Search
Pages (30)
Frequently asked questions on virtual learning environments (VLEs)
David Grantham, Coventry University This teaching resource note, published in 2005, is organised around a set of 12 frequently asked questions (FAQs). The guidelines below are intended for practitioners in the learning and teaching of law, but are not intended to be exhausti…
VLEs and their role in legal education support: a UK overview
tantalising: official surveys take a long time to produce VLEs are inaccessible to outsiders This paper aims to look at the following topics in the context of specific examples as well as more recent developments at the College of Law: the overlap with e-learning…
Making VLEs more interesting
In his session at the UKCLE event on creativity and the law curriculum in 2008 Michael Bromby (Glasgow Caledonian University) provided a taster of discussion boards and RSS feeds, bolt-ons to the ‘traditional’ VLE he uses with the aim of making learning more interesting as w…
Virtual learning environments in legal education
the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in legal education Completion date: October 2006 Funding: £25,000 by the JISC Distributed e-Learning Programme, £2,000 from BILETA Virtual learning environment (VLEs) are some of the fastest growing areas of legal education,…
What is the difference between a VLE and an MLE?
chart below, from a JISC briefing paper on VLEs and MLEs shows linkages between MLEs and VLEs. Chart showing linkages between MLEs and VLEs It will be seen that the MLE is a much larger concept than the VLE. The reference to ‘IMS’ (Instructional Management S…
How can I use the features of a VLE to support student learning?
VLEs have features that cannot be mirrored in traditional face-to-face learning and teaching settings, such as anytime/anywhere access and giving feedback at any time. Electronic media are particularly appropriate for giving generic feedback to all students, making direct lin…
Why would I want to use a VLE?
‘tracking’ function found in most VLEs. With appropriate support mechanisms, distance learning is very much easier to manage through a VLE. …
Introducing quizzes and discussion boards on the Bar Vocational Course
showed that although most students had used VLEs before, relatively few had used discussion boards as part of their academic law courses. We focused on two specific aspects of WebCT Vista as being appropriate for use on the BVC: The assessment tool, often referred to as qui…
Using the virtual learning environment
of using virtual learning environments (VLEs). It examines some of the theories of e-learning and how the technology can be most effectively applied. It also sets out the different tools available and their respective contribution to the process of acquiring legal research skill…
E-learning and traditional methods: special blends
delivery that students expect. Open source VLEs can allow institutions to meet these needs without the substantial costs associated with commercial systems and without sacrificing quality, allowing the delivery of a truly blended course which meets everyone’s needs. M…
Delivering continuing professional development using online distance learning
This case study, submitted by John Fairhurst of Huddersfield University Business School in 2003, reflects on the use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) over a four year period to deliver an online, distance learning, Postgraduate Diploma in Law (Common Professional Examinat…
Moodle: open source e-learning
Moodle is the open source course management system used by Oxford Institute of Legal Practice (OXILP). In her session at the UKCLE event, Creating an impact: enhancing teaching to large groups, in 2007 Liz Polding introduced us to the Moodle world, looking at the pros and cons o…
What are the learning and teaching issues?
designing content for legal education should be driven by sound principles of learning and not by the available technology a very useful rule of thumb during the design process is to ask the question “What do I want the students to do?” Simply loading lecture no…
The limits of the VLE
There are some things that a VLE cannot do, or cannot do as well as in face-to-face learning contexts: except if using a ‘chat’ facility, the VLE is not as immediate as providing feedback to students in a workshop, seminar or tutorial, and it can be difficult to…
What is a VLE?
