Project - Reveel - Review of the evidence of the effectiveness of e-learning

Reveel - Review of the evidence of the effectiveness of e-learning:

"There is no single definition of e-Learning and certainly the agenda of a particular sector is reflected in the type of definition that is used. For our review we will use a broad definition. 'If someone is learning in a way that uses information and communications technologies (ICTs), they are using e-learning' (DfES, 2003) "

Organization - Higher Education Academy Supporting Learning

Higher Education Academy Supporting Learning page: "E-LEARNING

* Projects
* Strategy implementation
* e-Learning Research Centre
* e-Tutor competition
* e-Learning resources
* e-Learning links"

Online Journal - eJournal of Learning and Teaching - Oxford Brookes

eJournal of Learning and Teaching - About:

"The Brookes eJournal of Learning and Teaching is a peer-reviewed journal which aims to:

Promote, enhance and disseminate research, good practice, development and innovation in all aspects of learning, teaching and assessment in Higher Education to its primary audience which includes teachers, support staff, researchers, and those who make or influence policy and practice, within the university and externally.

Encourage greater understanding, dissemination, collaboration and evidence-based practice across the university and externally. BeJLT is designed to have maximum impact through being freely available on-line, fully archived and peer-reviewed."

Project - JISC Learning Technology Career Development Scoping Study

Learning Technology Career Development Scoping Study:

"The learning technology career development scoping study was undertaken by a team from the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol, University of Plymouth and University of Glamorgan, funded by the JISC CALT. The study investigated the roles, skills and activities of learning technology staff in the UK and the impact of learning technologies are having on institutions. The study used an institutional audit methodology to gather the data and allow people across an institution to work together to examine their progress and development of learning technology and the people involved in this.

The original study was funded by the JISC between 2000 and 2001. Follow up funding has been provided until 31 March 2003. The follow up funding was provided to write a series of briefing papers targeted at different HE audiences, for example, academic staff, librarians, managers of learning technology staff. Each of the briefing papers presents findings from the very substantial study which are of particular relevance to each audience. These briefing papers are available here. In addition, the original methodological tools have been reviewed and reworked and are available though the ELTI project to assist institutions in undertaking institutional audits to inform the process of embedding learning technologies, assist in developing institutional structures, culture and expertise and to encourage cross boundary collaboration and groupings."

Project - JISC Embedding Learning Technologies Institutionally

Embedding Learning Technologies Institutionally:

"The ELTI audit is designed to inform the process of embedding learning technologies, assist in developing institutional structures, culture and expertise and to encourage cross boundary collaboration and groupings. It is a follow up project to the learning technologies career development scoping study undertaken by a team from the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol, University of Plymouth and University of Glamorgan, funded by the JISC CALT. The original study investigated the roles, skills and activities of learning technology staff in the UK and the impact of learning technologies institutions. The study used an institutional audit methodology to gather the data and allow people across an institution to work together to examine their progress and development of learning technology and the people involved in this.

ELTI was funded as a follow up project in order to make this methodology available more widely. These audit materials and methodology will help institutions examining elearning strategies and organisational structures to support the use of ICT in teaching, learning and research. The original audit tools and accompanying notes and guidance have been revised and enhanced to make them useful to the whole HE community. These are freely available and the project is now examining how these can be adapted for use in the FE community.

Undertaking an institutional audit could bring many benefits, including:

* Providing a thorough overview of how learning technologies are being embedded within your institution;
* Enabling different stakeholders to examine the tensions and factors which help to impede or accelerate change;
* Become, of itself, a catalyst for change by bringing people together and encouraging cross-boundary working"

Online Journal - elearnspace. Connectivism: Learning as Network-Creation

elearnspace. Connectivism: Learning as Network-Creation: "Existing theories of a particular subject matter are typically revised and adjusted to reflect changing environments. At some point, due to continual revisions, the theories becomes so dichotomous and complex that it is no longer reflective of the subject it is intended to define and explain. At this point, the existing theories need to be replaced with models that more accurately reflect the link between theory and reality. The domain of learning is significantly hampered by progressive revisions of what it means to learn, to know, and to understand. A subset of connectivism, network forming, is presented as an accurate model for addressing how people learn. The test of any theory is the degree to which it solves problems and incongruities within a domain. The shortcomings of behaviourist, cognitivist, and constructivist ideologies of learning are answered in light of learning as a connection-forming (network-creation) process."

Organization - eLearning Seminar Series - Researching Dialogue & Communities of Enquiry in eLearning in HE

eLearning Seminar Series - Researching Dialogue & Communities of Enquiry in eLearning in HE:

"A series of six international seminars, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Worldwide Universities Network, that draws together leading researchers from around the world.

The seminar series is coordinated by Richard Andrews, Department of Educational Studies, University of York, on behalf of the Elearning group of WUN.

Subsequent seminars will be held at the Universities of Bristol, Southampton, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield in 2005 and 2006.

