USE OF VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND CLOUD COMPUTING SYSTEMS IN MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

摘要

Among the many innovative e-learning technologies in use today which are intended for teaching, learning enhancement and convenience - the virtual learning environment (VLE) and cloud computing system (CCS) may be worthy of serious consideration in developing a new andragogical framework for use in Maritime Education and Training (MET). With the maritime industry's mindset focused on competency development of shipboard personnel through practical training, the value of such systems may not be fully realized and may be overshadowed by the fact that it may be provided free of charge, better known in the computing language as 'open source', and thus thought to be of little value. But considering its many features and available applications, it may indeed be an effective tool to help achieve the numerous goals and expected learning outcomes in MET. VLEs and CCS also brings the advantage of exposing the students to a higher level of computing skills that can be transferred relatively directly to new technologies used in the maritime and shipping industry plus having the benefit of providing instruction in a flexible manner with varying time and location autonomies. This paper presented the barriers associated with the implementation on the use of VLE and CCS in MET and the suggested solutions.