Speaker: Dale Munday, digital learning facilitator, University of Lancaster. Enhancing the idea of the VLE to provide an engaging experience is is key for sustaining progression with education technology. Creating rich, persistent conversations makes learning more visible and accessible to the entire class. Teachers can engage students in project-based learning with text, video, and voice using integrations. Harnessing student social interactions allows educators to enhance the learning and provide an engaging space to assess and feedback. This session will demonstrate opportunities to empower students while helping them develop the skills they'll need to be successful in the future.

1. Not a VLE, but a Virtual
Learning Environment
Dale Munday, Digital learning facilitator

2. VLE or Virtual Learning Environment
What do they do?
“Cloud-based and user-focused, Canvas is the
most reliable and adaptable VLE available.”
“Cloud-based and user-focused, Canvas is the most
reliable and adaptable VLE available. The VLE that makes
teaching easier.”
“Firefly gives teachers more time to teach, enables
students to learn in ways that work best for them, and
involves parents with their child’s learning every step of the
way.”
“Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide
educators, administrators and learners with a single
robust, secure and integrated system to create
personalised learning environments.”

3. Is there a difference between a VLE and a
virtual learning environment?
Thoughts and Opinions…
Yes, but probably no! I associate a 'VLE' with platforms
such as Blackboard and Moodle. A 'virtual learning
environment' probably implies something more broad, and
flexible, although is possibly the same thing when drilling
down. In my head, though, a 'VLE' is slow, not flexible, not
innovative and implies posting and uploading resources but
not necessarily engaging with them.
A VLE sounds a lot more corporate, closed,
and imposed by the system. A virtual
learning environment is exactly that. Open,
flexible, with possibilities for everyone
This question is biased you are
implying that there is a difference by
asking why! I see I difference but if you
had asked about an LMS I would have
said they were not the same.
VLE stands for Virtual Learning
Environment which are one of the same
- but if you are asking what a virtual
learning environment should be then it’s
not a single space it’s an interconnected
set of online/digital spaces & tools that
work seamlessly together.

4. Continued…
A VLE is an acronym for virtual learning environment. This is normally
based on a product i.e. Moodle canvas blackboard et cetera. But a
virtual learning environment is many things. To best describe VLE
would be to call it a digital solution to support the students journey.
This can be many things but I believe they support collaboration
participation communication teaching learning and assessment.
Not that I am aware of. The
focus should be how it is used
to scaffold students.
No ... Staff knowledge and understanding of
acronyms or over reliance on the expectation of
everyone knowing what an acronym means. But
where does an LMS fit in? (Learning
Management System)
No they're the same thing, it's just
peoples perspectives ( file dump
versus actual virtual learning
environment to support the learning
journey of students and staff).
They are obviously the same thing in theory, however the
term ‘VLE’ has become known for the traditional VLE such
as Moodle, blackboard, Canvas etc. Whereas an exciting,
collaborative, communicative, purposeful, modern,
inspiring, app-based experience is what a ‘Virtual Learning
Environment’ should be… Unfortunately people are fearful
of moving away from a traditional VLE as they feel
‘comfortable’ with them, but platforms like Teams just get
people doing the aforementioned things ‘off their own back’,
because it’s truly intuitive, purposeful and modern and feels
‘2019’, not ‘2005’.

5. Proprietary Eponym
A brand name or
trademark of a
successful product,
that has come into
general use to refer to
the generic class of
objects rather than the
specific brand type,
without the exclusive
rights to said product
being lost by the
parent company.

6. What is changing?
Digital Learning Environment
• “As Technology Enhanced Learning continues to
develop, it is clear that some form of digital
learning environment will remain core to
institutional practices; the levels of integration,
features and porosity will continue to change,
driven, and potentially driving the behavioural
shifts we see in staff and students.” (Laurie
Phipps, Jisc)
Next Generation Digital Learning Environment
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/7/the-ngdle-we-are-the-architects

7. What are the alternatives?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
under CC BY-SA-NC
This Photo by Unknown Author
is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA

8. From content to conversations
There are many examples of current VLEs is being used simply as repositories
of content. Despite attempts to move away from this, the reality is that many
lecturers see their VLE as a place to put their presentations and other material
(and VLEs designed primarily for this). Discussion fora and other features exist
and are used, but typically the model is about digitising what is already there,
with content being the main focus. Other practices rely on innovative
instructors trying hard to use platforms they and their students find less
intuitive than they would like. The VLE becomes a place to go to when you
have to, not because you want to. In addition, enterprise-wide VLEs are
becoming strongly embedded into institutional systems and administrative
processes, arguably making them more difficult to move away from. (Phipps,
et al., 2018)

9. Questions, Comments, Observations

10. customerservices@jisc.ac.uk
jisc.ac.uk
Thank you
Dale Munday
Not a VLE, but a Virtual Learning Environment
d.Munday@lancaster.ac.uk