Contributions from the series will be considered for the Handbook of Elearning Research, currently being proposed to the international publisher, Sage."

Organization - WUN eLearning Portal

WUN eLearning Portal:

"WUN is a global research alliance that is also committed to educational innovation and research-led teaching and learning.

The Network offers a range of learning programmes collaboratively authored by leading faculty members and staff at centres of excellence around the world, as well as an easy route to access the best of international distributed learning from around the world."

News - Advances in Education

Advances in Education:

"Advances in Education"

Online Journal - Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication:

"The publication of JCMC 10(4) marks the 10th anniversary of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, which was first published in June 1995 by Margaret McLaughlin and Sheizaf Rafaeli. To celebrate, we offer our readers a double special issue on the themes of Online Communities, guest edited by Jenny Preece and Diane Maloney-Krichmar, and Computer-Mediated Collaborative Practices, edited by Caroline Haythorthwaite.

The nine articles on Online Communities explore dynamics in communities of a wide array of types. Computer-Mediated Collaborative Practices contains seven articles analyzing collaboration in work and learning contexts. Each guest editor also contributed an introduction to the articles on their theme, for a total of 18 articles in this special issue.

As JCMC completes its first decade, we'd like to thank our readers, authors, guest editors, staff, institutional sponsors, and especially the journal's founding editors for a great 10 years!"

Online Journal - Journal of Learning Design

JLD|:

"The Journal of Learning Design (JLD) is a bi-annual, refereed journal which is issued in February and July. It is a venue for the dissemination of valuable and significant works by educational and training practitioners that have resulted in enhanced learning outcomes for students. Manuscripts are refereed by at least two reviewers from the Editorial Board, Review Panel or International Reference Panel.

It is the intention of the Editors to have JLD DEST accredited after the first issue has been completed and application for an ISSN has been processed. The call for manuscripts has been completed with the first issue to be released on 13 July 2005."

Online Journal - Student Affairs Online

Summer 2005: Inside this issue of Student Affairs Online:

"This issue of SA On-Line offers some innovative selections regarding several topics, including teaching technology on-line, issues of academic dishonesty in on-line instruction, on-line career portfolios for undergraduates, and Duke University's use of iPods for entering first-year students. And you don't want to miss Stu Brown's link between magic and technology."

The on-line magazine about technology and Student Affairs

Conference and Proceedings - HERDSA 2004 :: Keynotes

HERDSA 2004 :: Keynotes:

"Transforming Knowledge into Wisdom: Holistic Approaches to Teaching and Learning"

Online Journal - International Journal of Education and Development using ICT: Vol. 1, No. 2 (2005)

International Journal of Education and Development using ICT: Vol. 1, No. 2 (2005)

Downloaded some articles. Need to view the rest.

Dissertation - An Analysis of Student Collaboration and Task Completion through Project-Based Learning in a Web-Supported Undergraduate Course

An Analysis of Student Collaboration and Task Completion through Project-Based Learning in a Web-Supported Undergraduate Course:

"Title - An Analysis of Student Collaboration and Task Completion through Project-Based Learning in a Web-Supported Undergraduate Course
Degree - Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)"

Online Database - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Initiative

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Initiative

Service - ETD OAI Union Catalog

ETD OAI Union Catalog:

"This is a service built by harvesting metadata from Open Archives of electronic theses and dissertations.

The underlying technology is based on layered Open Archives with data being harvested from source archives and then stored in a Union Catalog. This Union Catalog is then front-ended with a search engine for demonstration purposes, but the data is just as easily accessible to other service providers, both local and remote.

See the Open Archives Initiative for further information."

Organization - Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations:

"The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional paper-based theses and dissertations.

This website contains information about the initiative, how to set up Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) programmes, how to create and locate ETDs, and current research in digital libraries related to NDLTD and ETDs."

Organization - Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope | introduction:

"Kaleidoscope is a Network of Excellence which brings together European teams in technology-enhanced learning. Its goal is to integrate 76 research units from around Europe, covering a large range of expertise from technology to education, from academic to private research. altogether, it is a community of more than 800 researchers in 23 countries which have joined in their efforts to develop new concepts and methods for exploring the future of learning with digital technologies.

In the 21st century European knowledge-based economy, learning is mobile, social, and multicultural. Kaleidoscope places the learner at the centre of a multidisciplinary research perspective, with theoretical foundations in the cognitive and learning sciences as well as in computer science and technology design. The network also has a strong practical orientation, aimed at increasing innovation and competitiveness, and generating new forms of cultural and learning experiences."

Online Article - elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age:

"Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology. Over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn. Learning needs and theories that describe learning principles and processes, should be reflective of underlying social environments. Vaill emphasizes that “learning must be a way of being – an ongoing set of attitudes and actions by individuals and groups that they employ to try to keep abreast o the surprising, novel, messy, obtrusive, recurring events…” (1996, p.42).

Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime. Information development was slow. The life of knowledge was measured in decades. Today, these foundational principles have been altered. Knowledge is growing exponentially. In many fields the life of knowledge is now measured in months and years. Gonzalez (2004) describes the challenges of rapidly diminishing knowledge life:

“One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). To combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.”"

Online Article - Learning Development Cycle

Learning Development Cycle:

"Instructional design (ID) serves only a small part of the entire learning experience. The pace of information development exceeds courses as the primary delivery mechanism of learning, challenging established ID. Alternatives to courses, like learning networks and ecologies, are developing as an informal learning approach. Designers and organizations receive substantial benefits to acknowledging informal learning, and initiating a focused design approach. Effective learning design must recognize different domains of learning. Learning Development Cycle attends to four broad learning domains: transmission, emergence, acquisition, and accretion. Designers focus on different objects during the design process, in order to meet the intended learning goals. Design objects include: instruction, fostering reflection and critical thinking, creating access to resources, and networks and ecologies."

JISC - Effective Practice with e-Learning

Effective Practice with e-Learning:

"Effective Practice with e-Learning

The guide ‘Effective Practice with e-Learning’ is built around a sequence of ten case studies illustrating practitioners’ solutions to day-to-day challenges.

Launched at the Learning Journey Conference in Wolverhampton on 18 October 2004, ‘Effective Practice with e-Learning’ is available in both print and on an accompanying CD-ROM. This first publication from the e-Learning and Pedagogy Strand illustrates some of the key implications in designing for learning for practitioners in the UK post-16 sector and offers an insight into how e-learning can be integrated into established practice to benefit both learners and practitioners. Five of the ten case studies are illustrated by video clips to provide visual evidence of the challenges and benefits experienced in a variety of contexts across the sectors.

A PDF copy of 'Effective Practice with e-Learning' can be downloaded here (485 KB).
The Effective Practice Planner can be downloaded here. (Word document)
The Effective Practice Evaluator can be downloaded here. (Word document)"

JISC - Key Outcomes

Key Outcomes:

"e-Learning and Pedagogy Key Outcomes

Designing for Learning

This page highlights a selection of key documents and reports from the first phase of activities under the Designing for Learning theme of the e-Learning and Pedagogy Strand as at the 10th September 2004. A detailed overview of all the strand activities together with commentary on how the outcomes and recommendations from completed activities may be taken forward is contained in ‘Designing for Learning: An update on the Pedagogy strand of the JISC eLearning Programme’ ."

Project - e-Learning Pedagogy Home Page

e-Learning Pedagogy Home Page:

"The JISC Learning and Teaching committee is funding a new e-learning Programme to run until August 2007. The overarching aim of the e-Learning Programme is to improve the quality of e-learning across the post-16 and higher eduaction sectors. The Programme focuses on four areas: e-learning and Pedagogy; Technical Framework and Tools for e-Learning; Innovation and Distributed e-Learning. This new programme offers practitioners the opportunity to be closely involved with its future development. Through extensive consultation with practitioner communities representing the post-16 sector and HE community, the activities and outcomes from the e-Learning Programme will be refined and developed accordingly. The e-Learning Programme Focus site provides further information and news about this programme.

e-Learning and Pedagogy activities are being broadly grouped under two themes, ‘Designing for Learning’ (with a practitioner planning focus on elearning) and ‘Understanding my Learning’, (with a learner reflection focus on elearning). The first theme, ‘Designing for Learning’ is exploring the process of designing, planning, sequencing or orchestrating learning tasks which may include the use of e-learning tools. Outputs from this theme will help practitioners to make effective decisions about the use of e-learning, and will help to support the effective design and use of learning design tools. A detailed overview of these activities, together with commentary on how the outcomes and recommendations are being taken forward, is contained in ‘Designing for Learning: An update on the Pedagogy strand of the JISC eLearning Programme’ .

The second theme, ‘Understanding my Learning’, is exploring the learner perspective on e-learning. This new theme of activities focuses on issues such as perception, participation, the value and meanings learners attach to e-learning opportunities, and learner differences. Outputs from this theme will help to inform all those involved in the support of student learning with ICT, and to promote the development of effective environments for learning. The background and rationale to Understanding my Learning is now available."

Project - The e-Framework for Education and Research

The e-Framework for Education and Research:

"The e-Framework is an initiative by the U.K's Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), Australia's Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and partners to produce an evolving and sustainable, open standards based service oriented technical framework to support the education and research communities.

The e-Framework supports a service-oriented approach to developing and delivering education, research and management information systems. Such an approach maximises the flexibility and cost effectiveness with which systems can be deployed, both in an institutional context, nationally and internationally.

The e-Framework allows the community to document its requirements and processes in a coherent way, and to use these to derive a set of interoperable network services that conform to appropriate open standards. By documenting requirements, processes, services, protocol bindings and standards in the form of 'reference models' members of the community are better able to collaborate on the development of service components that meet their needs (both within the community and with commercial and other international partners). The 'e-Framework' also functions as a strategic planning tool for the Collaboration Partners."

