Pioneering. Visionary. Far-reaching. If these are not words you would immediately associate with a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) like WebLearn, perhaps the work of Dr Lucy Tallents, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Biology, will persuade you to see the platform in a new light. Her online course 'Conservation statistics' offers wildlife conservationists in developing countries - who wouldn't otherwise have the time, opportunity or money - the chance to learn new skills in their spare time to support their important work protecting the planet's biodiversity.
Dr Tallents' inspired use of the wide range of WebLearn tools to organise and present engaging content, and foster the development of an international learning community shows a VLE like WebLearn can be a natural fit for online learning.
Excellent. The use of "smileys", "emojis", and casual language and content (e.g. the weather in the UK) make for a relaxed learning environment, and therefore a more cooperative one.
– Postgraduate student studying this course online
