For building a knowledge society, it is critically important to thoroughly understand quality and standards in e-learning. The handbook provides a cross-national perspective on these issues and draws a clear picture of the situation in quality development and standardization. It gives a concise overview on the field of quality research which can be used for teaching purposes and contains examples of quality and standards and practice.
For building a knowledge society, it is critically important to thoroughly understand quality and standards in e-learning. The handbook provides a cross-national perspective on these issues and draws a clear picture of the situation in quality development and standardization. It gives a concise overview on the field of quality research which can be used for teaching purposes and contains examples of quality and standards and practice.
Handbook of Research on E-Learning Standards and Interoperability: Frameworks and Issues promotes the discussion of specific solutions for increasing the interoperability of standalone and Web-based educational tools. This book investigates issues arising from the deployment of learning standards and provides relevant theoretical frameworks and leading empirical research findings. Chapters presented in this work are suitable for practitioners and researchers in the area of educational technology with a focus on content reusability and interoperability.
The entire training industry is undergoing dramatic change, as training is moved out of traditional classrooms and onto the Web. Training publications and conferences are now dominated by speakers, writers, and vendors talking about e-Learning. The e-Learning revolution is forcing companies to spend millions on new technology and new web-based courseware, threatening the role of traditional classroom trainers, and saving companies millions of dollars in housing and travel costs because trainees no longer need a plane ticket and 3 nights' accommodation to attend a corporate training program - the training can be delivered to each learner's desktop over the Web. But because e-Learning is still in the revolution stage, there are no clear standards and models for how to create and deliver e-Learning successfully. Everyone is asking the same questions: how does web-based training fit in with traditional classroom based training? What are the standards for designing high-quality e-Learning? How much interaction with an instructor do e-Learning participants need? What is the role of the instructional designer in online learning? The ASTD e-Learning Yearbook will be the first annual refe
Quality Assurance is not a new concept in the education sector in general, and higher education in particular, though it is becoming increasingly more relevant and important. Higher education helps to improve an individual's quality of life by enabling them to inflate their knowledge and expertise, to grasp abstract concepts and theories, and to raise their awareness of the world and their community, and as such the assurance of quality is becoming more pivotal in the whole education process.There is no simple definition of the concept of quality in education, though numerous models and theories have been devised. Toward Quality Assurance and Excellence of Higher Education is a new episode of the Quality Assurance perception in higher education, which identifies the quality culture and orientation from the beginning, integrating crucial factors to build a “pyramid” of higher education excellence. The book compares concepts from the main theories of Quality Assurance, management and control when they are applied to educational systems in higher education. The book also presents a new model of excellence in higher education. Excellence is an architecture of building blocks that comes with process performance, effectiveness, harmony and collaboration which should be incorporated in a quality-oriented concept of a sustainable excellence of higher education. The model integrates four main facets: the Educational System, Quality Assurance Managing and Control, Strategic Planning and Globalization. Also presented are international “best-practices” in quality assurance in higher education, from Japan and Finland.
Today we are seeing a new form of blended learning: not only is technology enhancing the learning environment but formal and informal learning are combining and there is self- and peer-assessment of results. Open learning cultures are challenging the old and long-practiced methods used by educators and transforming learning into a more student-driven and independent activity , which uses online tools such as blogs, wikis or podcasts to connect resources, students and teachers in a novel way. While in higher education institutions most assessments are still tied to formal learning scenarios, teachers are more and more bound to recognize their students’ informal learning processes and networks. This book will help teachers, lecturers and students to better understand how open learning landscapes work, how to define quality and create assessments in such environments, and how to apply these new measures. To this end, Ehlers first elaborates the technological background for more collaborative, distributed, informal, and self-guided learning. He covers the rise of social media for learning and shows how an architecture of participation can change learning activities. These new paradigms are then applied to learning and education to outline what open learning landscapes look like. Here he highlights the shift from knowledge transfer to competence development, the increase in lifelong learning, and the importance of informal learning, user generated content, and open educational resources. He then shows how to manage quality by presenting a step by step guide to developing customized quality concepts for open learning landscapes. Finally, several methods dealing with assessment in these new environments are presented, including guidelines, templates and use cases to exemplify the approaches. Overall, Ehlers argues for assessment as an integral part of learning processes, with quality assurance as a method of stimulating a quality culture and continuous quality development rather than as a simple controlling exercise.
As e-learning has evolved into a global change agent in higher education, it has become more diverse in its form and applications. Now that many institutions have implemented e-learning programs as part of their course offerings, it is essential for these institutions to fully grasp how best to facilitate continued improvements and accessibility in online education. The Handbook of Research on Building, Growing, and Sustaining Quality E-Learning Programs highlights several significant elements of e-learning, including program planning, quality standards, and online course development, as well as institutional, student, and faculty support. Serving as a critical resource for online and hybrid learning programs, this publication is designed for use by administrators, educators, instructional designers, and doctorate-level students in the field of education.
This book is edited and authored by experts with extensive international experience in ODL, e-learning, and QA who give careful consideration to the possibilities and challenges involved.
The rushed development of information and communication technologies and their impact on the world of learning in the last decade have profoundly changed the paradigms, scenarios and values at all levels of education. The professionalization of tools and practices, in addition to the consolidation of academic and practical knowledge, has been a major continuing issue throughout these years. The annual conferences of the largest European professional community in distance and e-learning have been setting the landmarks in this process. The selection from this unique knowledge pool demonstrates the deepening and consolidation of knowledge and experience. This book presents the developments in the field of open, distance and e-learning, through new technologies, methodologies and tools, which have profoundly changed the paradigms, scenarios and values at all levels of education over the last decade.
As new concepts such as virtualization, cloud computing, and web applications continue to emerge, XML has begun to assume the role as the universal language for communication among contrasting systems that grow throughout the internet. Innovations in XML Applications and Metadata Management: Advancing Technologies addresses the functionality between XML and its related technologies towards application development based on previous concepts. This book aims to highlights the variety of purposes for XML applications and how the technology development brings together advancements in the virtual world.