Online Journal - International Journal of Education and Development using ICT

International Journal of Education and Development using ICT:

"The International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT) is an e-journal that provides free and open access to all of its content.

IJEDICT aims to strengthen links between research and practice in ICT in education and development in hitherto less developed parts of the world, e.g., developing countries (especially small states), and rural and remote regions of developed countries. The emphasis is on providing a space for researchers, practitioners and theoreticians to jointly explore ideas using an eclectic mix of research methods and disciplines. It brings together research, action research and case studies in order to assist in the transfer of best practice, the development of policy and the creation of theory. Thus, IJEDICT is of interest to a wide-ranging audience of researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, government officers and other professionals involved in education or development in communities throughout the world.

IJEDICT comprises: a 'research articles' section for academic, peer-reviewed articles; a 'studies from the field' section for edited (but not peer reviewed) case studies; a 'project sheets' section for brief dedscriptions of relevant project; a 'notes from the field' section for working papers, and other commentaries on relevant topics; and, a 'book/media review' section for book, software and other media reviews."

Center for Academic Transformation Articles

Center for Academic Transformation Articles:

"The following articles have been chosen to serve as a source of expertise and support for those in higher education who wish to take advantage of the capabilities of information technology to transform their academic practices."

Organization - HEFCE

HEFCE:

"Working in partnership, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) promotes and funds high-quality, cost-effective teaching and research, meeting the diverse needs of students, the economy and society."

Academia - Papers and Chapters by Peter Reason

Papers and Chapters by Peter Reason: "Papers and Chapters by Peter Reason"

Online Journal - Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society - Home page

Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society - Home page:

"The Journal is aimed at researchers, educators and professionals involved with technological innovation and online education as well as knowledge management"

ALT-C Interactive Survey - Full Survey Data

ALT-C Interactive Survey - Full Survey Data:

"This page holds the complete data set collected during the survey. A small selection of the most interesting and original responses can be found on the 'Highlights' page.

To access the video files you need to have Quicktime installed on your computer. It may take a few seconds for the video clips to load. The video clips have been encoded for broadband technologies and higher bit rates. If you are a 56kbps dial-up modem user and have no other means to access the video clips, please contact us for a CD-ROM.

If you would like to view the original unedited video recordings or have specific accessibility requirements, please contact the Learning Development and Media Unit."

Academia - Philippa Levy

Philippa Levy: "Philippa Levy

I’m a senior lecturer in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield. I’ve been employed in the Department, with one short break, since 1989, first as a researcher and then as a member of the teaching staff. This page gives some summary information about my research, teaching, awards, conference presentations and publications."

Reports - Educational Research Methods

Educational Research Methods:

"Research Methods

See the publications page for a selection of relevant literature on higher education research. There is no natural research method for the exploration of teaching and learning because it depends on the subject and the research question in hand. Below are some notes/ guidelines to methods and issues concerning research into higher education teaching and learning. For examples of pedagogical research, there is a very good site at Oxford Brookes: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/5_research/pedres.html"

Resources - Vanguard University

Vanguard University - Qualitative Research Resources

IAUL: Institute research

IAUL: Institute research

Phenomenography is a qualitative approach to research that seeks to map the qualitative variation in the experience of a phenomenon. This research perspective is becoming increasingly popular in Northern Europe, South East Asia and Australia, but the field is still in its infancy in the UK. This seminar, presented by the Institute for the Advancement of University Learning at the University of Oxford, focused on the methodology and outcomes of this research approach. The seminar included the presentation (by Elaine Martin and Michael Prosser) of results from a recent study combining phenomenography with analysis of metaphor.

Land of Phenomenography: http://www.ped.gu.se/biorn/phgraph/welcome.html

Phenomenography:Discernment and Variation - Keith Trigwell pdf (36K)

EDEN Website

EDEN Website: "EDEN, continuing its successful series of conferences, invites you to join a cutting edge event in Finland. The EDEN 2005 Annual Conference will focus on open, distance and e-learning from the perspective of lifelong learning – maintaining and broadening in the meantime the thematic scope of the EDEN Conferences."

e-learning

e-learning

A Learning Journey of effective e-learning through learning engagement.

Portal - e-Learning and Tertiary Education in New Zealand

The tertiary e-learning portal aims to facilitate the sharing of e-learning information in New Zealand. It will help people to access information about tertiary education providers and the e-learning courses that they offer, various tertiary education-related services, and digital learning objects. The portal aims to encourage collaborative activity between educators, government, communities and industry.

The portal combines the resources of a number of government and non-government agencies and organisations to provide facilitated access to information and services relevant to tertiary e-learning in New Zealand.

