According to the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) a virtual learning environment (VLE) “refers to the components in which learners and tutors participate in online interactions of various kinds including online learning” (Introducing, 2010, para. 1). Although there are examples of distance learning dating back centuries earlier, by definition, VLEs did not actually exist until the 1960’s when the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne developed a system called the Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations (PLATO). The PLATO system included platforms that allowed students to study assigned lessons and communicate with teachers through online notes. It also included the ability to allow instructors to evaluate student progress as well as communicate and take lessons themselves (Davis, 1980).
The success of Plato and the continued advancement of technology motivated others to expand the horizons of VLEs. In 1972, the Learning Research Group out of Xerox Parc in Palo Alto, California began advancing the ideas and workable applications for graphical user interfaces (GUI) by inventing folders, icons for menus, and overlapping windows (Kay, 1993). Alan Kay and his Xerox group came up with a product they named “KiddiKomputer” that was capable of teaching thinking skills and modeling through simulation (Kay, 1993).
The 1980’s brought in even more advances in email, personal computers, and software that increased VLEs availability but it wasn’t until the 1990’s with the arrival of the World Wide Web (www) that they became viable. One of the most important developments was by Murray Goldberg who started working on WebCT, which eventually was used by over 10 million students in 80 countries (UBC, 2004). A highlight from the 2000’s included the development of a platform in 2001 that includes presentation and audio beaming to student laptops, student note taking, student polling, student questions, control of student applications, recording of entire lecture experience for archiving, searching and later replay … you might know it as Wimba. (I got the last few tidbits from Wikipedia and couldn't for the life of me find out where they got the information so I would love for someone to let me know so I could site it correctly, thanks)
Motivating factors that went into the development of VLEs are as different as night and day. For some, it was to create a way to teach people across great distances to increase knowledge. Others wanted to create machines to replace human thinking, as was the case in 1962 with Douglas Englebart and his paper proposing using computers to augment human abilities (Englebart, 2004). For most, it was a way to use computers to help facilitate learning by breaking down the barriers of time and location by using better and better combinations of soft and hardware. Is it a perfect system? Not yet. However, by researching the history of VLEs, the motivating factors, and the amount of progress that has been made just in the past decade, I can see how this type of education will be something to reckon with in the decades to come.
References
Davis, C.R. (1980). Fundamentals of PLATO programming. Computer-
based Education Research Laboratory, University of Illinois. Urbana, Illinois.
Englebart, D. (2004). Augmenting society’s collective I.Q.
Retrieved from http://www.dougengelbart.org/about/vision-highlights.html
Introducing managed learning environments (MLEs). (2010).
Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/
buildmlehefe/lifelonglearning/mlebriefingpack.aspx
Kay, A.C. (1993). The early history of smalltalk. Retrieved
from http://gagne.homedns.org/~tgagne/contrib/EarlyHistoryST.html
UBC computer scientist wins $100,000 award for popular course
software. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.e-strategy .ubc.ca/news/update0409/040929-goldberg.html
@Drew
ReplyDeleteYou have done an exceptional job of summarizing the history of VLEs, and making your blog post a very interesting read! As I was reading, it was fun for me to think back to the 1990's when computers and email first became a part of my life, and how all the changes in the past 20 years have personally affected me! (let alone education!)
I especially like your statement:" For most, it was a way to use computers to help facilitate learning by breaking down the barriers of time and location by using better and better combinations of soft and hardware."
As I reflect on our current educational situation through FSO, many of us live far away from the actual campus, but yet have formed strong connections with what we are learning as well as with each other in the past nine months of the program! It is still amazing to me!
@Drew
ReplyDeleteI must agree with Kathy! Your summary takes what was an enormous list of historical milestones in e-learning and focuses in in the major turning points. Making a point to focus on motivating factors was also an important component. After all of this week's readings, I am looking ahead at what is to come, and it is equally important to consider the motivating factors in the next generation of VLEs. I wonder which developer or researcher will be able to turn the next mile marker and merge the PLE into an assessable VLE...
@ Drew,
ReplyDeleteYour historical breakdown of VLE's is immaculate and extremely clear. I am impressed with the way you dissected this meaty reading assignment. I was overwhelmed trying to pull the long and vast history together, and your blog defines the major points in such a concise manner. I love the ingenuity of your title. VLE’s have come a long way and I found myself surprised at how early they actually began in history.
@ Drew:
ReplyDeleteI also wrote a blog about the history of VLE. I was shocked when I learned about PLATO. I had no idea that we had something like this fifty years ago. I wonder what the screen looked like back fifty years ago? I know when I was in first grade, which was the first time I used a computer, the computer had a black screen with green text. Learning through PLATO would have been very hard for me because I am such a visual leaner I need color and graphics. ☺
I can remember when I used the Internet for the first time and it was back in 1995. I was amazed by the technology. My parents couldn’t grasp the concept of the Internet and how it worked. Thank God for the creators of all this technology. We would not be in the place that we are in today. I never thought that I would be earning my Master’s Degree online through a learning platform. I can thank the University of Illinois for creating PLATO.