Virtual Learning Environments: An Information Technology Basic Skills Course on the Web

Calls for revolutionizing business education are being answered by a proliferation of virtual learning environments. Virtual universities are emerging and more and more universities are developing and offering virtual courses capitalizing on ever-growing and ubiquitous Internet-related technologies. This paper presents an implementation of a web-based virtual learning environment that was created to offer an IT introductory college level course for undergraduate business students at a large university in the U.S. The environment consists of several virtual areas to conduct the classroom activities and house the relevant resources and information. Theory predicts that higher level of learner control leads to more effective learning. Control and flexibility, among other advantages offered to the learner in virtual environments, are the intended benefits of this implementation