Virtual Learning Environments In Higher Education

Online and virtual education is continually integrated in university classrooms. While online learning provides a more cost-effective alternative for students, educators must also analyze the psychology of online learners and identify ways to support their growth and development in their respective instructional settings. Student-Centered Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education is a collection of innovative research that focuses on connecting contextual analyses of student-focused online instruction with quality assurance principles to improve higher education. Highlighting a range of topics including instructional design, professional development, and student engagement, this book is ideally designed for educators, software developers, instructional designers, educational administration, academicians, and students seeking current research on emerging principles and practices related to designing, implementing, and evaluating virtual teaching and learning.

"This book documents real-world experiences of innovators in higher education who have redesigned spaces for learning and teaching, including physical, virtual, formal, informal, blended, flexible, and time sensitive factors" --Provided by publisher.

Equally grounded in the research and the practical applications developed by the authors over a number of years, this book shows how virtual learning environments could represent the future of higher education. As academics begin to use environments such as Second Life to reach a broader student audience, this volume offers the distance-learning community (administrators, faculty, and students) a different, yet successful, approach to delivering content over the Internet through 3D virtual learning environments that have the potential to transform higher education. Covering a broad spectrum of frameworks, from commercial multiplayer video games to online learning, the book shows just how powerful these environments can be in the arena of education, and concludes that data-driven practice will ensure almost universal take-up, even among those currently unwilling to use V-learning. The authors provide numerous practical examples of distance learning in its current state of development, as well as making informed predictions about how future environments might evolve. This much-needed book is right at the cutting edge of its subject, and comes at a time when research in both educational gaming and distance learning are converging.

Although institutions of higher education have recognized the need for preparing their graduates for a digitalized, global workplace, these efforts have been sporadic, individualized, and varied from discipline to discipline. Nevertheless, over the past 10 years, trends such as “double classrooms,” “inverted classrooms,” and “collaborative online international learning” (COIL) have gained traction at universities across the globe. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, efforts to engage students in the use of digital tools and virtual collaborative teamwork increased tenfold. Creative and innovative virtual learning environments (VLEs) have emerged, and instructors have used them to connect with their students much more frequently. The holistic nature of virtual learning, its impact on employability, and the development of global citizenry have become prime areas of research amongst the digital education landscape. Now more than ever, it is essential to look at virtual learning environments and how they can be used to prepare students and employees for the opportunities and challenges of a global, digital workplace. Developments in Virtual Learning Environments and the Global Workplace provides readers with a rationale and tool kit for facilitating virtual learning in a wide variety of contexts in response to the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital global workplace. This book covers virtual learning practices, the value of virtual learning for professionals and employers, and the best practices in online learning in different settings. Additionally, the chapters dive into the future perspectives and trends within virtual learning environments and the creation/evaluation of virtual learning strategies. These insights range from diverse countries, education levels, industry sectors, and academic disciplines, making this book a comprehensive research tool. This book will greatly benefit e-learning and instructional designers, university senior managers, university staff responsible for mobility and exchange, researchers, professionals responsible for organizational development and further education, human resource directors, global company executives, managers, practitioners, stakeholders, academicians, and students looking for information on how virtual learning environments are preparing students for the global workplace.

Preliminary Material /David Seth Preston --Preface /D.S. Preston --Frontierland: Exploring the Uses of Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education /David Seth Preston --Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn: A Developmental Framework far Teacher Training /Mike Waring and Kate Boardman --The Virtual Seminar /Melissa Lee Price and Andy Lapham --Going From Distanee to Digital: Athabasca University's E-Learning Plan /Lynda R. Ross and Alan Davis --Online Resouree Page: Using Technology to Enhanee Online Interactivity /Brent Muirhead --Into the Unknown: Charting the Future of Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education /David Seth Preston --Working and Learning Together: ICT-Supported Learning in Small Businesses /Craig Thomson --Strategie and Pedagogie Requirements for Virtual Learning in the Context of Widening Partieipation /Mark Stiles --Assessment for Real in Virtual Learning Environments - How Far Can We Go? /Mike Fuller --Looking Before Leaping: Issues In Virtual Higher Education /David Seth Preston --C.P. Snow Revisited: The Two Cultures of Faculty and Administration /James Wood --Atatvistic Avatars: Ontology, Education and 'Virtual Worlds' /Adrian Bromage --Virtual Values: The University in E-Crisis /David Seth Preston --Notes on Contributors /David Seth Preston --Index /David Seth Preston.

Virtual learning environments are widely spread in higher education, yet they are often under utilised by the institutions that employ them. This book addresses the need to move beyond thinking about the VLE simply in terms of the particular package that an institution has adopted, and viewing it as a significant educational technology that will shape much of the teaching and learning process in the coming years. Considering how virtual learning environments can be successfully deployed and used for effective teaching, it sets out a model for effective use, focussing on pedagogic application rather than a specific technology, and seeks to provide a bridge between pedagogical approaches and the tools educators have at their disposal. It contains essential advice for those choosing a VLE and encourages all those involved in the deployment of a VLEs to use them more productively in order to create engaging learning experiences.

"This book is made up of a collection of peer-reviewed chapters that reflect the construct of authentic learning--learning that is centred on rich, real-world, immersive and engaging tasks"--Provided by publisher.