The Virtual Learning Environment Education Essay

Is the Internet only about social networking sites. How does it relate to a whole new dimension of E-learning, what are its effects on traditional teaching methods?

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are prevailing in education nowadays and are effectively used to deliver training materials and assist the progress of communication within a module. There has been a comprehensive study which aimed at exploring the task- technology – for two main groups namely trainers and students with the help of VLE WebCT. It has been apparent that student’s task – technology usage, user satisfaction, perspective towards the usage and expected consequences of use were higher than trainers. Trainers had higher perceptions of social rules and regulations with higher perceptions of promoting conditions than students. However, there has been no difference in the level of practice of the VLE between the trainers and students. VLE had more impact on the learning of students rather than trainers in the whole learning process. These outcomes suggest that in spite of high levels of support approved by the tutors, they may still be confused about the benefaction of VLEs to their teaching.

Introduction

Higher education has been increasingly influenced by the progress of information and technology. The core training requirements in Universities and other institutes involve e-learning processes. Distance education has been possible with the introduction to new innovative courses due to the World Wide Web and online education is now available to in numerous students and lecturers for their training purposes (Peffers and Bloom 1999; Alexander 2001; Chen and Dwyer 2003). Information Technology has introduced new terms and forms which are further categorized into different segments. Some of these are e- learning, distributed learning and technology- mediated learning. The term ‘e- learning’ has been extensively used to define education and training which is supported by the Internet.

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A virtual learning environment (VLE) simplifies e-learning by supporting an information system. Teaching and learning is carried out through communication support, broadcasting educational material, storage and processing of the VLEs. In spite of the omnipresence of VLEs in teaching, much of the proof to support their use is unreliable or inefficiently established. The usage of VLEs by instructors and how they signify student learning has been a topic of debate for many researchers. They believe that an extensive theory should be available which is reliable and rigorous in order to authorize the usage and its complexities (Alavi and leidner 2001; Poccoli et al 2001). This dissertation will mainly focus on the difference between ‘Knowledge’ which has become more accessible on the Internet and the process of teaching and learning which has changed, but not always improved due to Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). Furthermore, it will also discuss about the ‘information society’ in a wider context. The title ‘global auction’ warns that the info society anticipated in the 1980s has failed to generate jobs, instead computer programs are used to substitute for skilled workers (in accountancy, education, law, manufacturing and other occupations) who become unemployed. This is partly because the internet facilitates outsourcing of jobs from the West to China and India, so globalization is another issue which will be discussed.

Virtual learning Environment

Virtual learning environment (VLEs) are defined as “computer based environments that are relatively open systems, allowing interactions and encounters with other participants” and delivering a huge database (Wilson 1996, p 8). Furthermore, he suggests that VLEs differ from computer micro-worlds and classroom based learning environments where we use technologies as tools or in micro-worlds where students help themselves by entering a self- contained computer based learning environment. Computer aided instruction (CAI) or computer micro-worlds have many similarities with VLEs. For instance, materials can be fetched or accessed individually by learners; different paths can be followed through them and can be utilized in material displays discrepantly. Although we see, that the VLE concept is much different and broader than the CAI as it adds new dimensions to individual learning. Electronic interaction and discussion, building up new infrastructure for widely available network are some of the things encouraged by the VLEs (Wilson 1996). In a broader context, VLEs augment the progress of an individual not only in the corporate sector but also enable him or her to connect and share experiences with a larger learner-learner and instructors group.

Chapter 2

Introduction

It has been observed that e-learning or VLEs had been the central supporting system for the formal countenance of learning by enhancing predefined formats and learning objectives. Although, it has been in the human nature to learn informally on the unconscious level which is essentially not based on traditional exams or curricula, as a part of education to some extent. The learning outcome can largely be depended upon VLEs which support and guide the learning system. E-learning and technology enhanced learning are provided with support and recognition with the growth of Social media with their probabilities to communicate to a larger group, reflect, relate and collaborate.

Research Review

On a global frame, it has been examined that social media have excessive potential influence on e-learning and technology- enhancing learning, mostly within the framework of contemporary learning methods (Baird and Fisher, 2006). This impact is however partly technologically derived. The whole truth is, with the concept of web 2.0, learning is influenced technically as well as socially. They encircle the strong alliance of informal environments, the desire to engage with the learning groups beyond the classroom environment.

Technologies like instant messaging (chat), wikis and weblogs are considered to be social media which enable users to publish and be a part of online communities as well as manage them in a broader scale (Schaffert, 2006). The publication and exercising of content is cheaper and more flexible unlike traditional media. Precisely, social media aims to connect with a broader mass by forming and supporting user groups and communities.

