The Postgraduate Virtual Learning Environment (PGVLE)
The Problem
The country is on lockdown – Postgraduate doctors in training and faculty teams need a way to deliver teaching in a virtual environment
The Solution
A fully integrated Learning Management System with Web Classroom using open-source software and unlimited scalability
Postgraduate learning in the digital age in response to COVID
The Covid-19 pandemic decimated postgraduate clinical training. Not only were the clinical commitments suddenly higher but the opportunities to learn and develop had majorly diminished.
The lockdowns prevented face to face teaching activites from taking place and the best efforts to connect via video-conferencing were limited due to organisational challenges.
The PGVLE initially started life as a platform for Core Surgical Trainees in the West Midlands to connect monthly and progress their learning. The results were overwhelmingly positive and the expansion began.
The platform grew from 110 core surgical trainees to 500 surgical trainees in all specialties. The onboarding of physicians and psychiatrists meant an expansion of first 3000 in June 2020, to 5000 by December 2020.
The sustained growth now has a current capacity of 20000 users with plans to expand to 30000 in the next few months,
The Big Blue Button
Another masterful piece of open source software, the Big Blue Button is a dedicated virtual web-conferencing classroom. it’s seamless integration with Moodle makes it an excellent partner platform.
Moodle LMS
The PGVLE is built on a Moodle LMS (Learning Management System). It is highly versatile, and being open source is incredibly economicalIt offers several features the key ones being Resource Delivery, Integrated Web Classroom (BigBlueButton) and Governance/Administration
Virtual Resources
The Moodle LMS allows resources delivery in a manner that would cater for anyone and everyone. Whether it be a collation of simple web links all the way through to online quizzes and engaging monitored activities using SCROM or H5P. The ability to embed resources into the platform allows the creation of controlled learning pathways that can be adjusted to whatever learner group is engaging.
Virtual Classroom
The integration of the Big Blue Button allowed the delivery of resources and classrooms all in one space with a single sign on process. The BBB is a browser based so there were fewer system demands. The auto-archiving and permanent classrom model also allowed for a one time set up process which could be permanently without repeat adjustments.
Governance & Administration
The creation of the PGVLE for non-commerical, educational use, behing a secure perimeter allowed for delivery of resources in keeping with UK Fair Usage within Copyright Law. Information Governance was supported by NHSE, as were user policies.
The built in feedback and reporting strucutre allowed programme leads to access anonymised feedback and teaching attendance, with more autonomous courses allowing self-certification upon completion of activities
Current Position
With expansion into national programmes and absoprtion of pre-exisiting platforms, the PGVLE is considered to be key to the future stable of online offerings by NHSE.
%
Current Capacity 20000
2000 Users on the PGVLE!!!!
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