Making IT Personal

SECONDARY LEARNING PLATFORMS

A Summary of the DfES Booklet

What does the government hope to achieve through the introduction of this technology to classrooms by 2008 ?

- anytime/anywhere learning (students will be able to log on at any location with an Internet connection and access learning resources).

- teachers will be able to check individual student progress and offer personal support.

- parents/guardians will be able to access school work and information at locations other than school and offer support to their children.

- integration with the school’s information management system will make tracking and assessment more efficient.

Many aspects of this are untested in the real world of the classroom.

Most of the research into the use of VLEs has taken place in further education. The Open University is a leader in this field. Constructivism – where students collaborate and create ‘new knowledge’ through dialogue – is a particular theme that runs through this research.

Whilst some of this may inform practice and policy at a secondary or junior school level, much of it may not be relevant to the school class room. In further and higher education the research relates to students who are aged 18 and over, who are engaged in voluntary studies and who may have limited face to face contact with tutors and fellow students.

'It is clear that teachers face a steep learning curve in the use and effective application of this technology. What is unclear is the impact that the technology will have on the ways in which we organise our classrooms and indeed many aspects of our whole school life.'

  SWIMMING WITH SHARKS P.6

'At the heart of any learning platform is the concept of an online personal learning space for the pupil.'   DfES