Learning Technology Support Service - University of Bristol

Mission statement
The LTSS aims to provide a University-wide service to enable the adoption and implementation of appropriate technologies in support of learning, teaching and research. Through a wide range of dissemination, staff development and implementation activities we offer:

• Institutional support for eLearning
  • Events such as workshops, seminars, 'Lunchbytes', drop-in sessions
  • Latest wide-ranging electronic and other resources covering research, guides, case studies, funding opportunities and conferences
  • Participation in a number of policy-making committees and groups across the University
  • Publication and dissemination of scholarship in pedagogy and learning technologies, including Interact newsletter
  • eLearning strategy consultation and development
  • Research and evaluation
  • Liaison with professional and research bodies such as the Higher Education Academy (HEA), the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) and the Joint Information Services Committee (JISC).
  • Liaison with the Teaching Support Unit (TSU), eLearning Advisors Network (eLAN) and Graduate School of Education (GSoE).
• Individualised advice
  • Support and collaboration for Learning and Teaching Fund and other bids
  • Individual consultations and training
  • Helpdesk - ltss@bristol.ac.uk or ring 0117 928 7151

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.

Institution - Oxford Brookes

Why is e-learning important at Brookes?

e-Learning is of strategic importance (MS Word 240Kb) to the achievement of this University’s mission.

We believe in the potential of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to provide wider, fairer access to higher education and to further enrich the student learning experience by enabling flexible, student-centred learning opportunities.

A key component of e-learning at Brookes is Brookes Virtual, the University’s integrated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), currently powered by WebCT and associated technologies. Brookes Virtual adds a new dimension to the delivery of the University’s courses to campus-based and distance learners.

How big is e-learning at Brookes?

• Over 10026 students and 398 staff in over 379 courses currently make use of Brookes Virtual.
  (Figures accurate at time of publishing: February 2004)
• The University’s second-stage e-Learning Strategy, adopted in November 2002, underlines our commitment to and sets targets for e-learning until 2005.
• The Information Processes and Systems Strategy (IPSS) is working to further integrate Brookes Virtual into the University’s business systems.

What about open and distance learning?

Brookes is committed to growth in the provision of flexible off-campus and blended programmes at all levels. A systematic review has been carried out of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) at Brookes to assist in guiding the expansion of the University’s ODL portfolio.

Who is involved?

e-Learning at Brookes is led by the Head of e-Learning. Key players are staff within Learning Resources (both in Computer Services and the Library, the Media Workshop, Graphics Workshop and Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD), as well as the e-Learning Champions and Learning Technologists within the Schools. Off-campus e-learning developments are co-ordinated by the Development Director for Off-Campus e-Learning .

Organization - ISETL

International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning

The purposes of the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning are to encourage the study of instruction and principles of learning in order to implement practical, effective methods of teaching and learning, promote the application, development and evaluation of such methods, and foster the scholarship of teaching and learning among practicing post-secondary educators. Society members are drawn from the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, nursing, business, education, and other disciplines and share a commitment to improving the quality of their teaching and the quality of their students' learning. ISETL is organized as a nonprofit corporation in the state of Colorado.

Academia - Gerry Stahl

Gerry's web site

Gerry Stahl
Associate Professor
College of Information Science & Technology
Rush Building -- Room 409

33rd & Market Streets (physical address)
Drexel University (map, directions)
3141 Chestnut Street (mail address)
Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
215-895-0544 (phone)
215-895-2494 (fax)
http://www.cis.drexel.edu/faculty/gerry (web)
Gerry.Stahl@drexel.edu (email)

Online Magazine - Inside Learning Technologies

MAGAZINE OVERVIEW

Inside Learning Technologies is the dedicated publication that supports the Learning Technologies exhibition and conference.

Published three times per year, the magazine contains in-depth articles on the latest learning trends and developments as well as covering all the major issues affecting organisational learning and learning technology.

The magazine articles focus on the following subject areas:

• Blended Learning Solutions
• Content Authoring
• e-Learning Products and Services
• e-Learning Strategy, Technology and Implementation
• Instructor-led Solutions
• Knowledge Systems
• Learning Content
• Learning Management and Methodologies
• Learning Systems and Infrastructure
• Managed Services
• Organisational Learning Strategy
• Training Centre Resources
• Virtual Classroom Technologies

Online Resource - RDN

About the RDN

What is the RDN? | Organisation | Services | History | Accessibility statement | Privacy Policy | Mailing list | Contact us

What is the RDN?

The Resource Discovery Network is the UK’s free national gateway to Internet resources for the learning, teaching and research community. The service currently links to more than 80,000 resources via a series of subject-based information gateways (or hubs). The RDN is primarily aimed at Internet users in UK further and higher education but is freely available to all.

In contrast to search engines, the RDN gathers resources which are carefully selected by subject specialists in our partner institutions. You can search and browse through the resources, and be confident that your results will connect you to Web sites relevant to learning, teaching and research in your subject area.

The RDN is a collaboration of over seventy educational and research organisations, including the Natural History Museum and the British Library, and builds upon the foundations of the subject gateway activity carried out under the JISC's (Joint Information Systems Committee) eLib Programme.

