getting started with VLEs

You may be familiar with VLEs such as Moodle, Web CT, Blackboardfrom when you took your first degree. These kind of VLEs, or learning platforms as they are sometimes called, are being increasingly used in school. We want to encourage as a student teacher to get started on the use of learning platforms in your placement school so that you can better evaluate their potential. We have worked with student teachers on getting started with learning platforms / VLEs in previous years and through this work we have developed a set of guides to help you. They cover:

If you are interested in taking practical steps in using VLEs, you might want to:

try experimenting with putting on line material using Sitebuilder at Warwick, test this with your colleagues, you can even provide access to pupils.
create a quiz in Sitebuilder or other specialist software, again trial it with colleagues. Use it as a whole class starter activity in school.
create a Warwick blog for your colleagues on the course.
set up an eportfolio to showcase your teaching

Start small and build up. Be resilient learn from what went well /not so well. Using a learning platform is important to your professional development, and your experience may mark you out when looking for a post.

This resource has been put together by Michael Hammond and Alison Parish; we would like to thank student teachers for their help and input.