Online Learning Platforms

Online learning platforms essentially refer to places online where students and teachers can connect and interact. But how does this relate to your school? One way that you could set up an online learning platform is to incorporate a virtual learning environment, or VLE, into your school website.

By incorporating a VLE – which is something we can help you with at CSI Media – you will essentially be creating a virtual extension of the classroom. They are especially useful for older students at secondary school, sixth-form college or university.

A VLE can be used as a place where the teacher can provide extra notes, research and assistance, or as an online portal that can be accessed virtually by all the students in their own time. They can be used to enhance group activities because students can meet up outside of school to share details and resources on a project or to discuss ideas.

Students can also submit work via the system and receive grades privately. This saves time for the teacher as well as the students because they can submit and access work in their own time from anywhere.

Private rooms could be created for each class where extra resources can be shared, but you can also have other sections of the VLE for all the students. For example, if you hold a special week on a particular topic where lessons focus on a theme, you can use the website to provide extra resources and content including images, videos, blog posts, presentations and more.

There are numerous other benefits that you can enjoy by turning a section of your site into an online learning platform when you get a new school website design:

• if teachers can upload documents online, they do not have to print them off and hand them out to every student, saving money as well as time;
• students can save time finding their teachers to hand in work, and teachers can save time collecting all the assignments;
• details about extracurricular activities can be shared and accessed online, and students can find out what is on, things they need to take to the activity, important dates, etc.

Parents can also take advantage of online learning platforms. For example, they could use a VLE to:

• follow their child's progress, access reports and see their grades;
• check the attendance of their child;
• perform administrative tasks like signing permission forms and writing sick notes;
• request holiday leave during term time;
• even pay for school trips.

Online learning platforms like VLEs can provide numerous benefits to enhance the learning experience for students, and they can also have many more advantages for teachers and parents. They are easy to set up and use, so find out how you could get one up and running to take advantages of all the benefits.