Death of the VLE?

There has been a good deal of discussion in various forums on the Web about the downside of technology, for example the overuse of PowerPoint. Some time ago I Googled for “Death by PowerPoint” and got around 375,000 hits, leading me to sites that criticised the excessive use of PowerPoint in presentations both in the business world and in education. This is not to say that PowerPoint presentations are worthless, rather it is a warning not to regard technological innovations as a panacea.

VLE’s are often in the news these days and, like PowerPoint, are often hailed as a technological panacea, so I decided to Google for “Death by VLE”. I got about 87,000 hits. I have always felt that VLEs – like the language lab of the 1960s – were designed to put learners to sleep, and I cannot see that they will ever be in serious competition with the many exciting Web 2.0 developments we have seen in recent years, so the high number of hits for “Death by VLE” did not really surprise me. This reference came at the top of the Google hit list:

Stiles M. (2007) "Death of the VLE? A challenge to a new orthodoxy", Serials, the Journal for the International Serials Community 20, 1: 31-36. Here is the abstract:

“The VLE has become almost ubiquitous in both higher and further education, with the market becoming increasingly 'mature'. E-learning is a major plank in both national and institutional strategies. But, is the VLE delivering what is needed in a world where flexibility of learning is paramount, and the lifelong learner is becoming a reality? There are indications that rather than resulting in innovation, the use of VLEs has become fixed in an orthodoxy based on traditional educational approaches. The emergence of new services and tools on the web, developments in interoperability, and changing demands pose significant issues for institutions' e-learning strategy and policy. Whether the VLE can remain the core of e-learning activity needs to be considered.”
Source: http://uksg.metapress.com/index/55K7732DTHRQ6GK1.pdf

Interesting, eh?

EUROCALL 2008, Second Life, Lively by Google

A Pre-Conference Workshop (PCW) on Second Life and Lively by Google will be taking place at EUROCALL 2008, 3 September 2008. I have created a Word document that explains the preparation you need to do in advance of the workshop and what we will be covering in the workshop. The document can be downloaded from the ICT4LT website, Section 14.2.1 of Module 1.5:

http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-5.htm#secondlife

The document will remain at the ICT4LT site after the workshop and will be added to and amended from time to time.

During the EUROCALL 2008 conference there will be opportunities for online chat in the EUROCALL HQ in Second Life and also in the Lively room that we have created. Here are the URLs:

Second Life:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/9/29/22/

Lively:
http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=-5085702628635910660&edit_room=1

The EUROCALL 2008 conference will also incorporate a Virtual Strand, as in 2006 and in 2007, to enable online participants to get a flavour of the conference. Registration for the Virtual Strand is free of charge:

http://virtualeurocall.googlepages.com/home

Graham Davies
19 August 2008