Virtual Learning Environment & CALL

1. By: Zahra Farajnezhad

2. Virtual Learning Environment VLEs is a software system designed to support teaching and learning in an educational setting, as distinct from a Managed Learning Environment (MLE) where the focus is on management. VLEs in educational technology is a Web-based platform for the digital aspects of courses of study, usually within educational institutions. They present resources, activities and interactions within a course structure and provide for the different stages of assessment.

3. Virtual Learning Environment VLEs is a system for delivering learning materials to students via the web. These systems include assessment, student tracking, collaboration and communication tools. VLEs is an education system based on the Web that models conventional real-world education.

4. Distance learning is also, quite old. In the 1840’s Isaac Pitman taught his pupils shorthand via correspondence. This form of symbolic writing was designed to improve writing speed and was popular amongst secretaries, journalists, and other individuals who did a great deal of note taking or writing. Pitman, who was a qualified teacher, was sent completed assignments by his students via the mail system and he would then send them more work to be finished.

5. From 1968 until 1980, In the USA, the first primary online courses were offered by the University of Alberta’s Department of Medicine. In the 1976 the Open University launched its first online classes. The institution is one of the pioneers to offer internet-based courses for credit and even considered to be the first college or university to do so. The Open University also developed the whiteboard system, not in use any more, that allowed teleconferencing before the invention of Skype or Google Talk.

6. The world’s first fully remote community college – Coastline Community College, established in 1976. It possessed a few scattered but its focus was on self-directed learning. This is the first school to offer a fully online degree. was also “mini-campuses”

7. The 2000s saw e-learning entering the business world and becoming a popular form for training new employees qualification. or rising their As of 2010, e-learning has been inspired by social media such as YouTube, Twitter, iTunes, Skype, etc. The last decade was quite prolific for the development of online learning and added many interesting and useful aspects to it. A great variety of new terms also emerged in order to represent the fast evolving online educational world gamification, localization, learning are just a few. mobile and learning, social – e-

8. A virtual learning environment or VLE is an online education platform. It is used as an extension of normal school lessons. A VLE contains many tools to help students learn their subjects. Students can access the VLE from home by logging in to the system.

9. A virtual classroom is an online learning environment. environment can be web-based and accessed through a portal or software- based and require a downloadable executable file. The

10. • Just like in a real-world classroom, a student in a virtual classroom participates in synchronous instruction, which means that the teacher and students are logged into the virtual learning environment at the same time.

11. Software engineers and user experience (UX) designers are trying to inch the daily technology solutions closer to the way that humans access and use it. This includes, but is not limited to, modifying or developing technology that functions like a human being and even out-performs human beings. We may be talking about space sciences or a small classroom in an urban school – virtual technologies are leading us to make valuable mistakes in a relatively safer environment. The result? A more time and cost-effective solution that trains amateurs towards mastery at record-breaking pace. Now that is something truly worth our time and budget.

12. Books, Articles, and Other Writings Video or Audio Lectures Instructional Videos Professional Certification Courses Distance Learning Degree Programs Podcasts High School or University Classes Webinars

13. The Digital Interactive Classroom forms the backbone of the VLE, which can be accessed by the classroom computer and Class pads. Students can learn asynchronously, in any environment and at their own pace. They have the support of a 'collaboration tool' called Class Teacher Study Circles.

14. It is a social space where students and teacher can interact through threaded discussions or chat. It includes online chat with student’s mentors, where they can resolve their queries and discuss their performance with them.

15. Teachers can use templates to create tests, assessments and quizzes. Students can submit their assignments to the teachers and share documents with the class or with the teacher.

16. VLE economizes the time of the teaching staff and provides instruction in a flexible manner to students independent of time and space constraints. It administration, creation of lesson plans using existing or new resources, monitoring of students and allocation and checking of assignments. allows for effective classroom assessment,

17. Virtual classroom courses are complete programs of learning. They comprise of sequences of synchronous and asynchronous activities. Live meetings, chats, discussion forums are all synchronous activities, while asynchronous events include independent or group task-works, submitting assignments and emailing the course instructor for additional questions.