According to a JISC’s Introduction to managed learning environments, the term ‘virtual learning environment’ (VLE) refers to the components in which learners and tutors participate in online interactions of various kinds, including online learning. Thus, a vi…
Presence, emergence and knowledge objects: user interaction in a virtual learning environment
Paul Maharg and Patricia McKellar, Glasgow Graduate School of Law Presentation at Vocational Teachers Forum IV, 8 January 2005 Paul and Patricia’s presentation at the fourth Vocational Teachers Forum discussed their research into the use webcasts at Glasgow Graduate Sc…
The College of Law's e-learning initiatives
Andrew Harvey, College of Law Presentation at Vocational Teachers Forum III, 10 January 2004 Andy is the Director of e-learning Development at the College of Law in London. In his paper at the third Vocational Teachers Forum he described the College’s e-learning initi…
Developing the student learning environment at City University
Emily Allbon, City University Presentation at UKCLE seminar on teaching and learning for legal skills trainers, 16 February 2005 This session looked at how Emily has developed tools in order to improve the student learning experience at City University. Key to this has been…
Are we using technology for technology's sake? An evaluation of a simulated employment exercise
In their paper Amy Musgrove and Vicky Thirlaway (Leeds Metropolitan University) considered a pilot study evaluating the use of a virtual learning environment to foster employability and problem solving skills via a simulated employment exercise in criminal law. Download Amy…
What about students who do not have the ICT skills?
run a familiarisation workshop for all students at the beginning of the course and have a ‘reserve’ or ‘mop up’ session a few days later for latecomers have ‘frequently asked questions’ (like these) as an essential part of the environment…
Are there any special aspects of communicating in a VLE?
responding to e-mails and postings from students is a crucially important process. A discussion forum or chat facility can be vibrant and a valuable learning experience for all – or it can fall flat on its face. Inappropriate responses to students who are wrestling with…
How do I make sure that the VLE is promoting student learning?
always consider your design as developmental and reveal this belief to students – they may have some good ideas to improve it encourage feedback on the design to be given both electronically (WebCT has an evaluation facility) and by other methods, for example survey, …
Where can I go to get help?
talk to your technical colleagues about a beginners course (or ‘advanced’ if you are well into this already) on WebCT or Blackboard, or on how to use a web editor such as Microsoft FrontPage or Dreamweaver. There are also some useful guides on these last two, avai…
Teaching resource notes
Teaching resource notes (TRNs) are compilations of the essential topics, practical tips, sources, assessment models and ICT considerations on an aspect of teaching. The following teaching resource notes are available: Clinical legal education (2004) Discussion boards (2…
What about supervision?
clinics. Virtual learning environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard can be used to support group work and supervision in clinical courses, using e-mail, chatrooms etc to facilitate communication and discussion. VLEs have enormous potential for supporting clinical simulations, where…
BILETA research into ICT provision in law schools
intranets and virtual learning environments (VLEs). Intranets and access: nine respondents had intranets with varying levels of remote access main uses were the provision of course materials or Web-based resources from within a VLE or from dedicated webpages datasets …
Teaching legal research
This is the second edition of the popular guidance note published in 1999 by the National Centre for Legal Education. This second edition of Teaching legal research, one of UKCLE’s best sellers, was published in February 2006. Aimed at tutors and librarians teaching underg…
Sefton Bloxham
S.M., Maharg, P. & McKellar, P. (2007), VLEs in legal education a case study approach to sharing good practice, Journal of Information, Law & Technology (JILT) 2007 (1). Bloxham, S.M., Cerevkova, A. & Waddelove, C. (2007), “Embedding Personal Development Planning…
Leading today's people towards tomorrow's law school
of the use of wikis within institutional VLEs with Facebook. Are students more willing to use Facebook since it is more familiar, or do some prefer to keep their social and academic lives distinct? Lynn discussed a slightly different aspect of the experience at Wolverhampton,…
PodLaw: developing a portable learning environment to enhance the study of law
Chris our institutions’ reliance on VLEs for the dissemination of information is not in tune with the current generation of students, who are looking for portability and flexibility in their studies as in every other aspect of their lives. His ingenious solution has been t…
Archived Events (2)
Teaching and learning for legal skills trainers
The aim of this seminar, organised in collaboration with "BIALL":http://www.biall.org.uk/home.asp (the British & Irish Association of Law Librarians), was to showcase innovative practice in learning and support from the perspective of the law librarian. The programme explored iss...…
Comments
There are no comments at this time