Category Archives: 100 ways

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #78 Taking a vote

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Whoever said education was a democracy?

Most of the time learning is not a democracy, practitioners tell the learners what to learn, when to learn and how long they have to learn.

However over the last few years, the Learner Voice has become more important and relevant to the learning experience of many learners.

…learner involvement covers a wide variety of practices that seek to enable, equip and motivate learners to voice their views and actively shape their learning…

Developing a Learner Involvement Strategy, LSC, 2007

One way in which you can involve learner views is through a vote and many VLE systems now have voting systems built in or can be downloaded.

One such system is EasyVoter for Moodle.

100 ways, assessment, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #8 Assessment Feedback

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In a previous entry in this series I wrote about how the VLE can be used for assignment submission and setting an assessment.

You can of course use the VLE to provide feedback on those submitted assignments or assessments.

Feedback is important to learners, it allows them to reflect on their work, to improve the current future work and improve their potential to finish and succeed on the course, module or programme of study.

Traditionally feedback was written onto the handwritten scripts that the learner submitted.

We have moved along a little since then, it is now, as already mentioned, very easy to set an assessment on the VLE and for the learner to submit their work on the VLE. It closes the circle if the feedback on the assessment is also on the VLE.

Though some practitioners like to write on scripts, this can be challenging if the submitted work is electronic, I know you can say print it off, but what about if the submitted work is a poster, a website, a presentation, a video, an audio recording… quite challenging to write feedback on an audio recording!

It makes much more sense to place this feedback where the learner can access it. Of course feedback needn’t always be textual, and using audio, video or screencasted feedback means the ideal home for this feedback is on the VLE. It needn’t get lost in the pile of papers that most learners carry or in the hundreds of e-mails if it was e-mailed. Most institutional e-mails have a limit on the size of the mailbox and this can cause issues not just for the learner who receives the e-mail but also the practitioner who sends feedback (and they will send it to a whole class).

Remember they may need to access it more than once, especially if they have to resubmit for example. Feedback is not a one off process it can be useful for reflective learners to re-read feedback on not just their latest piece of work, but also past pieces of work so that they can enhance and improve future pieces of work; demonstrate that they do understand and can apply the substance of the course.

Feedback is important, it doesn’t have to be on or live on the VLE, but the VLE can be a useful place to deliver and store feedback on assessments for learners.

Picture source.

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #47 A gallery of images

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You can very easily add images to a course on the VLE, but what about a whole series of images? Also why would you do this?

Imagine that you are a catering lecturer and you have taken a series of images of a cooking technique, it could have been boning a chicken, filleting a fish, cutting carrots… It would be nice to be able to add the images to the VLE and importantly allow learners to access those images easily and simply. It’s not just catering, plumbing, electrical, construction, motor vehicle engineering, biology…

Another reason is that the learners have been on a field trip and a series of photographs was taken and you want to share those images not just with those learners who went, but those that didn’t or couldn’t.

Think about an assignment based on a particular city or town, a gallery  of images can be used to show off attractions or places in that place.

On Moodle I have been using Lightbox Gallery.

As well as creating a very attractive gallery of images you can configure the Moodle module to allow learners to comment on the images.

One of the features I do like about this, is that though it is useful to resize the images (from a disk space perspective) if the practitioner does not have the skills (or probably more likely doesn’t have the software) to resize the images. If the images are uploaded as is to Lightbox Gallery then Lightbox Gallery will resize them for the end user depending on their screen resolution.

Another attraction of Lightbox Gallery is that it can also be used to show off a PowerPoint presentation without the learner needing to download and open the presentation – also useful if that learner does not have PowerPoint or is accessing the VLE from a mobile device.

Showing a gallery of images is a nice visual way of enhancing a learning activity.

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100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #4 Having an online chat

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Discussion is a really useful way of enhancing learning, whether it be a formalised classroom discussion or seminar, or an informal discussion arising from a presentation or a video.

How many though consider the needs of different learners and learning styles when facilitating discussion? Some learners are reflective and they need to time to think and reflect on the discussion. Some learners may be working or on online courses won’t be able to join a face to face discussion.

Live discussion using a chat facility on the VLE is one option that facilitates discussion in a way which allows quieter learners to contribute.

It is not an either or situation, it’s not about having just online chats in the same way as it is not just about having all face to face chats, it’s much more about allowing a range of discussion using different mediums to reflect the different needs and learning styles of different learners.

You could also have an online chat in order to provide evidence for Communication Key Skills, as chats can often be recorded or saved.

Online chats are not difficult, but do require (in the same way that a face to face conversation does) some planning and facilitation. It also helps if you try out a chat as a user first.

Another way to use chat is to provide online support

So how do you go about that?

Post a notice to the VLE that you will be hosting a live chat and state the time and date.

I will be hosting a live chat from 7pm to 8pm on the 20th April.

