Here in my college, we use moodle as VLE system and this moodle was adopted as one of the main learning places for the Royal University of Bhutan. I feel that there are many things which we have to incorporate into this moodle.

Moreover the experience of using the moodle as VLE for teachers is quite tiresome. The senior teachers are very slow in picking up the trend on VLE (moodle).

We use LMS system developed by Turkish colleauges, however, I support open access and use social media YouTube, iTune etc to save lecture videos so every one can benefit. Open Courseware platforms such as MIT, Coursera , MOOC  can be used for saving the lecture videos, and also some other LMS such as Schoolgy, Edumodo veya Instructure Canvas can be used for LMS. 

However, New information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide educators and learners with an innovative learning environment to stimulate and enhance the teaching and learning process. We work in the university with digital Natives who have been borned with New media and New Technologies, we are introducing the tools that they use in their normal days and relationships. This generation of students thinks and learns differently than any generation that has come before.  We  analyze the new possibilities implied in introducing social networks as an educational tool and thus demonstrate the efficiency of New Technologies in the academic work. We will introduce social media collaborative tools in the classrooms creating a site in Facebook where students can watch the class live online, interact with the instructor. This is what I highly recommend to every professor who is teaching digital natives.

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook are one of the latest examples of communications technologies that have been widely adopted by students and, consequently, have the potential to become a valuable resource to support their educational communications and collaborations with faculty.

Social media offer a variety of ways for students to become involved with their universities. 

There should be no more distance education and face-to-face education separately.  All regular classes should be blended, it must be both at the same time. It must be eLive classes which can be watched live by other students who are not physically in the class, but do not want to miss the class, join the class from wherever he/she is and should be able to ask question to the instructor during the class which is live streamed to YouTube or Facebook.

Good afternoon Halit Hami Oz, 

Have a look at (Personal Learning) heutagogy and technology, all about bringing new Web 2.0 into VLE's and how this can affect the learning environment. We tried it with Twitter, Facebook within Ebridge - Saki, and ran a whole module - pretty good response from the postgraduate students. Using mobile tablets, and phones to proposed real time questions, set up extra curriculum activities for evening tasks.  We did a paper on this topic and I have added it for you.

In my Institute I'm using Moodle since 5 years.

Having collaboration with the Frensh University Claude Bernard of Lyon, I use their LMS named SpiralConnect for some courses. This LMS is different from Moodle, it's more in a Blog model. Young students like it because its nearer to their mentality and having similar characteristics to Blogs.

We currently use Pearson LearningStudio (formerly eCollege) as our LMS but I have explored Canvas for a few classes and love it. There is so much more you can do with Canvas than I have experienced with other LMSs. I would recommend giving Canvas a hard look. Here is a link to Canvas features and comparison of Canvas to other LMSs (D2L, Moodle, Sakai, and Blackboard).

http://www.canvaslms.com/higher-education/features#compare

My experience is with adult learners with cognitive difficulties (people with learning disabilities). I believe that this group of users would face challenges using VLE/LMS such as Moodle even if they are computer literate. The reason being the complication of these systems and their User Interfaces. I believe that there are two solutions specifically for this group of users:

1. To spend extra time in teaching them how to use the VLE. People with cognitive difficulties can learn like the rest of us but they require extra time to learn something. Therefore I believe that they can learn how to use a LMS if one takes the time to teach them.

2. LMS like Moodle are open source and they can be modified. If an organization has the resources, it can customize a LMS for the needs of the specific group of users. Most LMS already have accessibility features for people with vision and hearing difficulties but not for people with cognitive difficulties. A customization would of course be costly but may be worth it. I believe the customization should be done with the feedback of the specific group of users. For people with learning difficulties the main system modification would be to be simplified. That is, to simplify the user interface and the system as much as possible.  

Good afternoon Sotiris Fanou, There is a lot of research carried out on Personalised and Adaptive Research, that focuses on e-learning. Sometimes SEN does play an important part of using materials and us academics/lecturers forget. A VLE is a glorified web-site at the end of the day with a database.  What about just using a simple Web-site, through using larger Buttons or a friendly HCI.. Flexibility and robustness would come into play.  Rob.

Dear Rob hi,

I agree that a VLE is based on Web technology but that does not mean that it is accessible or easy to use specifically for people with learning difficulties (PWLD). Facebook for example is based on Web technology and I personally find it very difficult to use! You can definitely use a simple web site but making the buttons bigger would not be enough. There are guidelines of how to make a Web site or Web technology accessible, for example look at the following two links:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/

http://www.uiaccess.com/justask/

(the second link includes some guidelines for design for PWLD). 

Unfortunately, most guidelines refer to people with physical disabilities. There is lack in both research and guidelines for designing accessible software specifically for PWLD. If you are going to be developing a website specifically for tutoring PWLD I believe that the best way to make it accessible (other than following the guidelines as a start) would be to include your own students with disabilities (the intended users of the system) in the design of the Web site. At specific stages of development the people with disabilities could test the system for example and give the programmers feedback of what could be changed in order to make it accessible to their specific needs (User Centred Design). Please look at my own research on the subject here:

http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=3&uin=uk.bl.ethos.606241

You are right Sotiris Fanou! But it is up to us, academics, researchers, developers and web-site designers to change people conceptual thoughts on SEN, or PWLD.  More research that is carried out, then more, we as Humans can adapt new standards, technologies and guidance's.    It would be nice, if researchers on here collaborated on designs, ideas etc and push forward - like you said, you have already contributed to knowledge.   Rob.  

Nice Contribution Sotiris Fanou

Dear Dr. Alexandros Xafopoulos ,

This link is good:

https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2020/03/using-assistive-technology-empower-students-disabilities-perfcon