Virtual Learning Environment

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a software system designed to support teaching and learning in an educational setting, as distinct from a Managed Learning Environment, (MLE) where the focus is on management. A VLE will normally work over the Internet and provide a collection of tools such as those for assessment (particularly of types that can be marked automatically, such as multiple choice), communication, uploading of content, return of students' work, peer assessment, administration of student groups, collecting and organizing student grades, questionnaires, tracking tools, etc. New features in these systems include wikis, blogs, RSS and 3D virtual learning spaces.

Facilities

A VLE make it possible for a course designer to present to students, through a single, consistent, and intuitive interface, all the components required for a course of education or training. VLE makes extensive use of computers and the Internet. It implements all the following elements:

1. The syllabus for the course
2. Administrative information including the location of sessions, details of pre-requisites and co-requisites, credit information, and how to get help
3. A notice board for up-to-date course information
4. Student registration and tracking facilities, if necessary with payment options
5. Basic teaching materials. These may be the complete content of the course, if the VLE is being used in a distance learning context, or copies of visual aids used in lectures or other classes where it is being used to support a campus-based course.
6. Additional resources, including reading materials, and links to outside resources in libraries and on the Internet.
7. Self-assessment quizzes which can be scored automatically
8. Formal assessment procedures
9. Electronic communication support including e-mail, threaded discussions and a chat room, with or without a moderator
10. Differential access rights for instructors and students
11. Production of documentation and statistics on the course in the format required for institutional administration and quality control
12. All these facilities should be capable of being hyperlinked together
13. Easy authoring tools for creating the necessary documents including the insertion of hyperlinks - though it is acceptable (arguably, preferable) for the VLE to be designed allowing standard word processors or other office software to be used for authoring.

In addition, the VLE is  capable of supporting numerous courses, so that students and instructors in a given institution (and, indeed, across institutions) experience a consistent interface when moving from one course to another.