BU鈥檚 new virtual learning environment (VLE) to be put to the test
Plans are in progress to pilot Brightspace, BU's new virtual learning environment (VLE), with an entire faculty and a number of courses taking part in this exciting transition from聽myBU.
Students studying courses at all levels in the聽Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, level 4 courses in the Faculty of Science & Technology, and those courses shared between the two faculties, will be first to use Brightspace from the start of the new academic year in September 2017.聽Selected courses from the Faculty of Management and Faculty of Media & Communication are also included in the pilot.
Wendy Drake, Principal Project Manager of Vision4Learning (V4L), the project overseeing BU鈥檚 VLE implementation, said, 鈥淲e have had a large number of volunteers offering to be part of the Brightspace pilot.聽It has been important to offer the widest number of BU users the very earliest opportunity to move to Brightspace, whilst still being able to effectively manage and evaluate the entire University鈥檚 VLE user experience during implementation.鈥�
Almost half of BU will be included in the first phase of the Brightspace implementation.聽The second phase will bring all remaining BU courses online in September 2018. 鈥淭hose that follow in 2018 will be in a strong position to benefit from any lessons learned from the early adopters鈥�, Wendy added.
BU鈥檚 decision to review its VLE was led by feedback聽from students and staff during the externally facilitated 鈥楥hanging the Learning Landscape鈥� (CLL) project, which took place during 2013 - 2014. CLL identified confidence in core technology as an important factor in BU鈥檚 use of technology enhanced learning and the VLE, whilst BU鈥檚 legal obligation to offer the VLE contract for re-tender under European law provided a timely opportunity to respond to student and staff concerns.
Brightspace fought off strong competition to secure BU鈥檚 10 year VLE contract,聽securing excellent staff and student feedback聽in usability testing for their product鈥檚 modern interface and intuitive navigation.
The new VLE鈥檚 responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media, chat, game-based learning and advanced video features, makes it well suited to the modern student and to BU community needs.
