eLearning4schools.net

To judge whether VLEs have a role within the new education landscape to enhance teaching and learning it is necessary to examine the available research evidence.  Research literature is only beginning to emerge relating to the benefits of VLEs on teaching and learning in schools in the UK, as the market for VLEs is still developing.  But by drawing on the more extensive evidence from further and higher education, where the use of VLEs is more advanced, it is possible to identify potential benefits for schools.The aim of this section is to summarise both my own observations and research of others (providing references for further reading) in order to highlight potential applicability in the school sector.

General Benefits

• Users could find it easier to use the ICT found within the various components of a VLE as it offers an integrated environment rather than discrete offerings (Dorner et al, 2000).
• The different options to communicate are increased allowing users to choose those appropriate methods for different tasks (e.g. through email, discussion groups and chat rooms).
• The VLE provides a consistent look and feel across the whole school.

Benefits for students

• Access to learning wherever and whenever required (Jacobsen and Kremer, 2000).  This will improve flexibility in learning and allow students to develop independent learning skills which will prove invaluable in the new knowledge economy.

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ICT provides a profound potential to make the taught curriculum significantly more relevant, purposeful, creative and flexible and more widely accessible, supporting all learners at all stages throughout their lives and in ways that best suit their own particular learning style.Within our schools and educational establishments, ICT also presents a genuine opportunity to support all teachers in their planning, teaching and learning.  The government also see the potential of ICT use beyond teachers and learners but include parents, support staff and governors.  The government also highlights that ICT should also be used as a means of enabling learning to take place more easily beyond the bounds of the formal (more…)

We thought this post would be a great way to outline how important it is for us as teachers to think about the sort of world our students are going to enter when they leave school. The changing landscape of the world means that we must look at how we teach.

If we consider the world our students live in and consider the classroom we teach them in, they quite literally are stepping back in time in many of our classrooms. Incorporating eLearning into our teaching is something we must ensure we do with urgency!