The Virtual Classroom

The Virtual Classroom

Distance learning is nothing new. For decades, students have applied for correspondence courses and received material via post. These students would then complete homework assignments and exams at home or in authorized training centers, and then submit their work.

With the Internet, the possibilities for distance learning are almost infinite. With the Internet, students can engage in asynchronous learning regarding any subject they want for a relatively cheaper price, when compared to class-based training. There are many types of virtual classrooms, some being simple websites and others being full 3D environments.

The Traditional VLE

The first Virtual Learning Environment developed was a package called WebCT developed by the University of British Columbia in 1995. Others soon followed such as BlackBoard and the open-source Moodle project.

These VLEs are ideal for what is known as 'blended-learning', i.e. the combination of real and virtual learning techniques. One frequent example of this is a lecturer providing notes, homework and additional material on a VLE, and the giving real-world lectures.

Moodle is particularly interesting since it is open-source.



Moodle currently has 72,177 verified installations with a total of 57,112,669 users in 5.8 million courses. Moodle offers several features such as:

• Assignment submission.
• Discussion fora.
• Online tests with automatic or manual grading.
• Calendars, news and quizzes. 
• A user-editable wiki.

Users can enroll to courses anonymously, via an enrollment key given by the lecturer or via individual approval. Like many other VLEs, Moodle supports SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model). SCORM is an authoring tool with which content creators can create web-learning activities, such as games, tests, simulations and more. Being an open-standard, most VLEs support SCORM and content is interchangeable.

Besides being a VLE, Moodle is also a Learning Management System (LMS). Whereas VLEs focus on the delivery of content to the student and vice-versa, an LMS focuses on the creation of courses and student accounts, assigning students to courses and promoting users to lecturers, permissions, parent portals and more.

Locally, the Maltese Government has invested heavily in Fronter+, a learning platform which provides all of the features of a typical VLE, with special attention on parent involvement, student reports and continuous grading and much more.

Article Link: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110923/local/fronter-launched-in-malta.386043

Interactive VLEs

Several software design for multiple purposes can be well adapted for education. This includes chat software such as Skype and social networks such as Facebook.

Teachers are known to create Facebook pages for their classes/subjects. The popularity of Facebook means that almost all students would already have an account and can easily add themselves to the group. Using Facebook, the teacher can attach content, ask and answer questions, create class calendars and send group communication to students - all this from Facebook, a tool which was never intended as a VLE.

Another popular tool is Skype. Using Skype, student and teacher can engage in a virtual conference which includes text, audio and video communication as well as a virtual whiteboard and file sharing.

Google Groups is another popular e-learning tool. Most classes/courses at universities have a Google group or mailing list page which allows communication between students and teachers. More recently, Google has also launched Google Hangout, which allows for a free, video-enabled conference to occur between any Google account user.

Apple has also opened up to the e-learning world thanks to iTunes U. Via iTunes U, schools and universities can make content available online - for free or via a charge - including slides, videos and other files. This content can then be accessed on computers as well as IOS devices such as iPhone, iPod and iPad.

Virtual Environments

Full immersive environments are also available for educational purposes. Several schools and universities have created classrooms and auditoria as well as virtual campuses in environments such as Second Life. Using these environments, students can login and listen to and take part in interactive lectures virtually.

Innovations

One innovative project is the Sloodle project at http://www.sloodle.org/moodle/. This project aims to merge together Moodle and Second Life. The Sloodle island on Second Life provides residents with a free object. This object is then configured from within Second Life to display the contents of a Moodle page. The object can then be placed in any land owned by the resident and this way the resident has quickly setup a 3D web presence with all their existing content within Second Life.

Figure: Virtual Classroom

Pro's and Con's

There are several advantages to using a Virtual Learning Environment. These include:

• Users can learn from wherever they are, even if they do not have access to a school/campus. 
• Users can learn whenever they want - after work, whilst taking care of children, in the park - there is no time restriction.
• Educational institutions can save time and money creating and distributing printed material by placing all material online. 
• Missing lessons can be a thing of the past thanks to asynchronous training, recorded lectures or simply the ability to attend lectures from home. 
• Eliminating commuting time and reducing a user's carbon footprint. 
• Reducing resources needed for student training including class rooms, media, teaching resources and more.

However, VLEs also bring with them disadvantages, as does any new technology.

• Students may feel isolated from each other or society. Though most VLEs allow student-to-student communication, they are not intended to replace social interaction between students. Many of the greatest technology projects we use today including Google and Facebook rose from University friendships. Perhaps, with the use of VLEs exclusively such friendships - and hence their derivatives - will be rarer.
• A large number of distractions may exist at a student's home or office, meaning that they cannot concentrate fully on what is happening. This could result in poorer student performance. 
• Cheating may also be a possibility, especially when taking online tests or exams. This being said, several VLEs offer facilities to monitor the user's screen and a web cam while the user is taking an exam. 
• Existing users, especially elder students, need to be trained and become accustomed to using a VLE. This is also true for teachers. It may be harder for the Maltese government to train primary and secondary school teachers to use Fronter than it is for the teachers to train the students!