MANAGING ICT


Top 10 tips for VLEs V


Virtual learning environments have been with us for 10 years,


but what difference are they making in schools? ICT expert and school leader Ben Solly asks the question


irtual learning environments (VLEs) started appearing in schools about 10 years ago. Some schools were very proactive and engaged their staff, students and parents effectively with the new online learning systems, yet some


schools are only just catching on. So, after a decade of VLEs, are they making a


difference? Are they engaging the young people in our schools? With austerity measures restricting school budgets, can schools find cheaper alternatives or free services? With some schools struggling to achieve the success


initially envisaged when they launched their VLE, it might be time to reflect on how their online learning platforms have been implemented across the school. There are a plethora of VLE providers available for


schools to select from. Some are very professional in appearance and are subsequently very expensive, others


19 June 2012 | The ICC, Birmingham


can be developed “in-house” and are therefore cheaper, or even free. What is most important, though, is that the school has a clear vision of how and why they want to use a VLE. Most VLEs provide similar functionality, they all have


their strengths and weaknesses, and although significant time and consultation should go into the selection of a VLE, it is critical that the school has innovative and creative staff who are willing and capable of developing these systems seamlessly within the curriculum. The effective school VLE should not be a standalone


entity. It should be integrated within the whole school ICT systems so users can navigate effortlessly to relevant learning and teaching materials. It should incorporate all curriculum content, provide online “cloud” storage, be accessible directly from the school website and above all be user friendly. However, I have noticed a trend in recent years


of some teachers discontinuing their use of a VLE because it does not do what they want it to, or they have discovered a free online service that provides higher quality learning opportunities. There is absolutely nothing wrong with innovative


The


National Learning Platforms Conference


practitioners using free online web tools to engage their students, but this good practice can be localised to a specific teacher or department and not disseminated across the school. With the right guidance a VLE can provide this “joined up approach” that encapsulates the vision of 24-hour learning opportunities for students. Below are my top 10 tips for effectively developing a VLE in your school.


Senior leadership ‘buy-in’


For a VLE to be successful, there needs to be a whole- school approach to its development, and ideally a senior leader in the school should have an oversight of how it is implemented and monitored. Some departments and individual teachers will always use resources more effectively than others, however small pockets of good practice in a school are futile if there is not a holistic application across the organisation.


Staff training


The most common complaint is that teachers do not have the technical capability to develop online learning opportunities for their students on the VLE. Or, they simply do not have the time. Staff training needs to be “hands-on”, regular and in small doses, with follow up sessions and targets for teachers to meet. Why not use student expertise to help develop the knowledge and understanding of teaching staff? Use Student Digital Leaders to lead staff CPD and allow them to shadow the ICT technicians to develop their own skills.


Visual appeal


Students and staff will expect a professional looking product when they use the VLE. Gaining their buy-in is essential, and having a visually appealing appearance will help establish this. Clearly there needs to be relevant and interesting content but do not underestimate the value of an aesthetically pleasing look. If your school does not have the staffing capacity to create professional looking pages, use free online services such as FlashVortex.com to improve the appearance of your VLE.


Make staff log on #frog12 Inspire. Create. Engage Register at www.frogtrade.com/frog12 or call 01422 395931 10


If you are having trouble getting your staff to log on, then give them no choice. Create an “online staffroom” where everything they need is accessible. And don’t let them access this information anywhere else. All documentation for CPD, performance management, trips, risk-assessment, calendars, notice boards, ICT bookings and bulletins should be accessible which will encourage staff to log on. Once they are confident in navigating their way around the VLE, adding content for students to access will be much easier for them.


High-quality content


The content available for students needs to be high- quality and relevant. Students are often exposed to irrelevant and unreliable content if they perform online searches, so the VLE needs to be an area where the content is specific to the syllabus they are studying to ensure they are learning relevant material. Everything you cover in lessons (and more) needs to be on the VLE. Extending more able students by including more


challenging content and learning materials is a very effective use of a VLE, and a big “win” with parents. This assures them that their child is not merely being overloaded with more work, but are being directed to materials that are fully extending them.


Involve all the school stakeholders


To achieve the holistic, whole-school VLE model, all the stakeholders of a school need to be using it frequently. This includes teaching and support staff, parents and governors. A purpose-built page, solely for governor use allows them to access relevant policies and documentation that give them an informed and “live” perception of the school. A parent that is able to access information about their child’s progress and see examples of their work gets a real insight into their development throughout the school.


Performance management


If a school is serious about engaging its 21st century learners by creating exciting, relevant and innovative learning opportunities, then why not create a VLE- related performance management target for all teaching staff? Or if this is too radical, then why not create these for middle leaders who will then disseminate this practice throughout their departments?


Embed free online web tools


There is a significant quantity of free online tools such as Prezi and Popplet that can be used to create exciting content that is easily embedded within a VLE. These web tools can help add to the visual appeal of the VLE while providing engaging content for the learners.


Creating a paperless working environment


Many schools are employing a print management solution to reduce paper use and printer costs. An effective VLE can significantly contribute to creating a paperless working environment by using the online hand-in folders that the majority of VLEs will feature. The online submission of student coursework or homework in favour of printing off assignments can result in considerable savings to the school budget, too. Marking student work online is a simple process


on most VLEs and once routines and systems within departments and school are established, this form of feedback to students is more efficient for staff, can contain more detail with regard to progress, and comes in a form that the students are very comfortable with. SecEd


• Ben Solly is assistant principal at Long Field School in Melton Mowbray.


SecEd • May 3 2012


Single sign on A single sign on solution means that once students and staff log on to the school network, they are also automatically logged into the VLE and their email, and this content is readily available when they open their web browser. This dramatically enhances the user’s experience


and means that students and staff are not required to remember several usernames and passwords. This requires significant “behind the scenes” work from IT technicians and network managers, but this seam- less integration of the school network, VLE and email increases efficiency significantly.


Inter


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16