Technology supported learning (TSL) for formative assessment

Online environments offer educators a new medium to deliver teaching and learning material – one which can bring new and exciting ways of learning and an alternative to traditional teaching techniques. These new techniques can provide solutions to the demands of a changing environment, allowing flexibility for learning from home or work and the ability to cope with a widening variety of backgrounds and qualifications. The difficulty comes in finding ways to apply the new technologies to a learning process with proven educational benefit. This paper presents a case study involving an undergraduate module on distributed simulations in design within the Architecture and Product Design Department at the University of Wolverhampton. It discusses the planning, implementation, delivery and evaluation of online tasks for teaching Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML). This is supported by background research on the impact of using e-learning strategies for formative assessment. The evaluation of this experience is based on the analysis of students’ reflections and feedback, in particular how beneficial that experience was towards improving their understanding of the subject and achievement in their work. It concludes with future actions and ideas for improvement based on the analysis and synthesis of the implemented online tasks.