Who Selects the VLE to Use?

A couple of days ago I questioned how a big institutional platform like the virtual learning environment (VLE) might be used to drive change. Implicit in this was the assumption that the VLE is an institutional tool, chosen collectively, in contrast to learners each selecting their own tools within their personal learning environment (PLE). Continue reading “Who Selects the VLE to Use?”

For Change’s Sake

“Not another new system to learn?”  Learning to use a new piece of software is often seen as a time consuming, de-motivating overhead and yet with upgrades, improvements and  new opportunities migration is often forced on us whether we like it or not. Institutions faced with a new set of technical demands as well as training requirements are very careful about even minor upgrades to essential software like email or the office suit.  Yet adaptability is probably a skill we all ought to acquire… and perhaps other good can come of such enforced change? Continue reading “For Change’s Sake”

Blackboard CourseSites, the VLE and the Cloud

Yesterday Blackboard launched CourseSites, a web-service based on their Blackboard Learn platform where teachers can create their own courses and invite their students to enrol.  For anyone who works at an educational institution which has the latest version of Blackboard as its virtual learning environment (VLE) it will look very familiar, but making a comparison between the same platform hosted institutionally and in the cloud is quite revealing. Continue reading “Blackboard CourseSites, the VLE and the Cloud”