Effective Learner-Lecturer Interaction Working With a Virtual Learning Environment

Abstract

Using the Internet to learn a language creates wide opportunities to enhance learning (Association of teachers of English in Catalonia (APAC), 2010). The Internet activities promote learners’ self-monitoring ability, encourage the use of multimedia and network technology, and develop students’ cooperation and participation. During the latest years, there have been many changes in education as these new technologies, including VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments), which have become an important part in the teaching/learning process. According to Tech Terms Computer Dictionary (2012), VLE is a virtual classroom where teachers and students communicate. VLEs have evolved as at an early stage, they were only ways of transmitting information: Teachers uploaded the multimedia resources and students read this information. At a higher stage, VLEs have become interactive. This means that students become active. We have designed a virtual environment where students, weekly, must contribute their opinions and comments in response to a required activity uploaded by the teacher. In this paper, we describe this weekly task and analyze students’ opinion about this planned activity. The students become an active subject in this field. In this paper, we show how VLEs are no longer a means of transmitting information but a means of interaction as well as a way of motivating our students to be involved in their learning process.