Personal Blogs

I summarise what I’ve written before in previous blogs, but then structured this according to task 2f:

How do the various arguments align with your own experience?
I understand the Universities’ point of view that a VLE provides control. Tools from outside, integrated in a central organised VLE provide a clear overview of what students learn (course content), how they interact (forum, blog, elluminate) and how they collaborate (wiki). As a learner this structure helped me to start my first online course properly.  I would have been lost if it had just been me and a large selection of internet tools and I simply had to find out which ones would be best for which purpose. I favour Sclater’s (and Weller’s) argument that a default environment makes it clear to the students which tools are needed and in which environment. The OU clearly uses this method as they assigned Delicious to us as an example of Social Networking. There are numerous other applications (Digg, EduTagger etc) that we could have used but we had to work with Delicious. It gave us an idea how to work with these tools in general and now we have these skills can choose our own. For me this approach worked well.
I strongly agree with Weller’s opinion that the Tools on the web need to be used. Learning by using is one of my slogans as well.

Are you broadly in favour of PLEs/use of Web 2.0 in an educational context?
I am in favour of using PLEs and web 2.0 tools in an educational context. One can find numerous tools  on the internet which suits my needs and certainly  the needs of others as well. However, I agree with Sclater that there has to be some kind of default tool which we all use in order to communicate with each other. My experiences with University VLE’S are limited to the OU’s LMS. I like the set up, although I hadn’t initially realised, that the OU used a Moodle based VLE and made it their own. The OU certainly transformed it to ensure the VLE meets their demands and makes it possible to use web 2.0 tools in a controlled environment.

I believe that VLE’s are there as some sort of safety net. They ensure that all students and tutors achieve a baseline level  in working with web 2.0 tools and it is then up to the individual to decide how much further they want to take it.

Using my PLE in a default environment would be the perfect solution for me. We can’t deny the existence of the PLEs and tools outside the VLE’s. Why don’t we bring them together? I therefore agree with Paul Coulthard’s comment on his blog where he says that he prefers a mixture of a VLE and a PLE: “....but one that would still not address those learners who do not embrace Web 2.0 technologies or those students who choose to separate the social use of them from their educational use.”

Or do you foresee a number of issues and problems?
Although I favour the use of PLEs and web 2.0 tools in education, I also foresee some problems or difficulties. Technology develops in a fast pace and for tutors/staff/teachers it might be difficult to keep up with the latest tools. If there isn’t a default environment, the divide amongst those who are able to use this technology and those who aren’t will continue to grow.
Another issue raised by  Sclater was the difficulty of assessing students. It would be difficult to assess students if they all use different tools. However, I strongly agreed with Weller that Universities and educational institutions should review their ways of assessments. Wouldn’t it be better if we assess processes alongside end results?  Isn’t it better to assess how one contributes in addition to what one contributes instead of carrying out the same assessments as 20 years ago with today’s technology? I believe this would be a true reformation and a huge step forward.

To conclude, I am in favour of a controlled environment to introduce learners to technology where necessary, and support many of Sclater’s opinions, but my own use of web 2.0 tools outside the OU’S VLE proves that I look for tools which suit my needs.  Somehow I try to integrate this into my study and into my tasks. I use it alongside the OU’s VLE but as well for pleasure and personal persuits.

Some interersting articles by Sclater. Here are my thoughts on the article

The “Key Questions to ask” in Sclater’s (2008a) paper are valid questions in my current work environment as we are (still) trying to implement an LMS in our school. The Board of Governors has chosen a commercial company to do this, but I am inclined to agree with the comments Sclater made in his conclusion , that this kind of solution does not offer enough flexibility. It doesn’t allow for enough customisation and this is something that, in my opinion, is very important. As a school, we need to be able to continually modify the system until it meets our demands. Ultimately, the teachers have to work with the system (in terms of providing content and organising the learning environment for the students) and therefore their input is very significant.
Costs are also an important issue for us. Our LMS requires a yearly fee of an average of 3 euro’s per student. We have over 900 students which means close to 3000 euro a year on licenses only. This is a significant amount of our IT budget. Using Open Source software would certainly bring us the benefit of cutting the costs of our current LMS system.
Another advantage of using an LMS based on Open Source software is that you have a instant support community to help you set up and develop your system. Knowledge is available, it is out there and we can benefit it from it. However, I would agree with Sclater that the downside to using OS Software is the time scale involved. Working with discussion groups takes longer, people need to reply to forum questions, try different coding solutions etc. There is no instant response.
To avoid having the same old discussion about which technology to use, we need to look to other successful projects and use these results and experiences as a starting point. We have evidence that at least certain elements of these projects have been successful and can try to combine them.  We could also ask prospective users to agree on a set of important criteria, before making a selection.

Cheers, Eugene