hapTEL, an interdisciplinary project funded by two UK research councils from 2007 to 2011, involves a large interdisciplinary team (with undergraduate and post-graduate student participants) which has been developing and evaluating a virtual learning system within an HE healthcare education setting, working on three overlapping strands. Strand 1…

Computer-Assisted Foreign Language Teaching and Learning: Technological Advances highlights new research and an original framework that brings together foreign language teaching, experiments and testing practices that utilize the most recent and widely used e-learning resources. This comprehensive collection of research will offer linguistic…

What and how much can children learn without subject teachers? In an attempt to find a limit to self organized learning, we explored the capacity of 10-14 year old Tamil-speaking children in a remote Indian village to learn basic molecular biology, initially on their own with a Hole-in-the-Wall public computer facility, and later with the help of…

This paper analyses the experience of a teacher and her Year 6 class (10-11 year-olds) over a school year, while participating in a pilot project introducing Personal Digital Assistants as a learning tool. The intervention was initiated and supported by the local City Learning Centre, which was concerned with how best to use technologies for…

PowerPoint and other visual technologies have become pervasive in schools. Adoption of these technologies is perceived as a necessary--or, at the very least, an educationally appropriate--innovation in UK schools, even though systematic examination of their use is relatively recent. On the basis of a wider ethnographic study of ICT use in one UK…

This overview of the current status of computer-based learning in the United Kingdom (U.K.) begins with a discussion of the Microelectronics Education Program (MEP), which was implemented in 1981 to: (1) provide inservice teacher training in the educational aspects of microelectronics; (2) stimulate and service curriculum development efforts using…

Discusses the effectiveness of classroom trials as a method of providing feedback in the development process for educational software. The impact of formative evaluation on the development of computer-assisted learning (CAL) by a team is discussed, criteria for software selection are described, and steps toward successful implementation are…

Although education technologies have had a substantial impact on curricula, teaching, and learning, the overall impact on education has been limited. Evaluative studies of technology in the classroom in California, England, and France, have shown that computers and other new education technologies were embraced initially as viable educational…

The slow uptake by teachers in post-compulsory education of new technological tools and technology-enhanced teaching methods may be symptomatic of a general split in the e-learning community between development of tools, services and standards, and research into how teachers can use these most effectively (i.e. between the teaching practitioner…

Collaborative Learning in group settings currently occurs across a substantial portion of the UK Higher Education curriculum. This style of learning has many roots including: Enterprise in Higher Education, Action Learning and Action Research, Problem Based Learning, and Practice Based Learning. As such our focus on Collaborative Learning…

Summarizes the methodology and results of a questionnaire survey of the use of microcomputers in university humanities departments in the United Kingdom. Highlights include faculty, staff, and student usage; applications of use; networking; opinions and perceptions on problems and benefits; mainframe computer services; and availability of computer…

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the first policy paper regarding the use of computers in higher education in the United Kingdom. The publication of this paper represented the beginning of the field of learning technology research and practice in higher education. In the past 40 years, policy has at various points drawn from different…

Describes SOLS TICE, the Satellite On-Line Searching Interactive Conferencing Experiment, conducted at the University of Plymouth (United Kingdom) to meet the training needs of staff in the library and information science (LIS) sector. Continuing professional development is discussed, instructional effectiveness and cost effectiveness are…

Discussion of distance education in the United Kingdom focuses on how teachers in primary and secondary schools can develop teaching strategies to adopt and implement distance learning practices. Topics include lifelong learning; social support; the use of technology; homework activities; teacher access to computers; and learning strategies. (LRW)

Self-assessment is an integral component in the life of any education and training organisation so as to ensure quality improvement. This publication illustrates an individual self-assessment tool developed by the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) which gives feedback and support to assist staff to enhance their teaching and learning through the…