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The Student Induction to E-Learning (SIEL) project group, http://www.imsglobal.org/siel.cfm, was formed in early 2008 to develop best practices to address the increased rate of student attrition associated with e-learning. 

The importance of this work lies within the continued growth in elearning on a regional and global basis, and the impending shift from classroom-based to e-learning as the predominant post-secondary education delivery model by 2015. Increasing access to higher education through e-learning has been a success story over the last 15 years or so: however, the risk of increased student attrition associated with e-learning is significantly greater than that of classroom-based education and is also perceived as one of the greatest weaknesses associated with e-learning, posing significant institutional, societal, and individual consequences.

Starting with a review of the peer reviewed literature, the SIEL project group identified best practices, sorted them into six best practice areas (BPAs), and then sought feedback from their colleagues during international conferences and through an online survey instrument.  For the introductory e-learning experience, beginning with advisement and continuing through completion of the first learning assignment, six BPAs were identified as key to reducing student attrition and increasing retention:

  1. Assessment and Communication of Expectations
  2. Recruitment and Advisement
  3. Learning Design and Organization
  4. Functional Technology
  5. Student Technology Literacy
  6. Non-Technical Support Services
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This new report presents the findings of two main Roadmapping activities that took place during the ICOPER project period from January 2010 to July 2010.

The findings are describing:

  • the gap analysis work performed during this period which resulted in the identification of gaps between the future state (as it was described in the previous Roadmapping deliverable D-8.5) and the current state of the art (captured by the contemporary ICOPER Reference Model – the IRM) and
  • the SWOT analysis of current standards and specifications which are related to the ICOPER visions for Outcome-based education.

A PDF of the deliverable is publicly available on the iCOPER Website.
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Two new DCMI Task Groups have been formed
New Task Groups for revising the User Guide and reviewing the DCMI Abstract Model
02/09/2010
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Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
Two new DCMI Task Groups have been formed: the DCMI User Guide Task Group that will work on a revision of the popular but outdated document "Using Dublin Core" and the DCMI Abstract Model Review Task Group that will prepare a review of the DCMI Abstract Model, both for discussion at DC-2010 in October 2010. Discussion will take place on the DC-Glossary and DC-Architecture mailing lists, respectively. Participation by interested members of the Dublin Core community is welcomed and encouraged; please contact Tom Baker for further information.
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Learning outcomes approaches in VET curricula
A comparative analysis of nine European countries
02/09/2010
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European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training
By comparing national curriculum reforms and analysing learning programmes in logistics, this study examines the use of learning outcomes approaches in curriculum development in nine European countries: France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK-Scotland.

Based on an extensive literature review, interviews, and surveys conducted with different stakeholders in curriculum policy-making and practice, the findings show that learning outcomes increasingly feature in VET curricula, influencing their development and changing their content and structure.

The study reveals differences in the understanding and use of learning outcomes among countries and types of education and training. It highlights how developing curricula around the expected knowledge, skills and competences learners should acquire at the end of a learning process is seen as an effective way of bringing education and training closer to the needs of learners and the labour market in many European countries.
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Let’s all go down the Strand!
Commuters, residents and shoppers who regularly tread one of London’s most famous streets are now being asked to contribute to a new online resource
02/09/2010
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The aim is to use social networking and mobile technologies to foster a sense of community in the Strand area of central London through a technique known as life-writing.

Life-writing is a broad and creative field which explores personal life stories, and how they intersect with accounts of the lives of others. Residents, business owners and employees working in the area will all be visited by researchers from the JISC project, Strandlines Digital Community based at King’s College London.

The researchers will also visit local community centres and events, digitise materials from the King’s archives and interview staff at King’s and launch a website in the autumn to generate contributions.

Ben Showers, programme manager at JISC, said: “We urgently need to engage communities with the research going on in universities and colleges to ensure that we really maximise these publicly funded resources and findings.  But the benefits go both ways - so the training provided by Strandlines and similar projects is helping to create a more technology savvy population who are more confident in contributing to the web.

“While the Strandlines project is engaging a community in the heart of London, the approach it uses will form a valuable model for similar work across the UK,” he concluded.

The project will create an online, interactive resource documenting life and work on the Strand over the past 200 years, through stories, audio and photographs. It will combine material taken from the College’s own archive, Westminster City Archives and elsewhere with people’s own photographs and memories, captured through a grassroots digitisation project.

Professor Clare Brant, project director working at the centre for life-writing research, said: “One aim of the project is to investigate the significance of the Strand in people’s life stories. Life-writing is a little different from oral history: while both value information about the past, life-writing also encourages awareness of literary and creative characteristics in the present, and how these may shape accounts of the past. At the Centre for Life-Writing Research, we look forward to learning about the Strand from others who live and work here; and to helping people explore new ways and new media in which to share their impressions of life on the Strand.”

Lorna Hughes, project manager at the centre for e-research at King’s, said: "Web 2.0 technologies have created new and easy ways of bringing together communities and allowing them to engage with each other. We are excited about the chance to explore how these approaches can make the Strand come alive in the digital world."

Benn Keaveney, chief executive at Age UK Westminster, said: "The concept of memory, storytelling and making use of new technology being made available for our service users is something we are already investigating, and so we are keen to see what further work could arise out of this local project in the Strand area of Westminster."

