The VLE Pilot - institutional pilot VCL projects

JORDAN OPPORTUNITY FOR VIRTUAL INNOVATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Overall, the E-Tutor training and model can be seen as a success for the JOVITAL project and resulted in the training of 27 E-Tutors. However, it must be noted that a second summer school to train the E-Tutors in 2020 could not be delivered due to COVID-19. In addition, due to COVID-19 delaying the delivery of some of the VCL activities, not all of the trained E-Tutors were able to put their training into action. Indeed, by the time the international and the Jordanled VCL were delivered, a number of the trained E-Tutors had graduated and were no longer at their educational institutions.

In March 2019, Jordanian students were introduced to the first iteration of the JOVITAL VCL, using the open source platform designed and implemented by the TU Dresden. The purpose of this pilot was to introduce teaching staff in the use of VLE spaces and learners to working in a virtual environment, with short group tasks assigned to complete. In part, this pilot was used to inform which Jordanian students might become candidates for the E-Tutor training in Dresden in September 2019.

The HEIs involved in this pilot test of the VLE were as follows:

• Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), Germany • Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), Jordan • Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Jordan • German Jordanian University (GJU), Jordan • Al Hussein bin Talal University (AHU), Jordan • Tafila Technical University (TTU), Jordan

The delivery resulted in the following headline findings from the evaluation:

• VCL platform/choice of VLE • Preference on mobile format • Student Engagement