Organization - The National Center for Online Learning Research (NCOLR)

National Center for Online Learning Research

The National Center for Online Learning Research (NCOLR) is a consortium of partners focusing on the research and development of best practices in online education, particularly higher education. NCOLR is most directly concerned with the delivery of improvement of online education coursework over the Internet, and determining what practices may be involved in making online learning more effective for students.

In December 2000, the Web-Based Education Commission completed and submitted their report titled, "The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice" to the President, to Congress, and to the nation. The commission noted that the Internet "is making it possible for more individuals than ever to access knowledge and to learn in new and different ways." They also observed that the Internet "is allowing for the creation of learning communities that defy the constraints of time and distance". Their investigation resulted in a number of recommendations that represent a call to action on the part of educators and others to work together to realize the full potential of the Internet as an effective tool for learning.

To meet this need NCOLR is pioneering the development of new online learning environments based on learning theories that go beyond direct instruction and presentation of information. These new Interactive Learning Environments (ILE) are being incorporated into course builder technology and tested at the Idaho Virtual Campus through University of Idaho and the the Alabama Virtual Campus through the University of Alabama.

Database - Australian Digital Theses Program

	Australian Digital Theses Program
	ADT Homepage

Information on this website is copyright. Apart from fair dealing as permitted under the copyright law of your country, no material may be copied or further disseminated without the written permission of the legal holder of that copyright Council of Australian University Librarians. Authors own the copyright of the theses and the relevant institutions should be contacted for special permissions.
Copyright © Council of Australian University Librarians

The aim of the ADT project is to create a national collaborative distributed database of digitised theses produced at Australian Universities. The ADT database provides access to PhD and Masters by Research theses only.

Database - Theses and Dissertations

	Association of African Universities Database of African Theses and Dissertations DATAD
Main DATAD HomePage

Welcome to the Database of African Theses and Dissertations Login Page....

Introduction The DATAD database contains citations and abstracts for theses and dissertations completed in African universities. The launching database includes works from all subject areas in ten leading universities and include abstracts written by the authors. In order to search, you must register and then login before you will be able to access brief citations in the DATAD database. To search the entire database you will need to subscribe or connect from a subscribing institution.

Organization - Learning Lab Denmark

LEARNING LAB DENMARK

Established by the Danish Government in 2001, Learning Lab Denmark is a laboratory for research on learning affiliated to the Danish University of Education. We aim to solve current societal problems related to learning through practice-oriented research and development activities. We do this together with dedicated partners from different sectors of society, and we place communication at the centre of everything we do. Read more

Organization - Center for Online Learning and Pedagogy

	The Interactive Exploration of Pedagogical Concepts and Theories presents an overview of learning theories, theorists, and concepts. Designed on constructivist principles, it allows you to explore your own theoretical and practical interests, and perhaps discover some new ones. For an introduction, we suggest you begin in the Pedagogy Section.
	Online Application: Case Studies from the Virtual College™ details NYU's online educational environment. Examples from older and newer courses illustrate how the Virtual College™ has increasingly applied educational theory to online instruction.
	You can learn a lot about online education here at The Center for Online Learning and Pedagogy. Our resources area provides screened and annotated links to tutorials, mail lists, online magazines, and other web resources pertinent to online instruction. We also include a bibliography of relevant books; topics include instructional design, distance education, learning theory and learning styles. In addition, you will find sample courses and syllabi, graphics and other resources specifically designed for education.
	Familiarize yourself with the workings of an online learning community and experience our online teaching environment. In our Community of Educators you can: Experience the Virtual College™ online learning environment View sample courses Read and post to message boards on topics about online education

Community - Education with New Technologies

Registered members pick up your Backpack.

Project - SOLE

Home

Background

People and Partners

Research

Findings

SOLE

SOLE is a project to undertake an independent evaluation of students' usage of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in higher and further education and draw out the effectiveness of VLEs in supporting different subject areas, different national agendas (such as that of widening participation) and student learning in general.

Research is being carried out at several UK universities and FE colleges, covering a broad range of subjects with diverse online learning requirements. The collaborating LTSN subject centres involved as research partners are: Economics, Psychology, Education, Information and Computer Sciences, Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism. A wide range of dissemination and outreach activities are taking place throughout the life of the project (October 2002 - August 2004). A short report giving an overview of the study is also available.

SOLE is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) via the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) Tranche 2 initiative and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). It is hosted at the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol.

VLE - Constructivist Virtual Learning Environments

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Software

How-To's

Research

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Constructivist Virtual Learning Environments

Constructivist learning environments have particular characteristics regardless of students or content. However, when selecting tools to help support virtual learning environments (VLE's) in normal course-based learning situations, the three elements of student demographics, course requirements, and VLE characteristics all impact the decision.

VLE Characteristics

VLE Tool Selection

E-Learning Workshops - Oxford Brookes

e-Learning courses on demand

This year the workshops on e-learning topics will be run on demand when there is sufficient interest. Workshops will normally be run by Rhona Sharpe or Greg Benfield.

