What is a Virtual Learning Environment
...means that much software development, and therefore analysis or evaluation, focuses on their use in Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) and, therefore, it is important to consider the relevancy of such research. It is interesting to note that the distinction between education sectors, though identified, is initially overlooked when BECTA (2002, p.6?) reviews the use of MLEs and VLEs in schools. The definition from the Joint Information Systems Committee is used to when defining that a VLE comprises of: • notice-board/bulletin board • course outline (course structure, assessment dates) • email facility • conferencing tools (asynchronous conferencing or discussion groups) • student home pages • metadata (ability to add metadata to resources) • assignments • synchronous collaboration tools (such as whiteboards, chat and video conferencing) • multimedia resour...