Learning can be viewed as a communication process that puts the learner in contact with concepts created by others. A result of communication is that an act of interpretation starts, which invokes a process of conceptualization. According to Mayes, successful conceptualization will need the support of learning activities. Hence, machine mediated…

Privacy is a requirement that has not received the required attention in most e-learning platforms. Based on the results of a survey we identified weaknesses of e-learning platforms and describe improvements we made in Moodle as a proof-of-concept.

Distance education enabled by e-learning is at the forefront of university participation in an increasingly connected world. Physical, temporal, cultural and educational borders are becoming both less rigid and less predictable than ever before. The authors suggest, in this article, that university distance e-learning could and should allow…

This article examines the interplay of power, identity and culture within online learning in higher education. Specifically it addresses the relation between online learning, or e-learning, and the apparent disappearance of ideology within postmodernity, in the context of teaching highly diverse cohorts of students. This conjunction is theorised…

An analysis of the characteristics of education and educational institutions of the third millennium shows that predominant features are flexibility, inclusiveness, collaboration, authenticity, relevance and extended institutional boundaries. Roles of both students and teachers have changed significantly as educational goals have broadened to…

For five years, Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT), a unit within the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG), has worked with faculty and staff to develop the eCore, an electronically delivered core curriculum for the University System of Georgia. The eCore contains courses leading to the completion of the first two years of…

The paper discusses the approaches of virtual university strategies and developments in Europe. The discussion is partly based on the work done in the Activity 5 in the EU Thematic Network E4 and partly to the experiences gained through the activities of EUNITE virtual university network of six European universities. Based on our experience we…

This paper describes a mechanism developed by the authors to gather student feedback from formative revision Multiple Choice Questionnaires (MCQs) within an on-line learning system. The MCQs provided first year Computer Science students with instant formative feedback, while data was also gathered about student responses, such as the percentage…

This article provides a brief history of Web logging and subsequent examples of Web log use specific to an educational arena. Although the blogging phenomenon began a few years ago, it is only recently that a critical mass of educators has realized its potential in and out of the classroom for teaching and learning content while acting as a…

This article focuses on the changing concepts of the university student and teacher, of learning and teaching, and of the university as such because of the use and integration of electronic learning environments. This mode of digital learning implies important changes in established practices in which students and teachers inevitably take part.…

This case study analyzed how an online learning community developed among a cohort of 18 students in an instructional design and technology master's degree program taught at a distance. Students' reflections about the effectiveness of the program revealed that a community-centered approach to learning, a constructivist learning environment, and…

This article describes an institutional course redesign initiative in terms of leadership, support, and preliminary findings, based on the Inquiry Through Blended Learning (ITBL) program created to support faculty engaging in blended course redesign. Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's (2000) Community of Inquiry framework has been adapted to a…

It has often been suggested that education via the Internet, or e-learning, leads to a sense of separation in individual learners; this need not be the case. Teaching is a relationship: a relationship that is built on a connection between teaching and learner, between learner and learner, and between the learners and the content. What then is the…

The current study was conducted in an effort to examine whether increased levels of communication using visual learning environments (VLEs) alters student perceptions of lecturers. Eighty-six MSc students in Computing Science participated by using She and Fisher's (2002) Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire (TCBQ). In addition to using the…

The growing use of the Internet in learning environments has led to new models being created addressing specific learning domains, as well as more general educational goals. In particular, in recent years considerable attention has been paid to collaborative learning supported by technology, because this mode can enhance peer interaction and group…