Actually experiences are so positive that the system will continue after the end of the project period in December 2001.
For the Nursing School of Vendsyssel located in Hjørring and the VUC Østhimmerland located in Hadsund, one could rightfully claim that all the two educational institutions have in common is that they have teachers and students. So it was quite an experiment when the two educational institutions teamed up in a project description and an application submitted to Digital North Denmark.
- I had developed the initial step towards a system for virtual learning rooms. I showed this to Allan Gerding who was then the deputy head of department in the Department for Education and Cultural Affairs of the County, and he matched us with the Vendsyssel Nursing School, tells Peter Ohrt, who is teacher of IT and systems administrator at the VUC Østhimmerland. Per Krüger, also a teacher and a systems administrator – but at the Vendsyssel Nursing School – adds:
- At that time we, too, were preparing a couple of applications to the Digital North Denmark from the Vendsyssel Nursing School,. This was also concerning IT – only on a much smaller scale. Our point of departure was quite different from that of the VUC Østhimmerland, in that while the teachers had computers available allright, the entire nursing school had only four computers and one printer at the disposal of our approximately 200 students. And this is just a year ago.

A Quantum Leap
The two teachers keenly interested in IT technology were soon on the same wavelength, and the development of a simple to use pedagogical system with virtual learning rooms was picking up fast.
- Eventhough the two schools are vastly different, we had the same basic need: To develop a system with a file and directory structure that was easy to overview, - and which the individual teacher could customize to the needs of himself and his class. For one thing is to have teaching structure in your mind's eye - and in real life rooms - butaccommodating it on a computer is something else. Just a thing like communication – between teachers and students, in groups, etc. – requires structuring and organising, emphasizes Peter Ohrt.
- Using virtual learning rooms you manage to break down a number of barriers in the way of time and geography. This makes it possible to solve tasks that support the teaching performed in the classroom.
And the bright thing is that you create the "room" you need with two mouseclicks, explains Per Krüger, and he adds:
- To us at the nursing school this has been quite a quantum leap. We got support from management to quickly establish some facilities, and during spring we will reach a number of 26 PCs with full internet connectivity. And the students are using them all the time. So – actually we could use more.

But quite a few teachers of languages are not prepared to use IT-technology directly in their teaching, explains Peter Ohrt.
As part of the PEITU projectet both schools completed a job-related supplementary training for the teachers in using the virtual learning rooms. Four teachers from each school were in training – but at the nursing school they took great interest in making use of the new potentials, and also teachers who were not in on the project have been introduced to working in the virtual learning rooms. All teachers are expected to get access to using the virtual learning rooms in their teaching over the spring of 2002.

Little Virgil is Growing
Peter Ohrt's systems was growing and developing as he and Per Krüger were detecting the needs of the two schools. And actually the system got itself a name: Virgil – or rather Virgil the Second as this was a further development.
- However, the layout for example was interimistic in its design. The setup run by the school during the project period was a test version. Since then the system was further developed and for example the new version, "Virgil the Third", is able to run both Linux and Windows platforms, which enables all educational institutions to use it, explains Peter Ohrt.
He and Per Krüger are not making any secrets of the fact that a lot of sparetime has been spent on the further development and trimming of the system – also after the expiration of the project period. And today Virgil is an indispensable tool at the Vendsyssel Nursing School.
- The PEITU project has had significant consequences to the entire mindset of today's teaching. For example, who would imagine the use of virtual learning rooms for the teaching and learning of anatomy and physiology, asks Per Krüger.
Both he and Peter Ohrt are convinced that virtual learning rooms have come to stay – both at the Vendsyssel Nursing School and at VUC Østhimmerland, where flexible approaches to teaching will be a growing part of the syllabus.