Learning platforms and VLEs
The funding for this project was awarded to members of the Warwick Institute of Education (WIE) by the TDA, in March 2010.
The broad aim of the project was to carry out research and development on the use of VLEs and learning platforms within the university-school partnership based at the University of Warwick. We knew that use of learning platforms was patchy within the partnership and that local schools experience a great deal of uncertainty as to how they want to develop their use of online technology. Modelling of learning platforms was weak both within university and in school. Notwithstanding some intriguing implementations, our trainee teachers made little use of learning platforms and had a very limited understanding of the range of opportunities which learning platforms open up. This is in clear contrast to, for example, their widespread and confident use of IWBs and of subject specific software.
This local picture matched a wider national one. Ofsted (2009) for example suggest that the take up of learning platforms in school was patchy and the most common uses for VLEs were as a ‘repository for documents for learning and teaching’. This suggests the information side of the VLE has been prioritised over the communications side.
Initial bid
The initial bid proposed to carry out research and development on the use VLEs / learning platforms within the university-school partnership based at University of Warwick by supporting pilot groups through the process of designing and implementing small scale projects within their school placements. This would lead to a description of the opportunities for, and constraints on, trainee teachers’ use of learning platforms. These case studies would be written up and disseminated across the partnership and beyond. An overview and reporting of these studies was to be provided by the project team.
Staff involved
The project was led by Michael Hammond and supported by colleagues within the ITE teaching teams at Warwick including: Sue Crosson (primary); Deborah Roberts (primary); Jude Slama. Alan Plumpton, Kulwinder Randhawa (ICT); Jenni Ingram, Sue Johnston Wilder (mathematics); Lynn Reynolds (science). It further benefited from the support of mentors within the partnership including Martin Sutton at Swanshurst School and Michael Bull at Coundon Court school. Both these colleagues are ASTs working in specialist technology schools and both have pioneered the use of learning platforms in partnership schools.
Project aims
The project aimed to:
- understand the opportunities that learning platforms provide for trainee teachers to develop their teaching;
- understand the constraints on trainee teachers’ use of learning platforms;
- draw together a viable model or models of support to develop trainee teachers’ understanding of learning platforms;
- disseminate examples of the use of learning platform within and beyond the partnership.
How the project aimed to do this
At Warwick, as with other institutions, trainee teachers appear to have a strong sense of self efficacy in using ICT and make wide use of ICT in school. However, use of learning platform is very low among secondary teachers and negligible in primary and early years both nationally and locally. Based on this sense that learning platforms were underused we looked for opportunities to develop trainee teachers’ awareness and experience of them during their training. The assumption taken was that learning platforms could extend and enhance teaching and learning and were worth investigating. However, they should not be uncritically advocated - it was up to trainee teachers to make a professional decision as to whether use of learning platforms, or particular functionality within learning platforms, was worthwhile based on reflection of first-hand experience. The context of ITE was always understood to be a complex one for development of such a project given that there was low expectation regarding the use of learning platforms in many schools; there were already very many intensive and competing demands made on trainee teachers and there was an unrelenting focus on face-to-face classroom interaction within training which made online working of subsidiary importance. The aim was to carry out first steps in a longer process of implementation.
It was not possible to integrate learning platforms into the teacher education programme as opportunities were too restricted to access them in some schools, hence volunteer trainee teachers were sought. Innovations were small scale and carried out along action research principles of ‘plan, do, and reflect’.
Outcomes
Despite some problems with implementation and access to school VLEs the work was completed more or less to schedule. The budget was adhered to and was sufficient for the activities. The Warwick Institute of Education supported the project by providing access and support for using the University VLE. However, the project did become focused on secondary sector as there were too few opportunities to use learning platforms in primary school.
Did the project meet its original objectives?
The overall aims of the project were met on all four criteria. We were able to set up situations for trainees to use learning platforms in appropriate schools and draw conclusions from that use. We obtained a much fuller picture of the use of learning platforms in partner schools and the widespread use of Moodle (an open source learning platform), We-learn and Frog. In their feedback, the trainees were able to describe the opportunities and the constraints they found when using learning platforms in their placement schools.
From this study, we were able to develop a strategy for supporting future trainee teachers in developing their understanding of learning platforms and to disseminate examples of the use of learning platforms through an online resource.