The English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Toolkit provides a wide range of online learning resources which are used in a mixture of self-study, blended, and classroom settings, primarily by students whose first language is not English. The Toolkit was developed by the eLanguages team at the University of Southampton and first licensed in 2004. This…

The main challenges commonly associated with acquiring practical network engineering skills are the requirements for access to specialised and up-to-date network equipment, as well as the high costs associated with obtaining and maintaining this equipment. The PT Anywhere initiative addresses these challenges by offering a mobile environment for…

One of the greatest challenges in teaching technology and engineering is pacing. Some students grasp new technological concepts quickly, while others need repetition and may struggle to keep pace. This poses an obstacle for the technology and engineering teacher, and is particularly true when teaching students to build a website. However, there…

This paper describes an open educational resources (OER) architecture framework that would bring significant improvements in a well-structured and systematic way to the educational practices of distance education institutions of India. The OER architecture framework is articulated with six dimensions: pedagogical, technological, managerial,…

Based on a recently completed study of education directors at science museums, this article addresses how design-and-development consultants might use those findings to enhance the way in which they propose and deliver Website services to non-academic organizations with either primary or complementary educational missions. After a very brief…

In the last several years, a variety of approaches and tools have been developed for giving access to open educational resources (OER) related to food safety, security, and food standards, as well to various targeted audiences (e.g., farmers, agronomists). The aim of this paper is to present a technology infrastructure currently in demonstration…

Large-sized repositories of learning objects (LOs) are difficult to create and also to maintain. In this paper we propose a way to reduce this drawback by improving the classification mechanisms of the LO repositories. Specifically, we present a solution to automate the LO classification of the Universia repository, a collection of more than 15…

Providing accessible library services and instruction to distance users with disabilities can seem daunting. This article, which grew out of a webinar presented by the author to the Health Science Special Interest Group of ACRL, provides practical strategies to help content creators utilize built-in accessibility features and provides a resources…

In spite of multidisciplinary recommendations to use evidence-based interventions in schools and a growing knowledge base of such practices, most schools are not using empirically supported interventions. On the basis of a careful analysis of barriers to the implementation of the best researched programs, an online, free, and publicly available…

Oral communication skills are essential for engineers today and, as they are included in accreditation criteria of educational programmes, their teaching and evaluation deserve attention. However, concrete aspects as to what should be taught and evaluated in relation to oral communication skills have not been sufficiently established. In this…

Open education resources (OER) are taking centre-stage in many higher educational institutions globally, driven by the need to raise institutional profiles, improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning and achieve universal access to education. Many academics attracted to the idea of turning teaching materials into OER have, however, found…

For technology-enhanced learning, the idea of "learning objects" transfers the technologies of content management, methods of software engineering and principles of open access to educational resources. This paper reports on CampusContent, a research project and competence centre for e-learning at FernUniversitat in Hagen that designed…

A number of contemporary factors have combined to create a situation that encourages and supports international collaboration among institutions of higher education. Factors such as the globalization of the economy, the increasingly international nature of higher education, and the development of an inexpensive and virtually worldwide system of…

In this paper we present the results of research work, that forms part of the activities of the EU-funded project SLOOP: Sharing Learning Objects in an Open Perspective, aimed at encouraging the definition, development and management of Open Educational Resources based on the Learning Object paradigm (Wiley, 2000). We present a model of Open…

The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, located on the National Naval Medical Center's campus in Bethesda, Maryland, is a medical education and research facility for the nation's military and public health community. In order to support its approximately 7,500 globally distributed users, the university's James A. Zimble Learning…