18. virtual classrooms require a course mentor who can lead learners through the subject and who can also attend online meetings. Once this basic requirement is met, virtual classroom courses offer the following benefits over independent eLearning courses:

19.  Flexibility in learning and improved activity: These courses have the freedom to combine lectures, individual and team activities, reading and even online testing. Learners can work directly with peers and gain meaningful feedback Scaffolding on new topics is much quicker and smoother. Q&A sessions, from them.

20.  More disciplined learning community: A strong sense of community” feeling is instilled in the group. They engage more actively and take responsibility for their comments and feedback. The group feels a sense of community and moves towards common learning goals. Direct contact with the instructor and peers help keep learning more disciplined and consistent.

21. Virtual classrooms appeal a sense of familiarity: Learners in virtual classrooms are familiar with the requirements and expectations of the course. They find themselves comfortable with the teaching, learning and testing methods.

22. More adaptability for the learners: The instructor monitors the classroom directly and is able to assess the individual needs of each learner and the needs of the group more easily in a virtual classroom. The instructor can address any upcoming concerns and issues more responsively. The content and presentation can also be adapted closely to the learner’s needs.

23. Virtual classrooms use collaboration tools to re-create the structure and learning experiences of a physical classroom. Well-designed virtual classrooms provide a richer interaction while alleviating the requirement for everyone to be at the same location. Find out if your course needs to be delivered as a virtual classroom.

24. Different types of VLE There are fundamentally two types of VLE : Synchronous training Asynchronous training

25.  Synchronous: means “at the same time,” involves interaction of participants with an instructor via the Web in real time. For example – VCRs or Virtual class rooms that are nothing else but real classrooms online. Participants interact with each other and instructors through instant messaging, chat, audio and video conferencing, etc and what’s more all the sessions can be recorded and played back. Its benefits are:  Ability to log or track learning activities.  Continuous monitoring and correction is possible  Possibilities of global connectivity and collaboration opportunities among learners.  Ability to personalize the training for each learner.

26.  Asynchronous which means “not at the same time,” allows the participants to complete the WBT (Web-based training) at their own pace, without live interaction with the instructor. The advantage is that offers the learners the information they need whenever they need it. It also has interaction participants through message boards, bulletin boards and discussion forums. Its advantages are: Available instant learning and reference. in time’ for ‘just Flexibility anywhere at any time. of access from Ability to simultaneously reach an unlimited number of learners. amongst Uniformity onetime cost of production. of content and

27. A new form of learning known as blended learning is emerging. As the name suggests it is an amalgamation of synchronous and asynchronous learning methods. Using both online training through virtual classrooms and also giving CD’s and study material for self-study is now being increasingly preferred over any single type of training.

28. Advantages of a Virtual Learning Environment Easy Tracking andAssessment: With your virtual learning environment software, it’s easy to tell which learners have completed the activities. Built-in assessments like quizzes can help you ensure they’re absorbing the material.

29. Advantages of a Virtual Learning Environment  Seamless Delivery: Every learner has access to the same material, no matter when he or she gets joined. Your message is consistent through the years; when you make a change in classroom policy, that can be updated in your learning system, and all learners have access to it.

30. Advantages of a Virtual Learning Environment  Time Savings: They can be accessed both on and off-campus, meaning that they can support students' learning outside the lecture hall 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This enables institutions to teach not only traditional full-time students but also those who cannot regularly visit geographic or time restrictions, e.g. those on distance learning courses, doing evening classes, or workers studying part-time. the campus due to

31. Advantages of a Virtual Learning Environment Financial Savings: people or make changes in your institution: paying speakers and instructors, arranging venues and losing the real outcome when learners are out of the class. It’s easy to see how cost- effective a virtual environment is. With an investment in virtual learning platforms, you’re paying someone (or taking the time yourself) to develop curriculum once, which can then be used over and over again. Compare this to the expense of hosting workshops every time you hire new learning

32. Advantages of a Virtual Learning Environment Communication and Connection: With forums and message boards, learners can answer questions and offer mentoring and advice for new ones. This saves time for those in management roles and builds a sense of connection and community among the team.