The project has been organised by the Centre for Life-Writing Research, the Centre for e-Research, the Department of Geography and the King's College London Archives and will initially run as an 11 month pilot. Partner organisations include the City of Westminster Archives Centre and the charity Age UK Westminster.
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A richer data model for Europeana
The Europeana Data Model (EDM) has just been published
02/09/2010
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The Europeana Data Model (EDM) – a new way of structuring data that will bring the benefits of Semantic Web technology to Europeana.eu – has just been published.

The release of the EDM indicates a qualitative change in the way Europeana will deal with metadata gathered from content providers. It will open up the possibility for browsing Europeana in new and revealing ways which are not possible with the current Europeana Semantic Elements data model.

For example, the EDM will allow a digital object from one provider to be shown alongside a relevant article about the object or a thesaurus offered by other institutions, offering more context and information for users.

Once Europeana starts receiving content formatted using the EDM next year, it will also enable the use of linked data, which allows connections to be made between search terms. With linked data, a search for the "Virgin Mary" could lead to results not just for that single term, but also to objects labelled as "Mary, Mother Of Christ", "the Blessed Virgin" or "Heilige Maria".

Developed by members of Europeana v1.0, EuropeanaConnect and experts from academic and cultural circles, the EDM has been validated by technical specialists at libraries, museums, archives and audio-visual collections. This group will continue to make refinements to the EDM over the coming months, as testing is carried out between now and January 2011. The EDM is backwardly compatible with ESE, and will start to be used by data providers during 2011.
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Norwegian quality criteria for digital learning resources published
The Norwegian "Senter for IKT i utdanningen" has published "Quality criteria for digital learning resources".
19/08/2010
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The document specifies guidelines for the evaluation of the quality of digital learning resources (DLR). The purpose of these criteria is to help ensure that digital learning resources used in Norwegian primary and lower secondary education are of sufficient quality. The quality criteria are intended as guidelines for the development and evaluation of DLR. The primary application for this document is as a basis for a specification of requirements for procurement, announcing competitive tendering and funding for development projects, as well as a support for developers of DLR.

The criteria have been developed by assignment from the Ministry of Education and Research to the Directorate for Education and Training. The development of the criteria has been led by the Directorate for Education and Training, with assistance from the National Network for IT Research and Competence in Education (ITU) and the National Secretariat for Standardisation of Learning Technology (NSSL).


Document in English (PDF)
Two eQnet teachers' seminars on "travel well" learning resources
The eQnet project's WP5 is responsible for disseminating the results of the project.
19/08/2010
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Two eQnet seminars for teachers will be organised on "travel well" learning resources. The first one will take place within Eminent, European Schoolnet's annual international seminar in November in Copenhagen. The second one will be part of eTwinning Professional Development Workshop in Finland, where eTwinning teachers can apply to participate through their respective National Support Services.
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The Learning Registry project has been launched
It is an informal collaboration among several USA federal agencies. Key members are: ADL and the Office of Educational Technology
19/08/2010
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The Learning Registry project is an informal collaboration among several federal agencies that share the same goal: making federal learning resources and primary source materials easier to find, access and integrate into educational environments.

The Learning Registry makes federal learning resources easier to find, easier to access and easier to integrate into learning environments wherever they are stored -- around the country and the world. This will enable teachers, students, parents, schools, governments, corporations and non-profits to build and access better, more interconnected and personalized learning solutions needed for a 21st-century education.

While they focus on the availability of federal resources, their approach and goals are shared with others worldwide.  They are talking with and working to leveraging the activities of many others, including:
  • The National Science Digital Library (NSDL)
  • Connexions
  • Creative Commons DiscoverEd
  • European SchoolNet
  • Globe
  • Ariadne
  • UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)
  • Education Services Australia
Thus they hope their results can enable a broad ecosystem of discoverable and accessible learning content and help to build an international community with a shared vision.

Project Web site
The IMS GLC announced the winners of the 2009/2010 Learning Technology Satisfaction and Trends (LearnSAT) Survey
In partnership with Campus Technology to promote the LearnSAT Survey
19/08/2010
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The IMS GLC today announced the winners of the 2009/2010 Learning Technology Satisfaction and Trends (LearnSAT) Survey.  In partnership with Campus Technology to promote the LearnSAT Survey, IMS GLC generated greater than 450 respondents from K-12 and Higher Education institutions from various countries around the world.  Campus Technology will also promote the LearnSAT winners announcement through the Campus Technology Newsletter, August 17 –20, 2010.

The LearnSAT Survey is conducted by IMS GLC on an annual basis to assess end-user satisfaction with up to 22 classes of learning technology products and service providers, as well as end-user technology procurement and implementation priorities over the next 12 months.

To learn who is “leading the pack” in end-user satisfaction, please visit, http://www.imsglobal.org/LearnSat/learnsat200910.html.  This site will provide you with all of the LearnSAT winners and their background information as provided through the IMS Learning and Educational Product Directory.  You will also find a link to the 2011 LearnSAT Survey which opens in conjunction with this announcement.  IMS Members and Affiliates will also have access to the end-user 12-month procurement and implementation priorities derived from the 2009/2010 LearnSAT Survey.
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