Saturday, September 04, 2004
Online Articles - Evaluating Virtual Learning Environments
| Evaluating Virtual Learning Environments: What are we Measuring?
Mary C Dyson and Silvio Barreto Campello Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, The University of Reading, UK M.C.Dyson@rdg.ac.uk S.B.Campello@rdg.ac.uk. | 
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| 1. Introduction Institutional strategies for the development and use of ICT in Higher Education in the UK are now in place, as recommended by the Dearing Report. At the University of Reading, one of the principles of the strategy is that new technologies should encourage rethinking of pedagogical aspects of teaching, learning and assessment. The Virtual Learning Environment Blackboard was purchased in August 2000 and there are currently approximately 100 courses online. The Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE) in Brazil, the home university of the co-author, has developed their own system, VirtusClass. Evaluation provides feedback for course developers on teaching and learning and is an important part of quality assurance. However, constraints on time and possibly expertise preclude most developers from detailed studies. Whilst it is still important to carry out evaluations of individual courses, looking for more general principles derived from experiments can provide guidance in the design and development of VLEs. Such research may also address issues that are not covered in many evaluations. | |