This will provide an opportunity for your learners to ask you questions and discuss issues. This is useful for any group of learners, but specifically useful for those undertaking blended or online courses.

A live online chat facility is a useful tool, and as the VLE itself handles the authentication process, learners needn’t worry about creating new user accounts or remembering passwords for when chat is used.

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #51 Course News

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We often have to tell learners many different things at different times.

What time the lessons are? What assignments are due and when? When there are special events, guest speakers, additional support? How to get an extension on that essay? Room changes, teacher changes… you know the kind of thing.

We may send them letters, give them notes, tell them verbally in the classroom, mention it to them in the corridor, e-mail them, post it to Facebook or Twitter, etc….

We may think we’ve told them but they may have been away that day, not listening or plain just forgot!

In order to ensure that not only they know what you’ve told them, but also ensure you know what you’ve told them, it makes a lot of sense to create a virtual noticeboard on the VLE for all the news about the course. And of course in following years you have a record of what news you posted in the previous year.

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #23 Rewarding Learners

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Too often in education we focus on the poor behaviour of learners and absence. Forgetting sometimes to reward those students who do attend every session and do follow the rules.

We probably do similar things with the VLE, admonishing learners who haven’t done online activities or joined in discussions.

By rewarding those learners who do make use of the VLE, for using the VLE to support their learning, etc… then you are sending a message to the group; that learners who work hard, obey the rules will be rewarded.

So how can you reward learners?

  • Sometimes it can be randomly from all those learners who filled in the feedback survey.
  • Sometimes it can be fun, see how many times a student has accessed content on the VLE over a week – there will always be one who spends all week clicking links…
  • Hide and seek, see who can find a particular link or reference in all the resources on the VLE.
  • Most useful learner in a discussion.

So what should be the rewards?

Well, it would be nice if it was an iPod touch! Of course we don’t all have the money or budget to do that. However what about the following:

Assignment extension voucher – one extra week for submitting an assignment.

  • Coffee voucher for college cafe
  • Lunch voucher for college dining room
  • Chocolate bar
  • Fruit (if you have a healthy eating strategy)
  • Vouchers for local stores (see if they will donate them)
  • Certificates

Of course rewards for learners needn’t be exclusively for those that use the VLE, they could be any learning activity.

Case study from the Excellence Gateway that inspired this post.

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #20 Providing library information

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One of the more traditional ways of providing information about the library is in the course handbook, via a poster or on the college website.

The VLE is one more way of providing learners with information on the library. Though with the extra tools and functionality that the VLE brings, the learners won’t only be able to access information on the library, but also engage with the library and library staff.

It’s not just about having information about when the library opens, services available, computer bookings, rules and regulations…

It’s not just about having lists of e-resources and links available…

Nor an electronic guide to the books, journals and newspapers that learners can borrow and read.

It’s not just about embedding library systems such as Heritage (or similar) so that learners can check their loans or reserve books.

A VLE has a lot more functionality, and library teams should really make use of that to ensure that the

Remember with a VLE that information can be video, or audio, or a virtual tour!

A VLE can have a discussion forum, a place for learners to seek help and ask questions.

A VLE can have quizzes; an induction quiz for example, or a questionnaire to solicit feedback from learners on how they are (or are not) using the library.

A VLE can be used for virtual inductions, reader development progammes, study skills, information skills, reading skills and other short courses or workshop sessions.

Curriculum teams will also be able to embed or links from the library into their courses, ensuring that the library and its wealth of resources are easily available to the learners on the course. Generally if learners use resources from the library (guided by their teacher) in addition to teacher provided resources they are not only more like to achieve on their course of study, but will gain higher grades or marks.

The VLE is not an obvious place for many library staff, but it makes sense to use it to support the core library function. In the same way that the VLE is often used as a supplement to the physical learning environment, the librar,y which is often a key area in the physical learning environment, to not have a similar area on the VLE would be depriving learners of an effective resource to enhance their learning.

100 ways, blog, blogging, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #14 Writing a blog

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I is writing a blog!

Though you may be reading this on my blog, for some practitioners and learners using a blog is an alien idea and they may not even know what a blog is, or what blogging means.

A VLE can be a quick and easy way for practitioners and learners to start blogging and learn the value of blogging.

A blog is an abbreviation of web log (weblog) and to put it simply is a log of commentaries, observations or reflections that is placed on the web.

Maintaining a reflective journal, thoughts about assignments, or writing notes about lessons; these activities can all be done on a blog.

However…

Not everyone has the confidence or the technical ability to start a blog.

Now I know that starting a blog is a piece of cake, however that may be easy, it is not necessarily such an effective practice for a complete class, curriculum area or a whole college.

Some institutions may consider putting a WordPress MU Server for blogging purposes. However this may not be an option for all colleges. If a WordPress MU Server is put in, then you can link to college systems to ensure that every learner can create their own blog.