This dissertation focuses on the usage of social media in teaching and acquiring knowledge in higher education. The promotional culture of social media highlighted the shift of contents from producer generated to user generated content within the Web 2.0 framework. The standard change in the context of technology-enhanced learning symbolized the shift from traditional e-learning, established upon courses and the phenomenal of learning module to an active cooperation of the learners and their support as a community for general interest. So much so, social media is predestined to augment traditional learning and also e-learning environments. In a typical university curriculum, promotion or cultivation of informal learning with formal one is not done but Social media makes this possible. Informal learning has had a parallel shift from pedagogical standards from behaviourism to constructivism. It has been suggested that informal learning was held valuable due to its characteristics of being passively progressive outside the so-called traditional teaching. For example, Workplace – coordinated learning, where the amount of information is sought in a permanent basis. (Tochermann and Granitzer, 2008)

Research Questionnaires and Outcomes

I had taken an online survey which was responded by 100 people from different countries for this thesis which focuses on the articulation, development, application and evaluation of implemented situations for social media in the background of higher education. These implemented situations are designed to answer the most crucial questions listed below for my research questions. Subsequently, the outcomes for each are precisely summarized under the respective questions.

Are you familiar with the applications and technologies under Web 2.0 i.e Social Networking sites, Blogging, Web content Voting, Tagging, and Bookmarking? Can you tell me which of these do you use or used for your education?

This research question drew the fact that most of the students were familiar with the applications of Web 2.0 but had little knowledge about their impact on the society as a whole and how social media trends keep changing in a profound way. Most of them used Social Networking sites, completely unaware of publishing data. Moreover, this was used as the base to confirm their intent to use the internet.

Were you introduced to E-learning during your education? Library Catalogues, E-books, E-journals? Do you communicate with your lecturers via mail?

This question was also conducted for research amongst students to test their attitude towards e-learning. Except Wikipedia most of them had little or no interest in other user contents for education.

How do you think the concepts of E-learning 2.0 be applied to your education, if you are a software development or software engineering student?

While from the above answer it is apparent that most of them used Wikipedia as their learning source, weblogs also counted as the second application crucial to the implementation of e-learning 2.0. Weblogs had been newly introduced in the software development education as learning logs dated back in the 1990s when it was used as blogs only. HTML and FTP was used to publish web content.

How do you think ‘Peer Review’ or Self Reflection helps you when you get feedback online about your assessment or work?

The concept of Peer Review has been augmented to provide better assessment of software development students for themselves as well as their peers. In this way, a new adaptation meant better work as they now became familiar to faster feedbacks and more collaborative online components.

How do you think the concept of Social media can be used to refer to a larger audience globally? Can we think of distance learning without social media? If no then why? Use examples to support your answer.

These questions aim to externalize knowledge and were used as an online mind mapping tool. Probing how they use visualization of information to their maximum abilities. This is the traditional way of new features in the social media education arena which enhances students to determine the possible outcomes of e-learning. Possible use of situations for education have been improvised and evaluated.

What do you think about mobile learning in higher education? Does scrolling down a map while you’re outside help you? You can explain what you think about location based services.

Mapping materials provided possible mashups for location based services as it has been seen as the renaissance in the previous years. To support successful expedition in higher education, a collaborative system essentially location based and lightweight had been developed.

Structure and Methodology

The methodology applied to the analysis presented in this thesis is constructed on the notions of situations and services denoted to itemize the crucial topic of social media to clarify concrete problems and enable learning in definite situations.

Situations or Plots

“Situations or schemes are the devices for improving our perception”. A problem becomes insightfully manageable and can be better mastered by putting a composite set of events and relationships into a story. (Van der Heijden, 1997)

A plot is an ‘idealized but detailed description’ of a specific scenario (Young and Barnard, 1987). Furthermore, a plot is an informal approach widely used in provisional engineering (Alspaugh and Anton, 2008). One of the critical advantages is the comfort of the designer to predict outcomes before trying to specify them, making necessities more proactive in the advancement. (Carroll et al., 1998)

These situations can be used to define and identify details of individual research investigation. Furthermore, developing evaluation situations for individual investigative goals can be used efficiently after research. In the scenario of education, the OECD puts forth the definition of situations for the research of expected education in order to administer a basis for stakeholders from different fields to establish long-term strategies. (OECD Publishing, 2006)

In technology- enhanced learning, situations or schemes are used in the parameter of an activity-based instructive theory. In this instructive model, learning situations are described as a series of activities, a list of associated user roles, system tools which are applied, and the tutorial content (Helic, 2005). These schemes provide the fundamental assembly of the learning process within this methodology.

In the background of this research, situations were used firstly to define the individual issue domains for specific aspects of social media to be adapted to education and thus, by providing concrete scenarios, simplify the possible influence on the learning process. Secondly, these situations describe a test of cases with the help of which the suggested solution can be evaluated to examine the validity of the access.