After a year of planning and preparation the Girls‘ Model‘s first Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has been rolled out to Year 9 and 11 pupils. The first phase of user testing was completed in June 2007 and the all pupils will have access to an online curriculum by the end of 2009. The VLE uses the Moodle platform which has been adapted by our extremely talented Webmaster, David MacDermott, to match the appearance and user-friendly nature of the school website www.belfastgms.org
So far, virtualgms.org has caused quite a storm with pupils quickly taking to the system and working out how to change their user profiles and access their course documents. The Messenger and Chat facilities have proved very popular and have brought a new form of communication to the school - ”gms me later“ is a new term being used by pupils who are enjoying using virtualgms.org for social chat as well as serious school work.
It is very impressive to see how popular virtualgms.org has been in its first week of going live. This is a case of ’watch this space‘ as more and more course materials, videos of trips and other resources to support learning are introduced.
In the meantime, if you are currently as user of virtualgms.org, watch out for the online feedback questionnaire and let us know what you think.
For more information about the Girls‘ Model VLE or website contact Mrs Lynn McKeever lmckeever629@c2kni.net
