Choosing a VLE

As a student who has used Moodle both at secondary school and college level, I think that although it may be the best option in terms of accessibility and ease of use for teachers, they are failing to see what pupils think of the system itself. In my discussions with peers about what they think of Moodle they think it is grossly overrated by teachers. The idea of a VLE itself is a brilliant one, access to content whenever, wherever makes homework and revision a relative doddle. However the user interface and overall design of moodle is appalling. In an age where students are used to well designed social networking platforms like facebook using the highest levels of web design technology, moodle is a step down from the things that are most likely to distract them on the internet. It is sluggish, unattractive and uninspiring. Perhaps teachers ought to ask students to test some of the other available commercial platforms rather than looking at it from a "teacher knows best" perspective. Yes in many ways the teacher does know best but at the end of the day the VLE is for the students and at the moment they don't have a say in which VLE they would feel comfortable or even inspired using. for me moodle is not a top rate solution to the problem of learning online and means many students have already switched off from the fantastic oppertunities it offers for learning.

Matthew,

Your comments about pupil in when choosing a VLE really couldn't be made to work in virtually all schools. There is one reason that backs up my statement. It would not be possible to put the effort into actually setting up and using the different VLE's under selection and then use them in a classroom to be able to give the pupils a feeling for which is best. There are many technical reasons for this, but the biggest issue is you would have to train any teachers that want to try the different VLE's out in each of the different VLE's. This simply would not happen. In the school I work at it is very difficult (read as almost impossible) to get teachers to use the VLE we have selected let alone numerous others.
Also, the opinion of the pupils would have little effect on the selection of the VLE as there are much more important factors of a technical nature that far outway any 'cosmetic' reason for pupils liking one VLE over another.
Give me a VLE that works, achieves something, is easy to use, links into the schools management system (in order to create accounts and course etc in order to reduce management workload) and I would be a very happy person. Unfortunately this VLE doesn't yet exist but some organisations are getting pretty close.

Graham,

You mention that some organisations are close to the 'perfect' VLE, which ones are you thinking of? All I have seen so far are unworkable in my (primary) environment.
At the moment I am heavily considering the Capita bolt on to allow online parental reporting, but this is merely to ensure my school ticks all the government boxes, not for the good of my school.

Hello Graham,

I work for a Company called Concept 247 Marketing Services and we have developed a 'bespoke' Parent Portal for Primary and Secondary schools. The main difference with ours is we are able to 'read' from any MIS and have that information viewed in one area for the parents.

Now the schools are able to choose what information from their MIS they require the parents to see. Please visit www.parentportal.org.uk to find out more information. You will also be able to click onto our Demo to see what has been achieved thus far.

We are also currently working on a VLE and listening to the schools to what they want out of it.

Concept 247 MS believe in giving value for money and also what each individual school requires because at the end of the day each school is different.

Many thanks,

Ken Pereira

I have used Moodle, and I am inclined to the students comments - very dated look'n'feel, which can be critical for actual adoption of the technology.
I have had more success, as far as acceptance and take-up, with GoogleApps. Although it isn't promoted as a VLE, it really does address many of the needs of schools for collaboration and communication. 7 Gb storage, email, chat, productivity applications, shared calendars (with free SMS alerts!), shared start page, website tools and more. But is it a VLE?
You have to have something to communicate and organise, but if you have, 'it just works'.
Anyone else have any comments? Did I mention that it is free?

Could anybody recommend or shed some light on the content available to moodle?

cheers

I am a user of Moodle as a lecturer in tertiary post grad education and a sixth form college. I agree that Becta has not been at all helpful in this debate. Buying a service is obviously the right approach, but why waste money on a software license when you don't need to. There is plenty of support around for a popular platform like Noodle, and potentially no support in the future for a lame duck expensive package that is being put out of business by Moodle.

Hi
I only just caught up with this. I'm still shocked by the original attitude of Becta on Moodle; I've worked with Moodle in Further and Higher Ed, and in other fields including Lifelong Learning and NHS Trusts, for a number of years and I've contributed to Moodle itself (the MrCute Moodle Repository system released March 2008 was my baby). Moodle support may be unorthodox (compared with commercial products) but it's effective and fast.

I've spoken at secondary/primary level meetings where commercial VLEs have had the support of the local powers that be - sometimes (I believe) simply due to fear of open source software and a hope that commercial vendors will provide better support (!). Of course, there's nobody to "plug" Moodle at these meetings and the organisers often seem to have no knowledge of who to ask, whereas the commercial vendors are readily available. I'm not saying there's a problem with any or some of the commercial systems, only that Moodle (and other open source solutions to online learning) should also be considered.

Moodle is now used by about 76% of UK FE institutions, and while it may be that some originally went down that route because of perceived cost, most are now with Moodle simply because it does the job well, is easy for most people to use, is infinitely expandable and is a tool for learning, not a tool for making profits.

I'm happy to discuss and advise further (free by email at richard@learningobjectivity.com) if anyone is thinking about their future use of a VLE and wants a few hints and tips from experience.

Richard Goddard
www.learningobjectivity.com

An excellent programme which highlights all the issues surrounding the successful adoption of a VLE in schools and particularly Moodle. We've had Moodle for 3 years now and would not change it for anything. It's easy to use, it's evolving as fast as it's users want it to. The Open-source nature means that new initiatives are being added by programmers on a regular basis reflecting what's happening in the sector, and reacting to all the Government initiatives that are being thrown up every 5 minutes. I thought Mark McNulty was excellent in his realistic, no-nonsense approach and is correct in saying we really don't know how this entire project is going to pan out. It's all new, innovative, exciting and hopefully ground-breaking. Intuitively you know it must be making a difference, it's just difficult to know how to measure its success......but that's another discussion!

A very good programme for schools as they will all be coming to the issues of VLEs sooner or later.

Dealt with the issue of Moodle well. I was originally sceptical of Moodle when it first came out because I knew that a lot of colleges were making the decision to use it because it was free and not getting appropriate support.

However, once I looked at Moodle I was immediately won over. It is as good if not better than many that are paid for but anyone adopting it must be prepared to pay for good support, rather than trying to do things on the cheap.

It is interesting watching Becta wriggle over their rejection of Moodle (as used by the OU!) as a recommended VLE platform. The assumption that commercial products are safer than open source comes from the same discredited ideology that came up with PFIs. In fact Moodle is likely to be more secure in the long term because it is not proprietary and so anyone can support it and contribute to its development. This is demonstrated by the local authorities setting up training and support like CLEO in the video here. Moodle early adopters are also setting up commercial service consultancies to trade on their hard-won expertise. Of course it is far easier as a school to change the service provider than the platform if problems arise. One of the major advantages of Moodle is precisely because you can start small and try it for yourself and, if you get stuck, there are hosts of able people willing to help push your wagon out of the rut. Likewise, in school networks, Edugeek has spontaneously arisen to provide support to colleagues that would cost an arm and a leg through commercial vendors and would probably begin with stage 1 call centre operative reading to you from the manual you have already read. Becta should be shamed into reconsidering its subservient attitude on these matters.