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Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Virtual learning environment

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is an education system based on the Web that models conventional real-world education by integrating a set of equivalent virtual concepts for tests, homework, classes, classrooms, and the like, and perhaps even museums and other external academic resources. It normally uses Web 2.0 tools for 2-way interaction, and includes a content management system.

Virtual learning environments are the basic component of contemporary distance learning, but can also be integrated with a physical learning environment; this is sometimes referred to as Blended Learning.

A virtual learning environment includes web-based access to class content, grades, assessments, and other class tools. It is also a social space where students and teacher can interact through threaded discussions or chat. One type of program that schools use as an online “classroom” is Blackboard.

A virtual learning environment can also include students and teacher “meeting” online through a synchronous web-based application. The teacher is able to present lessons through video, PowerPoint, or chatting. The students are able to talk with other students and the teacher, as well as collaborate with each other, answer questions, or pose questions. They can use the tools available through the application to virtually raise their hand, send messages, or answer questions on the screen given by the teacher.


Virtual learning can take place in any environment. Learning can take place in two different ways. One possible way is through synchronous learning which is done in “real time”. In these classrooms, teachers conduct live classes. Students can communicate through a microphone, chat rights, or by writing on the board. Another way students can take their classes is through asynchronous learning, which is sometimes called “self-paced” learning. Independently, students are expected to complete daily lessons and assignments through systems, such as Blackboard. Asynchronous courses have deadlines just as synchronous courses do, but each student is learning at his own pace, while the latter is focused around the virtual classroom.

In a virtual learning environment, students have flexibility in their education. Students in this setting have support from online teachers and can have support at home from a parent or caregiver. Collaboration and communication between teachers, students, and parents is essential and allows for individualized learning.

In 'Virtually There', a book and DVD pack given out freely to schools by the Yorkshire and Humber Grid for Learning Foundation (YHGfL), UK, Professor Stephen Heppell writes in the foreword:

Learning is breaking out of the narrow boxes that it was trapped in during the 20th century; teachers' professionalism, reflection and ingenuity are leading learning to places that genuinely excite this new generation of connected young school students — and their teachers too. VLEs are helping to make sure that their learning is not confined to a particular building, or restricted to any single location or moment.


Virtual university


A virtual university provides higher education programs through electronic media, typically the Internet. Some are bricks-and-mortar institutions that provide online learning as part of their extended university courses while others solely offer online courses. They are regarded as a form of distance education. The goal of virtual universities is to provide access to the part of the population who would not be able to attend a physical campus, for reasons such as distance - where students live too far from a physical campus to attend regular classes; and the need for flexibility – some students need the flexibility to study at home whenever it is convenient for them to do so.

Some of these organizations exist only as loosely tied combines of universities, institutes or departments that together provide a number of courses over the Internet, television or other media, that are separate and distinct from programs offered by the single institution outside of the combine. Others are individual organizations with a legal framework, yet are named "virtual" because they appear only on the Internet, without a physical location aside from their administration units. Still other virtual universities can be organized through specific or multiple physical locations, with or without actual campuses to receive program delivery through technological media that is broadcast from another location where professors give televised lectures.

Program delivery in a virtual university is administered through information communication technology such as web pages, e-mail and other networked sources.

As virtual universities are relatively new and vary widely, questions remain about accreditation and the quality of assessment.


The Virtual University experience can be accurately summed up in the following excerpt:

"A post-secondary educational environment, delivered electronically through a communications medium, which mimics a real-world post-secondary environment in every aspect, resulting in an educational experience equivalent to one normally received by attending the same university in the physical world."


Financial aid


Until 2006, United States students enrolled in online degree programs were not eligible for federal student aid unless at least half of their program was campus-based (a law established in 1992 and known as the 50-percent rule).   

In February 2006, that law was repealed, making federal student aid in the form of federal loans, grants, and work-study available in the U.S. for students enrolled in an eligible online degree program at an accredited Title IV-eligible institution.


