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New learning environment
28 March 2003  I  Riina Vuorikari
Checklist for Schools to Choose a VLE
Are you planning to start using a VLE in your class? Decided to obtain a VLE? Take a moment to contemplate on the following points.
  • What purpose is the VLE for?
    “You get what you order” It is good to ask yourself (and your colleagues!) what purpose do you need the VLE for? If is it going to be used as a communication tool in collaborative school projects different functionalities are needed than when having a Learning Content Management System that interfaces seamlessly with the rest of your school’s administrational system.
  • What kind of a VLE to obtain?
    Get information from user-groups, other users, and ask your colleagues for experiences and best practices. You have plenty of options; the field of VLEs is near to saturation soon. There are different off-the-shelf products or are you going to opt for free software or open source applications?
  • What kind of resources do you have?
    It is not only about money, it’s also about time, time, and time again. Anyhow, it’s good to think how much money do you have to put into a VLE. Think about the maintenance costs and about administrating the system. And don’t forget about the training of the staff! It is absolutely no use to buy a system if you are not going to train and motivate your staff. More complicated VLE requires more training!
  • Pedagogical aspects
    Are you planning a whole pedagogical shift to come along a new VLE or is it going to be a complementary element in the teaching? Think how much learners can benefit of the VLE if you set clear pedagogical targets and educational objectives for its use. Collaborative projects can be great motivational push for students, but you can also support learners’ cognitive skills with a VLE that has build in pedagogical guidance.
  • Security
    Take the safety of your learners seriously. Make them to read the privacy policy, use passwords to sign in, and make them to understand that the netiquette rules on the Net!
  • Standards
    Think if you need a system that conforms to existing eLearning standards. Do you create and transfer content into and out of your VLE? Are you going to link the VLE to some other applications in your school, is the system compatible with the wider ICT infrastructure of your school?
  • Accessibility
    Accessibility for all is enormously important issue! Web should not exclude anyone regardless his or her impairments. Make sure that the VLE you are about to select conforms to World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) .
  • Problems?
    Try to envisage possible problems and hurdle to overcome. Being well prepared helps you to face them!

      • Links:

      Links to comparison grids:

      Other good site to read about VLEs:

      Web Editor: Paul Gerhard
      Keywords: abstraction
      Last changed: Monday, 20 June 2005
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