technology enhanced learning

The Centre for Research and Innovation in Learning and Teaching in the National College of Ireland recently launched their new National E-Learning Laboratory (NELL).  This new facility for measuring User-Screen Interactions enables researchers to observe, record and analyse the behaviour of users interacting with e-learning resources. It will allow researchers to systematically explore and improve the use of learning and knowledge-based technologies. The laboratory consists of sophisticated hardware and software that can observe up to four participants simultaneously.It also has four analytical stations for researchers. User behaviour and screen interactions are investigated using combinations of video and audio recording, screen-capture, precision keyboard & mouse logging and eye tracking. For more information visit the NELL site.

ATiT staff recently spent several days in Greece providing support to the HERMES project funded by the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. HERMES is a pilot project providing two way interactivity based on DVB-RCS technology to remote Greek schools, many of them located in areas for which satellite is the only access option possible. This project will contribute to a national roadmap on how schools Internet access can be provided on a nationwide basis.

On 27 November 2007, over 240 delegates gathered at Berlin's Technische Universitat (Technical University) for a an awards ceremony preceded by a keynote speech from Kaleidoscope's Scientific Manager, Sten Ludvigsen. The awards ceremony concluded the first day of the Kaleidoscope Symposium, a two day celebration, reflection and exploration of the major achievements of the Kaleidoscope project over four years.

Researchers, policy-makers, industry and user-group representatives converge on Berlin to discuss the future technology enhanced learning research agenda!

Kaleidoscope has just launched the new TeLearn open archive site! this archive is freely available and growing to become a rich and varied resource open to all researchers in the field of technology enhanced learning.

ATiT is a partner in the recently launched VENUS project. The purpose of VENUS is to internationalise prestigious courses from participating universities using ICT to make them available to both students and citizens in their respective countries. ATiT is leading the VENUS working group on educational technologies.

Online Educa Berlin, which will be held this year from the 29th of November to the 1st of December welcomes all proposals, suggestions and ideas for the conference agenda which are related to the main conference themes. The closing date for submission is the 29th of April 2006. Please check the Online Educa website for the submission guidelines and conference themes.

ATiT is coordinating a new Minerva project, Citizen E. Together with four teacher in-service training centres in Ireland, Italy, Poland and Belgium ATiT will train local teachers in using simple ICT tools to develop teaching materials and activities on the topic of European Citizenship. The project started off on 4 and 5 November with a Kick-Off Meeting in Leuven, Belgium.

On Friday 8 October Mathy Vanbuel and Sally Reynolds led a workshop, hosted in the Ministry of Transport and Communications Athens and organised by the Lambrakis Foundation in Greece, on the ways in which satellite technology can support education. This workshop attracted people from industry, government agencies and the education and training sector.

The interesting study "Virtual Models of European Universities" carried out by Ramboll Management for the European Commission, makes an analysis of the current and potential use of ICT in European Universities. The study gives a revealing picture of how European Higher Education Institutions work with new technologies. Download the publication from the elearningeuropa.info portal.