Though one issue is not just technical confidence, but also confidence in what is being written. It’s one thing to write a reflective journal and be very open, it is a fundamentally different thing to post those reflections on an open blog for all to read. A learner is likely to be less open if they know everyone, their mum and their employer is going to be reading it. So you might want to close it off to just the learner (or learner group) and the tutor. This requires a modicum of technical confidence; can we assume that every learner can do this?

So though blogging systems such as WordPress or Blogger are great tools for individuals, they don’t really scale with groups or whole colleges.

This is where the VLE can come in.

It’s already configured with logins for learners, so that’s one job done, learners and staff who already use it have a familiarity with it as a tool.

You can use included blogging tools, but for some learners even a discussion forum might be a useful starting point. Advantage of built-in blogging functionality will be (hopefully) that it generates an RSS feed.

Blogging has real potential to enhance and enrich the learning experience of many learners; the VLE can be the right tool for some practitioners in introducing the concept to their learners.

Regardless of the above, if learners want to use other tools such as WordPress, Typepad, Blogger, instead of using a provided blogging tool on the VLE, then practitioners need to consider how they are going to incorporate these blogs into the learning activity. An obvious route is to use RSS feeds from these blogs.

The VLE is not an ideal blogging tool, but for many practitioners and learners it can be a useful and scalable blogging tool.

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100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #2 Noticeboard

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A noticeboard is… what, a board with notices on it!

Okay…

Well it’s a little more than just a board with notices on it. It’s a way of giving learners information about their course, their learning, their assessments and other college related information.

The problem with a physical noticeboard is that it takes a fair amount of time to keep it updated, valid and accurate. Another key problem with a noticeboard is that it is constrained by its physical location, you can’t access the noticeboard when the college is closed for example, or when you are busy elsewhere in the college (eg in a class).

A virtual noticeboard on the VLE can remove many of the issues with a physical noticeboard.

Learners will be able to see which is the newest notice (it probably is the one at the top of the list of notices).

Some VLE noticeboards allow you to configure when a notice will appear. This will allow practitioners to post notices in advance and they will “magically” appear on the right date and time. These same noticeboards also will “magically” remove the notice once it is out of date. This makes it so much easier for practitioners to administer the noticeboard, it makes it easier to keep in the information current; it also ensures that learners only see the right material and not stuff that is out of date!

Logging tools or stats on the VLE allow the practitioner to check who has actually accessed the noticeboard – obviously it can’t tell who has read it (but then you can’t do that with a real noticeboard). The other aspect though of a virtual noticeboard on the VLE is that learners can post comments (or replies); handy if they need clarification or don’t have a clue what you mean!

Due to the virtual nature, it is possible to edit and add to existing notices, useful if deadlines of assignments change, say due to snow.

The most obvious advantage is that learners can choose when to read the noticeboard; they can choose at a time and place that suits them. With a physical noticeboard, they must make an effort to be in the same physical location as the noticeboard and take the time to read the notices.

They will forget…

With a noticeboard on the VLE they can go back and check the notice.

With a noticeboard on the VLE, and if configured correctly, they might be able to grab an RSS feed of the noticeboard notices; this can then be embedded into their iGoogle, into their Facebook stream, on their phone as SMS, through their PS3 on their TV.

Of course you can enhance your notices with audio and video; try doing that on a physical noticeboard! As you can embed video into notices or attach audio recordings; suddenly your notices can be come more engaging.

Another feature of many VLEs is interactivity; now add that to your notices and you will be able to get immediate responses from your learners about your notices. These could be text responses or polls.

Having said all that it would also make sense for the learners to be aware of the virtual noticeboard and as a result you may want to put a notice on the physical noticeboard to check the virtual noticeboard on the VLE!

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100 ways to use a VLE – #71 Embedding video

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So you may be old enough to remember the launch of Channel 4 (or even BBC 2 and ITV) however in this day of Freeview, Sky and cable; our learners have access to 24 hour television and hundreds of channels.

However many people are deserting the traditional home of video, moving away from watching video on television and watching video on YouTube.

The statistics of YouTube are amazing.

In September 2008 I reported on my blog that 13 hours of video were been uploaded to YouTube every minute!

Now 20 hours of video are being uploaded every minute!

Now one of the nice features of services such as YouTube is that you can embed the video into a webpage.

This means that you needn’t worry about configuring a streaming server, encoding video, etc…

As a result it is very easy now to upload video to the web, and insert (well embed) that video into any webpage of your choice, which means pages on a VLE.

Now one of the issues you may find with your VLE is that the security settings restrict you using embedding code on pages or discussions forums on your VLE; this is certainly the case with Moodle.

So you’ve embedded the video, what next?

It’s not just about the video, you can’t just place a video on the VLE and expect it to do everything. As with video in the classroom, you need to consider the video in the context of the learning activity. You may example ask your learners to watch a short video clip and comment on the video in a VLE discussion forum. Another example would be to use a video to reinforce a resource on the VLE.