Online learning spaces: thinking beyond the VLE
Take a moment to think about this: where do you learn best? How does your ideal learning space look like? Is it tidy or messy? Loud or quiet? Social or solitary? What does learning involve for you? Reading? Writing? Creating? Communicating? All of the above?
What do you value most in a learning space?
This is the question we should ask ourself before starting to design learning spaces for our students. Note that for this blog post I choose to talk about designing learning spaces and not about teaching courses. This is because I want to focus on the space where learning takes place. This can be formal or informal, or both. It can have individual and collective components. More importantly at this point, it can be online, face-to-face or a mix of both.
How about online learning spaces?
While physical learning spaces and how they interact with teaching and learning approaches is a fascinating topic in itself, the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted us to use almost exclusively online learning spaces. Many of us had been blending digital technologies into our teaching before, but being confined to the virtual environment has been a real challenge. Not only does it require new pedagogical approaches and sometimes also content adjustments, it also implies revisiting the learning spaces so that we create the best conditions for our students. An honest self-assessment is a great start: What should definitely not be missing from the learning space? What are some “nice to have”s? And, of course, what could we do without?
Re-evaluating the Virtual Learning Environment
Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) or Learning Management Systems (LMS) are platforms that were designed to mirror classroom instruction and interaction patterns. Even though they have become a constant feature of universities in the past decades, their use has been rather limited, mainly as a space for teachers to post reading materials and class presentations and for students to submit assignments. We can safely say the VLE has largely played the role of a repository that complements face-to-face instruction, without adding much to the learning experience.
Moving online due to Covid-19, the most obvious learning space to turn to at most, if not all universities was the institutional VLE, which became overnight a hub for emergency remote teaching. But as we are preparing for at least a few more months of online teaching, it becomes clearer that the VLEs as we currently know them (regardless of the platform provider) are not the most suitable environments for designing and delivering fully online courses. It’s hard to reimagine teaching and learning experiences using the same interface and platform logic we loved to hate until a few months ago.
What are the issues?
Learning online is- or needs to be- all about making connections. By contrast, the “traditional” information architecture of the VLE tends to create a linear, non-engaging and mostly passive learning experience. Even though more than enough functionalities are available, the antiquated user interface for both teachers and students creates a barrier for creativity and innovative teaching and learning.
Moreover, the platform setup at institutional level could constitute yet another constraint for a more effective and inviting use of the VLE. It is undoubtedly important to ensure consistency and provide learners with recognisable course design patterns to structure their learning journey. However, this does not need to translate into boring pages, cluttered with information. The main thing we need to remember is that this space no longer serves as an accessory to face-to-face teaching. It is now our main contact point with learners, so it needs to play different roles: communication channel, learning path, interaction platform and community space. Teachers therefore need a certain degree of freedom to design this space in the best way that suits their teaching style and philosophy as well as their course content and learning objectives.
While specific online teaching methods and the way to use certain tools can be learned and adapted, designing spaces for online learning needs to be a collective endeavour, whereby teachers collaborate with learning technologists and learning experience (LX) designers. What became obvious in the past months is that when it comes to teaching and learning fully online, the learning experience design aspect, including look, feel and logic of the platform from the users’ perspective- be it teachers or students-, are at least as important as the content.
Moving forward
To address these issues we need to start by critically assessing the existing tools to establish to what extent they are fit for the new purpose- teaching and learning fully online. Does the problem lie within the software? Do the platforms’ affordances not match our pedagogical approaches or institutional culture? Are there flaws in the user experience design? Is there enough support available? And do we get the right type of support?
First of all, we need to get different people with different skills and different perspectives to work together: teachers, learning technologists, learning experince designers, IT specialists, university management and last but not least students. The aim is to rethink the role and structure of learning spaces in an online environment.
Whether we bravely try to repurpose the VLE or come up with a totally new online learning space, we will have to put aside our pre-existing ideas and assumptions and start from a blank canvas. A new software and information architecture is crucial for designing an inviting, supportive and dynamic learning space. What we need to keep in mind is that we are no longer aiming to create a repository of information, but a space for students and teachers to learn and engage with each other.
Thanks for reading! I am looking forward to reading your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below. For more insights, analysis and tips on (higher) education, online teaching and UX design, follow me on Twitter and/or sign up to my newsletter!