These workshops are designed for all those using e-learning in education and training including teachers, lecturers, trainers, part-time tutors, learning technologists and learner support staff.

• If you would like to attend a workshop between January and April 2005, please register your interest by 10 December 2004
• If you would like to attend a workshop between May and July 2005, please register your interest by 25 March 2005

Please register your interest in these workshops and express your preference for timing and location with our online interest registration form.

You will be contacted shortly after these cut off dates to make the final arrangements

• Understanding e-learning and e-learners
• Designing engaging online activities
• Promoting discussions in online groups
• Online assessment, feedback and tracking
• Supporting e-learners at a distance
• Evaluating e-learning innovations

Understanding e-learning and e-learners

This workshop is not just an introduction to e-learning, but also an opportunity to revisit our personal and shared understandings of what e-learning is and what it means to tutors and learners. The workshop will encourage you to articulate your aims and claims for using technologies in your teaching. Using examples from across the globe, we’ll consider how online learning challenges our design of courses and our assumptions about how best to teach them. We’ll draw on the experiences of learners and tutors to discuss how technologies can be used to enable different types of learning, how e-learning changes the roles of tutors and students and best practice in preparing learners for online courses.

Designing engaging online activities

The key to enhancing teaching and learning online is making use of the enormous potential for interactivity and engagement, whether that’s with the material, the tutor or peers. This workshop considers how best to exploit this potential through well-designed e-learning activities. This is likely to include discussions of how going online influences the design of learning activities and how skills in running face-to-face learning activities transfer to the online course. Online activities do need to be carefully structured and explicit about what is expected and there will be opportunity to consider a variety of activities designed to support various learning tasks such as critical dialogue, collaboration, creative writing, and reflection. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss, explore and design a range of different learning activities to meet specified learning outcomes.

Promoting discussions in online groups

One of the most-cited reasons for using online learning is to promote group interactions, but the experience is too often one of poor participation and low level discussion. This workshop will seek to improve the planning and tutoring of structured online learning activities, through a better understanding of the nature of online interactions. The session will apply recent theoretical developments to promote online communication and collaboration as well as providing practical solutions to practical problems. This is likely to include discussions of software tools to promote group learning, using dialogue to build learning communities, tutor skills for knowledge construction, and assessment of online work.

Online assessment, feedback and tracking

Objective tests are often regarded as inferior to other forms of assessment. They are also, rightly, regarded as difficult to write well. Lately, however, the ready availability of online testing tools in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) has prompted many lecturers to ask how they can use objective tests to improve student learning. This workshop will look at the benefits and disadvantages of objective testing. Using case studies we will try to identify sound educational purposes for this type of assessment. It will pose and attempt to answer the question, ‘can you test higher order thinking skills using multiple choice questoins?’ Finally, the session will explore some very practical issues:

• How to write objective test items
• How to design and embed feedback into objective test items to support student learning
• How to score them.

We will also look at two important and often overlooked aspects of multiple choice question design: ways of analysing and improving test items, and issues in constructing whole assessments (as opposed to the individual items within them).

Supporting e-learners at a distance

This workshop is designed for lecturers and tutors whose responsibilities now include supporting students who are learning at a distance. The challenge for distance tutors is to create supportive learning environments without the rich verbal and visual cues we usually use in face-to-face teaching. We’ll start by considering how the introduction of distance changes the learning experience for students and tutors and clarify the roles and responsibilities of distance learning tutors. Then we will explore what skills distance tutors and students need to succeed in their roles. The session should give you an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with other distance learning tutors and develop strategies for dealing with issues specific to distance learning.

Evaluating e-learning innovations

Although the uptake of e-learning and particularly of VLEs has been rapid within education, there are still many questions about how learners interact with them, what the student experience is like and fundamentally – what works? Although this workshop won’t attempt to answer the latter question, it will provide participants with a toolkit of evaluation approaches and techniques which they can use to evaluate their own e-learning innovations. Participants will consider the functions and purposes of their evaluations, be encouraged to specify clear research questions, choose from a variety of approaches to evaluation and consider the appropriateness of a range of data collection methods. Participants should leave with a plan for evaluating their innovations which is valid, rigorous, locally appropriate and achievable.

Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University
Wheatley Campus, Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1HX
Tel: +44 1865 485910 Fax: +44 1865 485937 Email: ocsld@brookes.ac.uk

© Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.
This page maintained by Elizabeth Smith and last modified Mon 9 February, 2004 10:57

Report - Ferl (Becta) "ICT and e-learning in Further Education"

	ICT and e-learning in Further Education: embedded technology, evolving practice
	By Steve Davies	25 Aug 2004

Summary

This is the full report of the 2004 ILT Survey. This study was carried out in January and February 2004 on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council. The survey seeks to assess progress in the provision of information and learning technology within the sector along with the extent to which this provision is integrated into the teaching and learning process. Four previous studies, undertaken in February 1999, September 2000, September 2001 and February 2003 provide comparative data to judge the impact of the deployment NLN monies for the development of ICT infrastructure and e-learning in the sector.