33. Advantages of a Virtual Learning Environment  Flexibility: learners can choose where and when they complete the training. sections that were unclear, or review the entire curriculum from time to time. It’s also flexible for you since you can add or change material at any time. They can revisit

34. 1. To provide education to physically disabled students and students with diseases like dyslexia ,epilepsy etc. 2. To provide education to students with weak economic background. 3. To make learning enjoyable and pressure free.

35. Disadvantages of a Virtual Learning Environment DwindlingAttention Spans: How many browser windows do you have open right now? Many people are programmed to multi- task when they’re on the computer, This could lead to skimming articles or starting a video that turns into background noise as they try to complete another project at the same time. Of course, we can help prevent that by keeping lessons and videos short and simple.

36. Disadvantages of a Virtual Learning Environment Getting Lost in the Material: Depending on each student’s learning style, some might feel lost when they can’t ask an instructor for clarification in real time. Others might require lessons that are more hands-on, visual, or auditory than what you end up offering on your platform.

37. Disadvantages Discomfort with Technology Limitations: A virtual learning environment might not be the most effective way to teach someone to build or use a complicated piece of machinery. It also doesn’t offer that human-to-human contact, which may limit your opportunities for team-building and role- playing activities, brainstorming, or discussion.

38. Key Tactics to Create an Impactful Virtual Learning Environment Break learning activities into short, video- based modules. If a picture says 100 words, a video says 1,000, and for busy students balancing multiple tasks, a series of training videos can really pack a punch in comparison to lengthy course modules.

39.  Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected to evaluate the outcome and effectiveness of the online courses.  The long term objective is to create a full featured learning system targeted for academic environment.  The purpose for using the VLE can vary from being like a textbook or scientific material to be more like demonstration or even a game.

40. Society is changing rapidly, our students are ‘digital natives’having grown up surrounded by technology. They are already engaged in many online social groups (through facebook, myspace, bebo, online forums etc). We believe that university, apart from knowledge, must prepare students for the real world; we know our students use the technology in their free time (Internet, electronic mail, social networks, chats, messenger…), and we want them to use it in their academic lives as well.

41. CALL CALL – – Computer Computer Assisted Language Learning Assisted Language Learning

42.  CALL is not a method  The focus of CALL is learning, and not teaching.  CALL materials are used in teaching to facilitate the language learning process.  It is a student-centered learning material, which promotes self-paced learning  It is a form of computer-based learning which carries two important features: bidirectional learning and individualized learning.

43. Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) originates from CAI Instruction), where computers were first viewed as an aid for teachers. (Computer-Assisted The philosophy CALL is more student-centered with the lessons allowing the learners to learn on their own using structured and/or unstructured interactive lessons.

44. It is a tool that helps teachers to facilitate language learning process CALL can be used to reinforce what has been learned in the classrooms. It can also be used as remedial to help learners with limited language proficiency.

45.  ICT in language teaching and learning encompasses many different types of software applications. The applications tend to fall into two distinct types: a) Generic software applications b) CALL software applications

46. These are multi-purpose programs that are not designed specifically for language teaching and learning. Word-processors such as Microsoft Word. Presentation software such as PowerPoint: These include: Email packages. Web browsers: Using the World Wide Web in language

47. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) may be defined as; the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning’. Graham Davies, Thames Valley University, UK .

48. CALL’s origins and development trace back to the 1960’s (Delcloque 2000). Since the early days CALL has developed into a symbiotic relationship development of technology and pedagogy. between the

49. Internet activities vary considerably, from online versions of software (where the learner interacts with a networked computer), to computer- mediated communication (where the learner interacts with other people via the computer), to applications that combine these two elements.

50.  CALL has come to encompass issues of materials design, technologies, pedagogical theories and modes of instruction.  Materials for CALL can include those which are purpose-made for language learning and those which adapt existing computer-based materials, video and other materials.