Excellence in VLE Awards

Thank you to all who submitted courses for the 2021 Blackboard & VLE Awards. We received a record-breaking total of over 1200 nominations from students, and detailed feedback about what has worked well in a year that has seen more learning than ever before moved to a virtual environment.  Choosing this year's shortlist from so many excellent entries proved a big (and exciting) challenge for our judges.

2021's winners have been revealed and short video tours of the award-winning courses can be found at the YouTube playlist here.

Congratulations to all winning, shortlisted and nominated courses. Students took time to tell us how your online learning environment had helped them and later on in the year we will share some of the key themes they highlighted.

VLE Superleague

In 2020 we launched the Blackboard & VLE Awards superleague. Courses that have won previously and are still consistently nominated by students for the outstanding support they provide are listed here (or here in docx format). For inspiration, tour some of the superleague courses via the playlist here or search the Blackboard Course Catalogue for 'Superleague'.

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Awards

Now into its ninth year, our Excellence in VLE Awards gives students the opportunity to nominate exemplary Blackboard modules, or those using other VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) platforms, and highlight what it is that makes these courses stand out.

Award-winning courses have been chosen for their innovative features and for the high standard of support they offer students. The judging panel includes student representation, Associate Deans (Education) and online learning specialists.  Our course rubric explains some of the key aspects considered.  Details of 2020's winning courses can be found here.

Central to the VLE Awards is the chance to share good practice. Our Award winners are encouraged to contribute case studies of their practice. Short presentations summarising features praised by students, using examples from shortlisted courses, can be viewed below. This is further explored through a series of workshops for staff, which showcase faculty-specific examples of excellent materials, offer practical tips and discuss good design for online learning.