Organization - eLRC

The eLRC is based across three locations - the HE Academy, the University of Manchester and the University of Southampton. The ethos of the centre is based around the notion that “research problems” should come directly out of “operational problems” and that the research results are fed back in good time to bring operational benefits to the higher education community as a whole.

As a national level centre established by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the centre aims to identify and investigate research problems in the field of e-learning that are of strategic importance for the sector as a whole. In identifying such problems it needs to consider developments nationally and internationally and to ensure that common needs of institutions and developers in the national sector are addressed. This means that the centre focuses on generic problems of the sector and on problems that are identified as gaps or inhibitors for the delivery of a vision of e-learning as articulated in the key national level strategies related to e-learning. Additionally, it works to ensure that a vital research programme is supported by a strong base in the host institutions. In designing and executing a research programme it ensures strong strategic alignment with other initiatives both nationally and internationally.

Report - e-Strategy by DfES

On 15 March 2005, the Department for Education and Skills published the e-Strategy 'Harnessing Technology: Transforming learning and children's services'.

This strategy describes the use of digital and interactive technologies to achieve a more personalised approach within all areas of education and children's services. It is an ambitious strategy covering all sectors for the next five years and beyond.

Organization - Higher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy is concerned with every aspect of the student experience. It will provide coherence, added value and a powerful emphasis on the needs of stakeholders.

Paul Ramsden, Chief Executive

The Higher Education Academy works with the UK higher education community to enhance the student experience. The Academy will become the first choice of the sector for knowledge, practice and policy related to the student experience in higher education.

This exciting new initiative has a strong stakeholder focus and will help institutions, subject communities, individuals, the Government and funding bodies to provide an exceptional environment for student learning.

E-Book - EDUCAUSE

Educating the Net Generation

A New EDUCAUSE e-Book

The Net Generation has grown up with information technology. The aptitudes, attitudes, expectations, and learning styles of Net Gen students reflect the environment in which they were raised—one that is decidedly different from that which existed when faculty and administrators were growing up.

This collection explores the Net Gen and the implications for institutions in areas such as teaching, service, learning space design, faculty development, and curriculum. Contributions by educators and students are included. Professional printing options are available.

Online Resource - JISC InfoKits

infoKits - a framework for planning and implementing information systems

Our infoKits are a set of on-line resources that consist of a subject overview, a step by step 'how to' guide and a resource layer of templates, toolkits, reports, case studies and other supporting materials.

Organization - JISC InfoNet

Welcome to JISC infoNet

Providing Expertise in Planning and Implementing Information Systems

Whether you are a senior manager leading institutional strategy or you are working in the field of systems, processes or e-learning, JISC infoNet has resources that can help you improve the support for, and quality of, learning and teaching in your institution. Our resources are freely available to institutions and individuals in the further and higher education sectors, with this website the main access route to our services.

infoKits are our core resources, covering key frameworks and topics relating to planning and implementing information systems. These are complemented by applied infoKits which use the generic frameworks and apply them to specific types of implementation. You can access all these resources from the infoKits tab near the top of the page. To accompany the infoKits we run series of events and details of upcoming events (including other major events in the sector) can be found on this site.

A resource directory including links to various sector organisations and resources is also available and an Information Systems Planning Timeline pools together known changes within the UK FE and HE sectors that may have an impact on your information systems. A new improved timeline is currently being compiled. News items are posted regularly as new materials or events strands are launched or undergo major updates; a link is also available to view the News Archive.

Project - Encouraging Deep Learning With E-learning

The project aims at empirically establish a set of guidelines for an effective and easy-to-use web-based e-learning environment that is based around digital video material. Teachers that use the guidelines will have available successful e-learning strategies to support student learning and to cope with increasing diversity in students' background. The project focuses on how the teaching strategy and technology can be aligned successfully to support student learning.

The UK nationally endorsed aim to make Higher Education more accessible demands learning environments that are more flexible than before. Students should be able to study at the time and place convenient for them in a format appropriate to their needs. The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) seems to answer this demand. Although software applications are available (e.g. WebCT, Blackboard) to support these environments, the teachers are left with the more challenging question of how to use these environments effectively.

Organization - Learning Skills and Development Agency

Welcome

LSDA's mission is to improve the quality of post-16 education and training in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We do this through research to inform policy and practice, through helping to shape and communicate education policy and through improvement and support programmes for organisations that deliver post-16 education and training.

Learning Technology Group (LTG) - Lancaster

The Learning Technology Group (LTG) has various roles but one of the main services we provide is developing and managing web sites to support teaching and learning. If you are involved in T&L activities at Lancaster University and want to use a web site, LTG should be able to help. We have a portfolio of web site designs that can be set up immediately and if the site is for use in your learning support or your teaching, we'll even do it for free! We currently provide several hundred web sites for many different groups throughout the university.

Most of the web sites that LTG maintain are used for teaching and are not open access. Staff and students use their LAN login and password for access to the sites from anywhere on the Internet, not just on the Lancaster University network. Access controls on LTG web sites are maintained automatically by links with the university student record database (LUSI).

All LTG web sites are 'dynamic' in the sense that new pages are created by people using a web browser, from email messages sent direct to the web site or from external databases. No special skill or special software is required to maintain them.

Centre for Studies in Advanced Learning Technology

C SALT is the Centre for Studies in Advanced Learning Technology. Established in 1992 the Centre for Studies in Advanced Learning Technology (C SALT) at Lancaster University is one of Europe's leading academic research groups in the field of information and communications technology (ICT) applied to adult education and training. The Centre carries out basic and applied research. Its members are also closely involved in the education and professional development of workers in the e-learning industry, and in consultancy.

Our research has a strong focus on adult education especially in higher education and industrial and vocational training. Our interest is not in the technology per se, but in the social psychological and organisational issues which are thrown into sharp relief during the design and introduction of new technology-based learning environments. C SALT is:

• focused on research in advanced learning technology (ALT), networked or e-learning,
• made up of staff with expertise in eg, networked and e-learning, online tutoring, computer supported collaborative learning, multimedia computing, psychology, instructional design, evaluation and video for learning
• running an innovative distance learning programme on the design and use of advanced learning technologies
• based in the RAE grade 5 Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University, UK.

This site reflects primarily the interests of C SALT in Educational Research. Other members of the university wide C SALT are part of the Department of Management Learning, in particular the Networked Management Learning research group and the Learning Technology Group.

Teaching and Learning Research Programme

The ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme

TLRP is a coordinated research initiative. Its overarching purpose is to support and develop educational research leading to improvements in outcomes for learners of all ages, in all sectors and contexts of education, training and lifelong learning throughout the UK. The first projects began work in 2000 and the Programme is scheduled to end in December 2008.

ETL Project

Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses is a four-year project funded by the ESRC as part of its Teaching and Learning Research Programme. The project has been designed to support departments involved in undergraduate teaching in thinking about new ways of encouraging high quality learning. This collaborative research will be underpinned by research into the quality of student learning and how it is influenced, not just by teaching and assessment, but by the whole teaching-learning environment.