Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) / Virtual Classroom

A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an online environment that brings together content (in the form of documents, images, videos, links to websites, or anything else which may be beneficial to learning, often stored within a LMS) and technologies (such as videoconferencing, chat features, and discussion forums), structuring them in such a way as to facilitate teaching and training. A Virtual Learning Environment does not just list available learning opportunities; it provides a means to interact with them digitally and remotely. Such content is usually collated into separate courses intended to allow learners to enhance their knowledge of specific topics. VLEs often provide ways for learners to interact as well as recording their progress through and completion of courses, with some providing digital badges as evidence for completion of particular courses.

Whilst VLEs and LMSs are technically different, many examples of each now include features common to the other, so lines can be blurred.

See below the image for further detail.

Screenshot: Part of a Course in OpenLearn Create by T. Briggs, CC BY NC 4.0

Virtual Learning Environments may be set up by businesses, educational organisations, or individuals, and can be private (e.g. a company may set up an internal VLE to support its own employees' professional development) or public (such as OpenLearn).

Engaging in online learning can help you to understand more about interacting with a VLE. One example is a course from online learning provider Alison entitled Learning to Learn Online, though finding a course on any subject that you are particularly interested in would be an excellent way to get the hang of things. Of particular interest to museum educators may be GEM's new (as of the time of writing) Courses VLE, although other online learning platforms also provide a variety of courses with potential relevance to heritage learning practitioners. Click the links for some ideas at each site: Futurelearn, Coursera, OpenLearn.

If you have taken part in a course via a university in the last couple of decades the chances are that you used a VLE whilst doing so as Higher Education providers were early adopters of the technology. A common VLE used by universities is Blackboard; another is the open source Moodle software.

A museum may utilise a VLE internally (for staff training); externally (for providing a way for members of the general public to learn more about aspects of its work, collections or stories); or a combination of the two, and therefore may form part of both remote and hybrid learning opportunities.

There are a number of different options available for a museum wishing to set up a VLE. Which route is chosen depends on a variety of factors, not least those relating to purpose, budget, and existing skillsets within the organisation. It is possible to set up a VLE for free, but this will necessarily come with limitations.

For example:

• The popular Moodle VLE software is completely free to use, but does require available hosting (e.g. a web server with available space and bandwidth) and the expertise to install the software and build courses within it. This method potentially requires a lot of work, but the organisation will retain complete control over the materials produced. An example of what can be achieved via this route is the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Zoodle site.
• Whilst the Open University's OpenLearn platform is reserved entirely for courses created by the OU or its partners, it does have an offshoot called OpenLearn Create which provides hosting for anybody to create online courses entirely for free. The system is built around a customised version of Moodle, so the process of creating courses is identical to the previous example, but none of the setup is required. Some limitations of this method include minimal options for changing the look and feel of your courses; not being able to charge for participation; and having your courses listed amongst those from other providers (as opposed to having just your courses displayed on a dedicated site that conforms with your organisation's branding). Courses can be brought together under collections, such as this one from the Motor Neurone Disease Association. If you're interested in this route, there's a course available that takes you through building your first OpenLearn Create course.
• There are an enormous number of options for paying someone else to do the work for you, from hosting and installation, through to administration and course creation. These options will all have fees attached; some ongoing, some one-off; depending on what you have the budget for and how much you're willing and able to take on yourself.

Next Steps:

1. Take an online course or two to get used to the different kinds of Virtual Learning Environment in use: Search for topics you're interested in on Alison or OpenLearn, for example.
2. Try building your own course on a topic that you know a lot about and that you think other people would be interested in. This course could help you to get started using OpenLearn Create.

Further Reading:

• Related Glossary entries: Digital Badge | Blended Learning
• Elsewhere on the internet: Blackboard VLE (Aston University) | Moodle VLE
  (University of Essex) | Building Your First OpenLearn Create Course
  (OpenLearn Create)