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Online Resource Centres

Learn about Virtual Learning Environment/Course Management System content

Online Resource Centres are developed by Oxford University Press and its authors to provide students and lecturers with ready-to-use teaching and learning resources. In order to help you make your teaching more efficient and learning more effective, content from the Online Resources Centres of selected textbooks is available to adopting lecturers as one single Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)-compatible file.


What is a VLE?
What are the most commonly used VLEs in the UK?
What is a VLE cartridge?
What are the benefits of a VLE cartridge?
Why are there different versions of VLE cartridges?
Which versions of VLE does OUP provide cartridges for?
How does a lecturer obtain a VLE cartridge?
Which OUP Online Resource Centres have a VLE cartridge available?



What is a VLE?


A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is a system for delivering learning materials to students via the web. These systems include assessment, student tracking, collaboration and communication tools. They can be accessed both on and off-campus, meaning that they can support students' learning outside the lecture hall 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This enables institutions to teach not only traditional full-time students but also those who cannot regularly visit the campus due to geographic or time restrictions, e.g. those on distance learning courses, doing evening classes, or workers studying part-time.

There are different types of VLE, which all work slightly differently but ultimately perform the same function and can deliver the same learning materials. A Higher Education institution is likely to have a licence for a VLE that fits into any one of the following three categories:

VLEs are also known as Course Management Systems (CMS) and Learning Management Systems (LMS), among other names.

There are some international standards associated with VLEs which help to make content and assessments interoperable (i.e. they can be used in different types of VLE). The standard for content is called 'Sharable Content Object Reference Model' (SCORM) and the standard for assessments is called 'Question and Test Interoperability' (QTI).



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What are the most commonly used VLEs?




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What is a VLE cartridge?


A VLE 'cartridge' refers to a downloadable file that comprises VLE content. It is a package of all the lecturer and student materials from a single textbook's Online Resource Centre available on the OUP website. It enables lecturers to import all the content from one Online Resource Centre into their VLE at once.



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What are the benefits of a VLE cartridge?



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Why are there different versions?


Despite some international standards aimed to facilitate the sharing of content between VLEs, content is not recognised and organised in exactly the same way by each VLE. In order to provide content which requires as little tweaking as possible to get it into each VLE, OUP has packaged the files for some of the most popular versions of VLEs.



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Which versions does OUP provide?


VLE cartridges that were published on the OUP web site before September 2007 are provided in the following formats:

WebCT 3.8 WebCT 3.8

Blackboard 5.6 Blackboard 5.6

WebCT CE 4.1 WebCT CE 4.1

Blackboard 6.0 Blackboard 6.0
(also compatible with Blackboard 7 and 8)

WebCT Vista WebCT Vista

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) 1.2 package

VLE cartridges published/publishing on the OUP web site from September 2007 onwards are provided in the following formats:

WebCT CE 4.1 WebCT CE 4.1

Blackboard 6.0 Blackboard 6.0
(also compatible with Blackboard 7 and 8)

WebCT Vista 3 WebCT Vista 3

Moodle 1.8

WebCT CE 6.0 WebCT CE 6.0

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) 1.2 package

Note:

Open source and bespoke VLEs that comply with SCORM standards can import the SCORM 1.2 package. Those without SCORM compliance can request a zip file of the Online Resource Centre contents.

OUP aims to provide files which are compatible with the common VLEs used in the UK and Europe. If your institution is planning to upgrade its VLE, or the versions provided are not compatible with your system, please contact us at orc.help@oup.com.



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How does a lecturer obtain a cartridge?


VLE content is delivered via the password-protected lecturer area of an Online Resource Centre. Lecturers need first to adopt the related textbook. They can then register on the textbook's Online Resource Centre for a password to access the lecturer area. (All password applications are activated within three working days, once they have been verified.)

Once a lecturer has a password they can request or download their version of the VLE cartridge directly from the Online Resource Centre.

  1. Go to the homepage of the Online Resource Centre that corresponds to the adopted textbook.

  2. Click on the 'VLE content' link in the left-hand navigation bar or on the Online Resource Centre homepage.

  3. Click on the appropriate version of the cartridge and request or download it to your computer (this should only take a few minutes).

  4. Upload the cartridge to your VLE or pass it to your ICT/VLE support staff to upload on your behalf. Please see 'Importing and customising VLE cartridges' for a step-by-step guide to specific systems.



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Titles with VLE cartridges are:


                                             OUP will create more cartridges depending on demand. (Lecturers should speak to their sales
                                             representative if they are using a title they would like to see a cartridge created for.)


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