Prevalence of online education


The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a distance education study based on the 2001-2002 academic year at United States 2-year and 4-year degree-granting institutions that were eligible for U.S. federal student aid. The study reported that 56 percent of institutions surveyed offered distance education courses. The study also found that public institutions were more likely to offer distance education than were private institutions.

The Sloan Consortium, based on data collected from over 2,200 U.S. colleges and universities, reports that nearly 3.2 million students took at least one online course during 2005 (a significant increase over the 2.3 million reported in 2004). According to the same report, about two-thirds of the largest institutions have fully online programs.

Quality of learning online


Online education enables accredited higher learning for individuals living with physical disabilities, busy full-time employees, soldiers, those living abroad, and stay-at-home parents, among others.

The perception of the quality of online degrees compared to on-campus degrees varies. While most major online colleges are regionally accredited, the public estimation of their quality is in dispute. A national survey of hiring representatives showed that a preference toward on-campus degrees exists. In some instances, hiring executives were unwilling to consider applicants with an online degree.  Some experts argue that degrees in certain fields are more accepted online than in others, while some programs are less suited for online-only schools.

A survey by the Distance Education and Training Council found that 100% of employers who responded felt that distance education program graduates performed better on the job as a result of their degree (as compared to their previous performance). Additionally, employers felt that an employee receiving a distance education degree compared favorably, in terms of knowledge learned, to someone with a resident degree.  On the other hand, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in January 2007 on a Vault Inc. survey that found 55 percent of employers preferred traditional degrees over online ones. Forty-one percent, however, said they would give "equal consideration to both types of degrees".

The Sloan Consortium, an organization funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to maintain and improve the quality of distance education, publishes regular reports on the state of United States distance education. In its 2006 report "Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006," it stated that "in 2003, 57 percent of academic leaders rated the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those in face-to-face. That number is now 62 percent, a small but noteworthy increase".

In some instances, an online degree may be effectively indistinguishable from a degree earned in a campus-based program. The instruction is often exactly the same, with the online degree containing no special designation. An example of this is the degree offered to Columbia University students who earn a degree through the Columbia Video Network (CVN) versus the campus-based program.

Accreditation


The goal of educational accreditation, according to the United States Department of Education, is to ensure that programs provided by institutions of higher education meet acceptable levels of quality.  ENQA, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, describes the role of external quality assurance in education as one that "combines both accountability for the reassurance of the public and an objective and developmental role for enhancing quality in institutions".  In the area of online education, it is important to avoid unaccredited diploma mills that offer fake degrees, as these are unfortunately common. Students seeking valid online degrees should obtain proof of accreditation from an appropriate accrediting body.

In the United States, online colleges that are fully accredited have earned a widely recognized form of university accreditation from one of six regional accreditation boards.   Each of six geographic regions of the United States has one of these boards, a non-governmental agency that oversees and accredits degree-granting institutions headquartered in their areas. The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognize the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) as the accrediting organization for distance learning institutions and education programs that offer online degrees. However, DETC accreditation is commonly (though not universally) viewed as inferior to regional accreditation, and regionally accredited schools may refuse to accept transfer credit from DETC-accredited schools more often than they would refuse credit from other regionally-accredited schools.

Outside of the United States, other national and regional standards of accreditation hold, and may be highly supportive of distance education. For example, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, or Open University of Catalonia, has been accredited by AQU, the Agency for Quality Assurance in the Catalan University System (a full member of ENQA), since its inception in 1995, and has been called a "significant success story" as "the world's first continuous, and sustainable, virtual university".

Online degree


An online degree is an academic degree (usually a college degree, but sometimes the term includes high school diplomas and non-degree certificate programs) that can be earned primarily or entirely through the use of an Internet-connected computer, rather than attending college in a traditional campus setting. 


Improvements in technology and the increasing use of the Internet worldwide have led to a proliferation of online colleges that award associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.