Innovation Profile 127

The better success is what success leads to

Life is a journey and so is learning. A success in life and a good lesson are both cause for celebration, but they are a beginning, not an end. Success achieved in a lesson, for both the teacher and pupil, should be measured by how well it enables further success.

Access to the tools, resources and communities of learning, for many pupils, extends beyond the lesson and the school. It is therefore sensible to assess learning success in the context of the learning that a good lesson leads to.

How much more learning can be achieved when a virtual learning environment is available, to complement what happens in school and in class. There are two kinds of learners in many countries in Europe; those who have access to a virtual learning environment and those who do not. Surely all effort should be expended to extend this access to learning to all, as quickly as possible.

The extent of the introduction of VLEs can be seen by looking at reports from VLE suppliers. On the Digitalbrain website, at http://corporate.digitalbrain.com/contentpage.php?cat_id=165&cid=128 there are links to reports on the launch of VLEs in several regions and cities in the UK. Digitalbrain is providing online services to 2500 schools, representing over 3 million students, in 66 local education authorities.

No doubt the teachers and education managers in these areas are noticing changes in the processes of learning and the attitudes of students. There will also be expectations of improved results in examinations. But how many schools are documenting the changed learning processes and measuring the improvements in learning processes as they happen?

There is no 'book of rules' about how to use VLEs to improve learning. The teachers and students using these systems are creating the new learning processes; it is only they who can determine the learning improvements that are happening. Teachers should not wait for others to judge the success of new approaches, they should be identifying and quantifying them and telling parents, employers and politicians.

We must not wait for students' examination results to tell us how best to improve learning in ICT-rich environments - we need metrics on improved learning processes, now.

The Digitalbrain Company Profile on our web site will give you an overview of the company and a list of other Innovation Profiles connected with it.

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If you know of examples of innovative use of ICT-for-learning that others would be interested in, please email innovations@eep-edu.org

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