Learning and teaching with virtual learning environments ? By Helena Gillespie

Abstract: As the time in which online teaching and learning was still an element of novelty has long been gone, virtual learning environments have to be studied thoroughly so that they will provide students not only with the necessary knowledge, but also with the proper tools to meet their learning objectives. The advancement in information technology and the access to an almost inordinate number of learning and teaching tools should have already been fructified and, as a result, not only teachers, but also learners should have already picked up the fruit of knowledge grown in the vast virtual environment of the Internet. However, as education has recently moved almost entirely online, some questions have arisen. Are the Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) enough to offer ESL students both motivation and knowledge? Will foreign languages benefit from this growing trend or will traditional, face-to-face interaction, prove to have been more efficient? The present article will look into some of these questions and into the benefits of VLEs in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Virtual learning environments as tools in learning and teaching

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ◽

10.4324/9780203417171_chapter_6 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 59-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michelle Haynes ◽

Kyriaki Anagnostopoulou

Keyword(s):

Learning Environments ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environments ◽

Learning And Teaching

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An Experienced Austrian Educator's View on the 3-D Skills Implemented to Design and Integrate an Alien Mystery in OpenSim

International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching ◽

10.4018/ijcallt.2016100104 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 56-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Stella K. Hadjistassou ◽

Judith Molka-Danielsen

Keyword(s):

High School Students ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Learning Environments ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Virtual Learning Environments ◽

School Students ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Training Stage ◽

Task Oriented

With their playful game-oriented nature, virtual learning environments can form constructive ecosocial settings for enacting game-driven collaborative tasks that have real pedagogical, learning, and teaching implications. Even though multiple studies have been undertaken in virtual learning environments, there is a dearth of studies on the constellation of complex interrelated skills and knowledge that second or foreign language educators integrate in actual situated contexts to design and offer task-oriented game-driven learning activities. Building on Compton's (2009) framework, this study investigates the complex set of technological, pedagogical, and evaluation skills that an expert Austrian educator, Franziska integrated to design a multifaceted game-oriented plot in the virtual village of Chatterdale in OpenSim in order to engage thirteen-year-old Austrian and Norwegian high school students in oral interactions during three slightly different task-oriented quests to solve an alien mystery. Data analysis of an interview, reflective comments on a wiki, and follow-up emails indicate that the design and integration of an epistemic game in praxis forms a collaborative endeavor involving the integration of a set of complex and multifaceted sets of skills and knowledge. The study investigates the skills that emerged during two stages, the planning, preparation, and student training stage and integration stage. The findings of this study can be used to broaden the pedagogical discussion on the skills and knowledge that second or foreign language teachers need to acquire and apply to design successful playful task-driven learning quests in virtual learning environments.

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Teachers’ interaction in combined physical and virtual learning environments:

Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies ◽

10.47862/apples.98339 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Katri Hansell ◽

Michaela Pörn ◽

Sandra Bäck

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Learning Environments ◽

Computer Mediated Communication ◽

School Context ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Classroom ◽

Virtual Learning Environments ◽

Target Language ◽

Mediated Communication ◽

Learning And Teaching

The development of the Internet and digital tools for interaction has enabled computer-mediated communication as part of the communicative approach to language learning and teaching. This creates affordances for learners of any target language from any location to communicate with each other, for example, through tandem language learning – that is, reciprocal two-way learning in dyads of two students with different first languages. Previous studies on tandem learning have mainly focused on the interaction between tandem partners in informal learning situations. In this study, we explore the teacher’s role in virtual classroom tandem applied to curriculum-based language teaching. The aim is to describe teachers’ engagement in interactional situations in the classroom, including the interplay between the physical classroom and virtual learning environments (VLEs). The data comprise video and screen recordings of teacher activities and interactions. The results reveal that virtual classroom tandem is a strongly student-centred approach where the teacher interaction during tandem lessons is notably narrower compared with tandem language learning based entirely on face-to-face meetings in a formal school context and in classroom instruction generally.

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What We Talk About When We Talk About Virtual Learning Environments

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning ◽

10.19173/irrodl.v23i1.5806 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 164-193

Author(s):

Michael Flavin ◽

Aditi Bhandari

Keyword(s):

Learning Environments ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environments ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Academic Journal ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Micro Level ◽

Research Students

This is a literature review analysing articles published on virtual learning environments (VLEs), otherwise known as learning management systems, in higher education in the years 2014–2018. The Web of Science database was used to identity relevant articles over this five-year period. The sample comprises 99 peer-reviewed, academic journal articles. A coding sheet is used to analyse each article, identifying the research method, the classification of research (macro, meso, or micro), the focus of research (students, instructors, or both), and, where applicable, the specific brand of VLE. Most output on VLEs is found to be quantitative, to focus on students and on the micro level of learning and teaching, to not have a clear theoretical focus, to not specify which brand of VLE is used, and to be produced in affluent countries. This article adds to the understanding of VLE research by identifying the most frequent foci of research on VLEs, as well as identifying areas that have been under-researched.

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Exploring Self-Regulation Based Virtual Learning Environments Using Diary

Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering ◽

10.2174/2213385203666150828233907 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 66-75

Author(s):

Mahmoud Mohamed Hussien Ahmed ◽

Chaklam Silpasuwanchai ◽

Naglaa Mohammed Fares ◽

Zeinab Mohamed Amin ◽

Abd El-Rahem Ahmed Ahmed Salama

Keyword(s):

Learning Environments ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environments

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Developing information literacy courses for students through virtual learning environments in Tanzania: Prospects and challenges

IFLA Journal ◽

10.1177/03400352211018231 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 034003522110182

Author(s):

Evans F Wema

Keyword(s):

Learning Environments ◽

Information Literacy ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Virtual Learning ◽

Higher Learning ◽

Virtual Learning Environments ◽

Web Based ◽

Face To Face ◽

Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽

The Face

This article reviews literature on the use of virtual learning environments by highlighting their potential and the challenges of introducing the same in Tanzania. It introduces the concept of virtual learning environments by demonstrating their applications to support teaching and learning. The article discusses the use of virtual learning environments in teaching information literacy courses by highlighting the success of using such tools in facilitating the teaching of information literacy courses to library users. In this review, special emphasis is placed on attempts by Tanzanian institutions of higher learning to introduce web-based teaching of information literacy and the challenges faced. The review reveals the need for Tanzanian institutions of higher learning to develop virtual learning environments to facilitate the teaching of information literacy courses to students and faculty so as to reach many of those who may not manage to attend the face-to-face information literacy sessions that are offered by librarians on a regular basis.

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