What is a VLE?

A Virtual Learning Environment is now a key component for schools in providing a learning process and facilities for individual students.

It includes a secure workspace area for each student on the network, which is accessible from any point on the network and over the internet via a secure link. In this workspace area, students can access work assignments and curriculum content; and deliver completed work for tutors to assess.

The VLE should also provide a facility for tracking student activity, to allow tutors to define and set up a course with accompanying materials and activities to direct, guide and monitor learner progress. And to empower supporters of the education process, viewer access can also be provided to parents and other parties as appropriate.

Benefits of a VLE:

Support for on-line learning, including access to learning resources, assessment and guidance. The learning resources may be self-developed, or professionally authored and purchased materials that can be imported and made available for use by learners

  • Communication between the learner, the tutor and other learning support specialists to provide direct support and feedback for learners, as well as peer-group communications that build a sense of group identity and community of interest
  • Links to other administrative systems, both in-house and externally

Schools in the UK are now required to have a Virtual Learning Environment in place for their students.

VLE diagram

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is a powerful technology developed by Microsoft that allows developers such as Akhter to implement bespoke working environments for individuals and teams within organisations. It is comprised of two components, SharePoint Services (included as part of Microsoft Server 2008) and SharePoint Portal Server.

SharePoint Services

SharePoint Services allows the creation of websites, for groups and individuals, to promote collaboration and the sharing of files and resources.

SharePoint sites provide communities for team collaboration, enabling users to work together on documents, tasks and projects. The environment is designed for easy and flexible deployment, administration, and application development. The Microsoft Office System provides significant integration with Windows SharePoint Services, enabling users to work together more efficiently on an ad-hoc basis by using SharePoint sites and Document Workspace sites. These appear in a new task pane in Microsoft Office System documents.

Windows SharePoint Services is included with Microsoft Windows Server 2008, so you may already have it. If you do not already have Microsoft Windows Server 2008, an upgrade will not only give you SharePoint, but a more efficient, secure and stable operating system for your organisation.

SharePoint Portal Server 2007

SharePoint Portal Server builds on the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services platform to enable organisations to integrate business processes and applications. It also provides a full set of collaboration and personalisation features. SharePoint Portal Server 2007 is scalable, reliable, easy to use, and easy to manage. It enables users to find the information they are looking for quickly, and can target users with information on specific subjects.

Using the combined collaboration features of Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, you can create and manage collaborative projects.

SharePoint provides a huge benefit to teachers and students alike. Its sharing potential offers systems that can be rolled out across schools and colleges, offering parents the opportunity to be active in their child’s education as well as providing valuable information to LEAs and prospective employers. The diagram below shows how a “SharePoint Based Connected Learning Community” could look.

SharePoint Learning Kit - SLK

Sharepoint Learning Kit is a SharePoint based process that enables teachers to announce, deliver, collect and grade assignments to students with minimum fuss and administration.

It is fully SCORM compliant, so you can use SLK to mark assignments based on content imported from other sources and collect the results data for analysis and student development.

A typical SLK process:

  • The teacher imports any document into a SharePoint document library.
  • This document may then be assigned to the members of that SharePoint sub-site. Students can assign resources to themselves if they have permission.
  • The student is notified of a pending assignment
  • The student then attempts the assignment and submits it back to the teacher.
  • The teacher is notified that one or more assignments have been returned.
  • The teacher can then grade and return the assignments. SCORM and Class Server IMS content can be automatically graded if required.

 

VLE diagram

Akhter offers a VLE solution based on the powerful Microsoft SharePoint Learning Kit. This diagram shows how the SLK solution provides a network for the learner, including support links and links into the school administration.

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