Virtual Learning Environments: Using, Choosing and Developing your VLE

by Weller; Martin

• ISBN13: 9780415414302
• ISBN10: 041541430X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-04-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Virtual learning environments are widely spread in higher education, yet they are often under utilised by the institutions that employ them. This book addresses the need to move beyond thinking about the VLE simply in terms of the particular package that an institution has adopted, and viewing it as a significant educational technology that will shape much of the teaching and learning process in the coming years. Considering how virtual learning environments can be successfully deployed and used for effective teaching, it sets out a model for effective use, focussing on pedagogic application rather than a specific technology, and seeks to provide a bridge between pedagogical approaches and the tools educators have at their disposal. It contains essential advice for those choosing a VLE and encourages all those involved in the deployment of a VLEs to use them more productively in order to create engaging learning experiences.

Author Biography

Marten Weller is Professor of Educational Technology at the Open University, where he was Director of the VLE project.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. viii
Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xi
List of abbreviations	p. xii
What we talk about when we talk about e-learning	p. 1
VLEs, democrats and revolutionaries	p. 10
Using common VLE tools	p. 16
Beyond the VLE	p. 29
Choosing a VLE	p. 43
MLEs and metaphors	p. 58
Standards and specifications	p. 72
Learning Design	p. 86
The open source option	p. 96
Personalization and VLEs	p. 111
Affordances and patterns	p. 120
Case studies	p. 129
Technology succession	p. 140
VLE 2.0	p. 149
Activity used in Learning Design	p. 165
References	p. 168
Index	p. 175
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