Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and e-moderation

                                     
                                        

 

What is a Virtual Learning Environment? 

1. Does a virtual learning environment refer to any educational web site? No. However, as many fashionable words, some authors use it in a very broad way, including for instance Web sites that simple  include static web pages.
2. Is a virtual learning environment restricted to systems including 3D / virtual reality technology?  No.  Some environments include less sophisticated interfaces namely text-base ones. 
3. Is a virtual learning environment synonymous to a virtual campus? No.  A virtual campus provides University courses, while the name " Virtual learning environment" does not restrict the scope to any age or level.

 A virtual learning environment can be identified by the following features:

•  A virtual learning environment is a designed information space.
•  A virtual learning environment is a social space educational interactions occur in the environment, turning spaces into places.
•  The virtual space is explicitly represented: the representation of this information/social space can very from text to 3D immersive world.
• Students are not only active, but also actors: They co-construct the virtual space. 
• Virtual learning environments are not restricted to distance education.
• Virtual learning environment integrate heterogeneous technologies and  multiple  pedagogical approaches.
• Most virtual environments overlap with physical environments. 

 Tips for the online conference moderator:

    According to Nicky Hockly these are the tips that an online conference moderator has to do:
     1. Welcome the audience.
     2. Set the agenda for the event.
     3. Outline any protocols (e.g. don’t draw on the PowerPoint slides unless invited to do so!).
     4. Introduce the speaker.
     5. Give permissions to speakers and participants to use certain tools such as the shared  whiteboard, or the microphone.
     6. Keep track of any questions that may appear in the chat window during the talk.
     7. Moderate a question-and-answer session when the speaker has finished his or her presentation.
     8. Sum up, thank the speaker and audience, and close the session.


References:

Dillenbourg P., Schneider D., and Synteta P., (2002). Virtual Learning  Environments.
Retrieved from:

https://www.inf.ufes.br/~cvnascimento/artigos/Dillernbourg-Pierre-2002a.pdf

Nicky Hockly  (Nov 25, 2009) Tips for the online conference Moderator. 
Retrieved from:

http://www.emoderationskills.com/tips-for-the-online-conference-moderator/