VLE's in Education (Ofsted January 2009)

Following a tweet from Miles Berry (@mberry) on his post Ofsted and Open Source on the Open Source Schools website I was drawn to read further ( as should you dear reader!) in Miles' article which was a response to the recent (30th March) Oftsed report on ICT in Education - I would agree in large that looking at ICT in education to date it has followed the self fulfilling prophecy - if the curriculum is limited in scope what you will get out will be of limited in use, over emphasis on 'commercial software' ( I think that we all know who they are?) - I know that I certainly felt hemmed in in UK KeyStage 2 by the strictures of the UK national curriculum! We all sincerely hope that this is about to change and that creativity will be allowed to flourish and that this work will become the norm rather than the exception.

For me though the more interesting aspect of Miles' article was when he referenced an earlier Ofsted report Virtual learning environments: an evaluation of their development in a sample of educational settings (January 2009). This earlier report although it reports on a small research project it really does make for very disappointing reading showing the hugely disjointed and uneven usage of Virtual learning environments in UK education from Primary through to Tertiary colleges from 2005 to 2008 following the earlier Ofsted 'Harnessing Technology - transforming learning and children's services Dfes 2005
Following the success of the MoodleMootUK last week in Loughborough I would hope that we will soon be seeing more joined up thinking on VLE's - I know that this is a field which certainly interests me - find my Diigo links based around this VLE discussion below.

• Secondary ICT Management - Choosing a VLE | Teachers TV

  Director of e-learning at Queen Elizabeth School, Mark McNulty provides a frank appraisal of what's involved in rolling out a new learning platform.

• tags: VLE

• VLEs in education: A look at Moodle

  A film about the use of Moodle as a VLE in both further education colleges and work-based learning, highlighting the experiences of Thanet College in Kent and A+ Training in Plymouth.

  tags: vle

• Evaluating VLEs | Education | The Guardian

  Evaluating VLEs

  tags: vle

• VLE Report | 5. E-learning in UK further and higher education

  The phenomenal rise of e-learning in the last ten years has taken place against a complex backdrop of cultural and social change, advances in technology and shifts in educational theory and practice.

  tags: vle

• Ofsted and Open Source | Open Source Schools

  Ofsted’s report on The Importance of ICT was published over a month ago, and was met with perhaps a degree of surprise at some of its criticisms about aspects of ICT provision in schools, most notably for higher attaining and older pupils.

  tags: ICT, OFSTED

• The importance of ICT: information and communication technology in primary and secondary schools, 2005/2008 / Thematic reports / Documents by type / Browse all by / Publications and research / Ofsted home / Ofsted - Ofsted

  This report is based on evidence from inspections of information and communication technology (ICT) between September 2005 and July 2008 in 177 maintained schools in England, as well as other visits to schools where good practice was identified.

  tags: ICT, OFSTED

• Virtual learning environments: an evaluation of their development in a sample of educational settings / Thematic reports / Documents by type / Browse all by / Publications and research / Ofsted home / Ofsted - Ofsted

  Virtual learning environments (VLEs) use computers to allow remote access to learning materials. As the routine use of computers becomes all pervasive, there is an expectation that VLEs will form a significant part of the next generation's experience of learning. This survey evaluates how VLEs are developing within a selection of providers.

  tags: vle, Moodle

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.