One of my third year students, Dan Kennedy, has had his first article published in a new journal. The Plymouth Student Educator, a peer-reviewed online journal has been created to showcase the best of University of Plymouth students' work. Students need to score more than 70 for their assignments to be even considered for review, and then their work must go through just as vigorous a process of scrutiny as they would if they submitted their work to any other academic journal. Dan's article is entitled: 'Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs): here to stay, or on the brink of demise?' It is a provocative take on the current state of play of the VLE, and he comes to some interesting conclusions. Here's the abstract:Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are popular with many educational institutions, ranging from primary schools to universities. This paper is meant as an introduction to VLEs and the pedagogical issues surrounding them. It explores what they are, as well as the benefits and potential problems arising from their use. Recent literature and personal blogs are used to understand how the VLE as a concept is understood. The role of the VLE appears to be changing. Most students’ proficiency in using the internet productively has increased dramatically; Web 2.0 tools have provided further ways in which to engage and communicate with students. Indeed, these tools are being bolted on to VLEs in an attempt to exploit this, with limited success. Some are promoting Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) instead – a personal construct taking advantage of a range of tools to benefit ones own learning. Educators and institutions that are either using, or considering implementing a VLE in their teaching will find this paper especially useful.
Reference: Kennedy, D. (2009) Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs): here to stay, or on the brink of demise? The Plymouth Student Educator 1, (1), 53-61
I'm very pleased for Dan. The boy done good.
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