View or download

ICT and e-learning in Further Education: embedded technology, evolving practice [left click link above to view OR right click to download] Microsoft Word 350KB

Download instructions

1. Right-click (Mac users click-and-hold) on the link.
2. Choose 'Save Target As...', 'Save Link As..' or 'Download Link to Disk'.
3. Choose a location to save the file; then click 'Save'.

Problems downloading and installing?

If you are having problems with this resource email us (ferl@becta.org.uk).

Related resources

See related resources under the 'Related resources tab'.

Academia - Dr Aisha Walker

Dr Aisha Walker ICT in Education Telephone: 0113 343 4633 Email: S.A.Walker@education.leeds.ac.uk

Teaching I teach on the MA ICT in Education . I am also involved in course development using virtual learning environments and can provide input on other courses to develop appropriate pedagogies for teaching and learning with ICT. I am a member of the Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education . Research Interests My main research interest is in the educational use of computer-mediated communication, especially synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC). I am in interested in the strategies used by teachers and learners interacting in a CMC environment and how those strategies can be made more effective. I am also interested in the development of roles, relationships and groups in CMC educational contexts and the extent to which the CMC medium offers cognitive and affective benefits to teaching and learning. As my background is in English Language Teaching - especially English for Academic Purposes - I am also interested in academic literacy and discourse, in particular the ways in which the teaching/learning of these skills may be supported through ICT. Interaction, Communication and Learning Technologies I co-ordinate the Interaction, Communication and Learning Technologies Group which brings together people with a common research interest in the interactions that occur between people and between people/computers when technology is used for learning and teaching. Details of our seminars can be found on the ICLT website .

Academia - José Miguel Baptista Nunes

Jump to a SectionHomeAbout me!Sitemap TeachingJudoPortuguese Links . . . Portuguese Newspapers . . . Portuguese Universities. . . Portuguese Speaking CountriesOther Links

Home | Contacts | Sitemap | Search the Web | Newspapers | Web Links

My name is José Miguel Baptista Nunes, and I am a Lecturer in Information Management in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield.

My current research is focused on the areas of Educational Informatics and Information Systems.

In recent years and in terms of Educational Informatics, I have been particularly interested in the WWW as a learning environment. I am primarily an information systems researcher and, therefore, I am interested in instructional systems design, web-based educational environments design, web based learning environments for active and distance learning, conceptual models for WWW educational environments, networked learning and computer-mediated communication.

In terms of of Information Systems, my main interests are information systems analysis and information and data modelling. Additionnally, I'm a keen observer of developments in computer-supported collaborative work environments, e-business ( including intranets and extranets) and teleworking. More broadly, I have a general interest in organisational behaviour and management of change.

For more information visit:

• Recently completed and Current Research Projects;
• Recent Publications;
• Links on Educational Informatics;
• Links on Information Systems.

Academia - Tim Barker

Barker, T. (2003) Collaborative Learning with Affective Artificial Study Companions in a Virtual Learning Environment, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Computer Based Learning Unit, School of Education, The University of Leeds. (pdf, 12Mb, Note: active links in the Contents to appear ASAP, apologies.)
Abstract.This research has been carried out in conjunction with Chapeltown and Harehills Assisted Learning Computer School (CHALCS) and local schools. CHALCS is an ‘out-of-hours’ school in a deprived inner-city community where unemployment is high and many children are failing to meet their educational potential. As the name implies CHALCS provides students with access to computers to support their learning. CHALCS relies on many volunteer tutors and specialist tutors are in short supply. This is especially true for subjects such as Advanced Level Physics with low numbers of students. This research aimed to investigate the feasibility of providing online study-skills support to pupils at CHALCS and a local school. Research suggests that collaborative learning that prompts students to explain and justify their understanding can encourage deeper learning. As a potentially effective way of motivating deeper learning from hypertext course notes in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), this research investigates the feasibility of designing an artificial Agent capable of collaborating with the learner to jointly construct summary notes. Hypertext course notes covering a portion of the Advanced Level Physics curriculum were designed and uploaded into a WebCT based VLE. A specialist tutor validated the content of the course notes before the ease of use of the VLE was tested with target students. A study was then conducted to develop a model of the kinds of help students required in writing summary notes from the course-notes. Based on the derived process model of summarisation and an analysis of the content structure of the course notes, strategies for summarising the text were devised. An Animated Pedagogical Agent was designed incorporating these strategies. Two versions of the agent with opposing ‘Affectations’ (giving the appearance of different characters) were evaluated with users. It was therefore possible to test which artificial 'character' students preferred. From the evaluation study some conclusions are made concerning the effect of the two opposite characterisations on student perceptions of the agent and the degree to which it was helpful as a learning companion. Some recommendations for future work are then made.

SILA Beta 1.0 Screenshot.
(see www.synthoids.net)
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