© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

CLANThe UHI Virtual Learning Environment

Collaborative Learning and Academic Network

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Open Source solution

• We are in control• It can be made to fit our needs• It covers our pedagogic range from SVQ

to PhD (Simple to Complex)

• It grows with us• Integrates with other applications• Sits within our open e-learning architecture• Joint efforts through dev community

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Architectural integration

Student Information SystemCourse/Module Information, Assessment Results

VLEClanClan

NOVELLog In

Email

Discussion Board

Assessment Engine

Knowledge Management

Tools

Other Tools

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Architectural integration

Library

Help/Support

SRS

AuthenticationPORTAL

Legacy systems

Learning Environment

Content ManagementSystem

CaféClub house

Other town buildings/systems

single sign on

“Town community exists because of the fullness of services. Do away with one public building and it will be less of a town”

UHI’s eLearning architecture

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Developer Community

New functionality Improvements, bug fixes Training

University of Leeds

BodingtonUni

vers

ity o

f Oxf

ord

Web

lear

n

UHI Millennium Institute

CLAN

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Targets

Current VLEs (Blackboard, WebCT, Lotus)

LTSN description(available from: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/tlt/resources/VLE.pdf)

Your requirements

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Overview of featuresCommunication between tutors and students

eg email, discussion boards and virtual chat facilities which support various types of communication: synchronous and asynchronous, one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many.

Self-assessment and summative assessment

eg multiple-choice assessment with automated marking and immediate feedback.

Delivery of learning resources and materials

eg through the provision of learning and teaching materials, images and video clips, links to other web resources, online discussion and assessment activities

Shared work group areas

Allows designated groups of students to uploadand share files as well as communicate with each other.

Support for students

Could take the form of communication with tutorsor other students, provision of supportingmaterials such as course information andFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

Student tools

eg individual student web pages, ‘drop boxes’ forthe upload of course-work, electronic diaries andcalendars.

Source: LTSN, Ros O’Leary: Virtual Learning Environments

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Overview of features

Management and tracking of students

eg usernames and passwords to ensure that onlyregistered students can access the course;analysis of assessment undertaken by students ortheir use of materials within the VLE.

Consistent and customisable look and feel

A standard user interface that is easy for studentsto understand and use. Courses can beindividualised with colours, graphics and logos –but the essential mode of use remains constant.

Source: LTSN, Ros O’Leary: Virtual Learning Environments

Navigation structure

Structured delivery of information supported by astandard navigation toolbar. Most VLE softwareassumes that students will work their way throughlinear sequences of instructional material. Othersare more flexible and will accommodatealternative information structures, eg multi-pathcase studies.

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Process

Information Services Committee

User Group Technical Group

Defining UHI user and subject requirements

Implementing UHI user and system requirements

Academic Partnerand UHI representation

Project Manager

User consultationand testing

UHIstaff & students

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Training

TimescaleF

UT

UR

E D

EV

EL

OP

ME

NT

FU

TU

RE

DE

VE

LO

PM

EN

T

CLAN programming development

Migration

Roll-out date

Old pilot VLEs

Terminationof old VLEs

© W.Greller & J.Smith 2004

Training

DeliveryCourse creation

Author communityWorkshopsHandbooks/ManualsLD guidesFAQDirect support

ForumJoint online trainingMAPD modulesHandbooks/ManualsDelivery support