Just read this really interesting blog posting by Niall Sclater of the Open University. Through a new Moodle module they’ve developed, students (and staff) can now add their own discussion fora, blogs or wikis and invite any other VLE user they like to view it.
| I cannot stress enough how fundamentally this changes the underlying assumptions of what a VLE is. The institution still sets up course web pages, uploads content, specifies learning activities and assessments and provides formal tutor groups with the right students (and tutor) having access to them.
But now individual students can also form their own study groups or use the system for social networking purposes with others in ways that they decide. There is no need to get permission or involve an administrator in setting up a blog, wiki or forum – just a requirement to click a box saying you agree with the terms and conditions and will be responsible for moderating the forum etc. |
It’s a meeting of the user control of external services and the institutional control of the VLE. Allowing students to create their own groups for study purposes (and select which tools suit them best) is a brilliant – the VLE is becoming truly an interactive learning environment.