Behind the Scenes with OpenLearn: the Challenges of Researching the Provision of Open Educational Resources

Open educational resources are defined as technology-enabled educational resources that are openly available for consultation, use and adaptation by users for non-commercial purposes (UNESCO, 2002). OpenLearn is one of the largest of such initiatives and is committed to the provision of open educational resources for all. It is being developed by The Open University and is primarily sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. It provides users with over 4 200 hours of higher educational material drawn from Open University courses. Other learning tools such as discussion forums, video conferencing, and knowledge mapping software are also available to the user. In this paper we introduce OpenLearn and outline some of the main research issues surrounding such an initiative. We seek to explore theoretical and practical approaches that can provide suitable tools for analysis. Activity theory is seen as a suitable approach for macro analysis and its use is illustrated in terms of the complexity of large scale research. Activity theory, besides informing research perspectives, can be turned in upon the research process itself allowing us to consider the challenges and context of the research. By using activity theory in this way and illustrating from a range of practical approaches we demonstrate and illustrate a useful research approach

Managing Knowledge in a Distributed Decision Making Context

This paper considers the role of electronic communication in the creation and distribution of knowledge, and in particular, the creation and sharing of personalised knowledge. Personalised knowledge or "intellectual capital" is perhaps a least understood but most important asset of modern organisations. This paper reveals the creation and sharing of personalised knowledge in a network organisation. The network organisation investigated in this paper relies on electronic communication in a distributed decision making context to leverage the skills and intellect of its key professionals. This paper investigates electronic group meetings that take place on this electronic social space to analyse key processes of knowledge creation. Implications for managing distributed personalised knowledge are discussed and conclusions drawn with respect to the key decision support systems functionalities required for managing knowledge in situations where decision making is distributed and takes place on an electronic social space.Personalised Knowledge;c entrality;communication infrastructure;distributed decision support;electronic social space;prestige

Newly available technologies present expanding opportunities for scientific and technical information exchange

The potential for expanded communication among researchers, scholars, and students is supported by growth in the capabilities for electronic communication as well as expanding access to various forms of electronic interchange and computing capabilities. Research supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration points to a future where workstations with audio and video monitors and screen-sharing protocols are used to support collaborations with colleagues located throughout the world. Instruments and sensors all over the world will produce data streams that will be brought together and analyzed to produce new findings, which in turn can be distributed electronically. New forms of electronic journals will emerge and provide opportunities for researchers and scientists to electronically and interactively exchange information in a wide range of structures and formats. Ultimately, the wide-scale use of these technologies in the dissemination of research results and the stimulation of collegial dialogue will change the way we represent and express our knowledge of the world. A new paradigm will evolve-perhaps a truly worldwide 'invisible college'

Harnessing Intellectual Resources in a Collaborative Context to Create Value

The value of electronic collaboration has arisen as successful organisations recognize that they need to convert their intellectual resources into customized services. The shift from personal computing to interpersonal or collaborative computing has given rise to ways of working that may bring about better and more effective use of intellectual resources. Current efforts in managing knowledge have concentrated on producing; sharing and storing knowledge while business problems require the combined use of these intellectual resources to enable organisations to provide innovative and customized services. In this chapter the collaborative context is developed using a model for electronic collaboration through the use of which organisations may mobilse collaborative technologies and intellectual resources towards achieving joint effect.electronic collaboration;value creation;collaborative computing;knowledge management and intellectual resources

E-learning: Designing new business education

Business Schools are under intense competitive pressure, and one way for them to differentiate themselves and compete distinctively is by adopting innovative uses of information technology. However, incorporating information technology in business education is no trivial undertaking. This research is intended to provide some guidance about the effect that new information technologies can have in the field of high-level executive education and provide a conceptual framework of the key factors that need to be taken into account for efficient and effective course design in executive education.e-learning; information & communication technology; execute education; learning; business schools; on-line teaching; residential learning; ethnography;

What is coordination theory?

"February 1988."Includes bibliogaphical references (p. 22-28).Thomas W. Malone