ABSTRACT
A VLE is a world of learning populated by real people who think, read, type in their comments and questions in online discussions, laugh, feel pleased or disappointed, plan their study and occasionally fall out with each other (see Figure 11.1). It is also a world that more and more learners and teachers are experiencing-and not just in distance education of the kind illustrated in Figure 11.1. In the UK the Dearing Report (NCIHE, 1997) reflected and gave encouragement to the increasing use of communication and information technologies (C&IT) in what were once regarded as ‘conventional’ settings-campuses. As a result of this trend, many more teachers and learners face questions about how to orient themselves to VLEs. This chapter aims to provide just such an orientation for teachers new to VLEs-whether these are in-house environments as in Figure 11.1, or commercial products such as WebCT and Blackboard. The VLE in Figure 11.1, developed by The Open University, has many features in common with environments used around the world. It allows students to choose, on one screen, from a large range of study-related options. In the left-hand menu, for example, they can click on descriptions of the activities they are being asked to do. When they want to carry them out, they click on the name of their tutor (Barbara, Erica or Gavin) at the top of the menu on the right. This brings them to their online tutorial group where they type in their activity messages and read other people’s. If they want to ‘meet’ all the students on the course, however, they click on ‘Plenary’ in the second cluster on the right. In the Plenary they can also discuss with visiting experts online, and socialize with fellow students in the online café.
