep in mind the distances. It has been predicted that 80% of the internet users located globally will be using the internet for the virtual learning process. The teachers as well as educational institutions that have made use of VLEs are already trying to adapt to the systems so that they get used to them and can easily pass it on. There are more than a hundred institutions from over eighteen countries using virtual learning environments for educational purposes. Still there are many mentors who are in the process of creating more and more virtual programs which can be easier to use and would be innovative for the educational purposes in the future. Newer and better opportunities are provided by VLEs as these are more adaptive and easy to be used. In this case each of the virtual tools has the ability of being regenerated in the way that the user wants. The tools are such that the settings can be changed with regards to any subject or course content. The teacher-centered model of instruction has moved to student-centered model of instruction and this has been the main opportunity provided by the virtual worlds. It has been estimated that the mode of instructions need to be moving from the teacher centered model to the student centered model. Wilson (2005) says that the constructivist learning theories are incorporated in the case of the student centered mode of instructions. In this case the learners and the students are given a chance of making use of their personal experiences to construct an understanding for the courses and lectures. In this way it can be said that by virtual learning environments, people interact in the ways that makes share their experiences as well as convey a sense of presence as compared to any other medium of instruction. If the perspective of the mentors and teachers is taken into account, it can be said that the mentors can spread the word out related to learner centered theories that can promote the constructivist and the problem solving ways of teaching. Authentic and original learning strategies are spread out by VLEs. Here the authentic learning is based on the facts as problem solving strategies, dealing with the complex problems as well as an analysis of various case studies. It can be added here that VLEs are more of the extension of the real world problems. Jonassen and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (2004) have argued that another concept that is being applied as well as implemented by VLEs is the active participation or active learning that has been adopted by the gaming generation. The students in this case are more than actively participating and this is needed in education as well. Active participation is made use in VLEs as the models of this nature are being used by the software of VLEs. Unintentional learning is promoted by VLEs as the students are made to add up to their education by using their intellect more than the books and papers. Multiple learners located globally learn to communicate as well as to discuss many things over the lines. Recommendations for the Educational institutes in Britain Using and Implementing VLEs Rogers and Howard (2009) say that United Kingdom is one of the countries where education has been one of the main standards of life. Higher standards of education have been achieved in United Kingdom. However, there are still many changes needed in the education sector in this country. Educational levels need to be advanced in this particular country in relation to the implementation of advanced technology in the education sector. Information technology as well as online surfing is one of the main trends that have increased among the students. The younger generation these days is more than just familiar with information technology as social networking and all kinds of social collaboration done over the web world. Thereby, there is a need for professors located in the country to understand that the increase in internet usage can be utilized in many ways especially for the spread of education for the ones who are unable to acquire it due to factors such as time and distance. In this case the main role that needs to be played is by the higher education, the funding bodies in United Kingdom and the ones who fund the education sector around the world. The higher education and funding bodies need to bring as well as support the logic of online learning and distance learning. They need to promote the world-class ICT infrastructure. In this case the mentors and higher authorities can make collaborations with UK based teachers and organizations. Secker (2004) says that education in these days needs a newer and a better approach as well as the rationale and that can be added by understanding that among other things education has become virtual as well as online. To be advanced and to excel in the field of e-learning the mentors, in the case of UK , the courses and the course content need to be accessed in a detailed manner from the resources which are organized on the database of VLEs in a coherent manner. This act can support online learning lead by the higher education institutes. In addition to this it needs to be made sure in the later time that these are the implications that need to be applied in the non higher educational institutes as well. The national centers of excellence are the ones that play their role here so as to support this implementation in both levels of the institutes. They can help by providing quality control, constant updating on the courses, research and development need in the education sectors, and more importantly, the educational psychology in the students as well as the teachers. Investments in the VLEs in United Kingdom Burgess and Taylor (2004) say that the funding councils as well as the research councils in relations to higher educational institutes are in need of making central investments in the case of e-learning. This can help in the maintenance and creation of the infrastructure of VLEs in the British educational institutes. More of leadership in the policies and the investments is also needed in the research data organization on the internet which is in turn in need of global level collaboration. Mishra (2006) says that the research councils in this case are in need to make reviews on their approach towards e-science so as to make a position in the international research criteria. Institutional information strategies The integrated information strategies are in need to be developed by the higher education institutes and this should be inclusive of all the innovative as well as the visionary approach. This should be inclusive of all the shared administrative services at the end of the higher education institutes that can be made even more innovative by the implementation of ICT related technologies. It can be added here that ICT will be much more advanced in future years as it is now. However, full confidence cannot be built on the newer technologies as of now. Therefore, the future plans need to be more strategic than visionary. For making more exploitation in the case of ICT, the role of the higher education institutes is to be expanded by saying that the roles being played by the higher education institutes is to be flexible, innovative and imaginative. Neto and Brasileiro (2006) say that in the case of the British mentors the main requirement is that the teachers as well as the students should be aware of the exploitation and usage of ICT infrastructure. The ICT infrastructure is inclusive of the high quality learning content in the form of course works and student assessment and discussion forums. The computer services departments, the information technology professionals as well as the higher education institutes are needed to train and help the mentors and the students to make use of the infrastructures. Elleithy, Sobh, Mahmood, Iskander and Karim (2006) say that leadership as and management skills are required to build ICT and VLE infrastructure, to understand it and then to maintain it so as the students, distance learners and professionals can gain as much as possible from the systems. The research led universities in Britain are required to put in the research so that the interested researchers can contribute. Conclusion Internet has made its way in almost every home, firm, public sector department and private sector department. By making VLE and ICT a part of the education sector the distances between the learners can be decreased and education can be made more available. The limitations that usually exist in the case of distance learners is removed. References Barajas, M. (2003). Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education: A European View. Edicions Universitat Barcelona. Burgess, H., and Taylor, I. (2004). Effective learning and teaching in social policy and social work. 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