Rural Development Using Elearning: Learning Technologies in the Knowledge Economy

Historically, small provinces and states have been bypassed by the great metropolitan areas in economic development. However, as the new advanced training technology sector of the economy grows, distance from markets is no longer a factor, particularly in the design and delivery of online courses. Small remote areas can participate on an equal footing with the larger centres. The times are changing and the very features of small out of the way regions that were held against them in the past can now be turned into assets. Athabasca University understands this as it offers learning opportunities to its own population, but also to promote the economic development of the region. Using its small size, talented people, innovative businesses and advanced infrastructure, Athabasca University positions Alberta as an internationally respected leader in the new knowledge economy

TeleEducation NB: An open, distributed, bilingual Province-wide distance education network

Description of TeleEducation N

Hearables for online learning

Hearables are wireless smart micro-computers with artificial intelligence that incorporate both speakers and microphones. They fit in the ears and can connect to the Internet and to other devices; they are designed to be worn daily. One form of specialised hearables are the earphone language translators that offer potential in language teaching. This opens up the possibility of taking full advantage of these devices to support other forms of mobile learning ain both traditional and distance education. Hearables can support the delivery of lectures, educational podcasts, notifications, and reminders through a wide variety of applications, while supporting interactivity. Intelligent hearables can determine the context and choose the right time and place to deliver the best content. These devices can become one of the principal ways we interact in learning and provide continuous support for independent, personalised, just-in-time, and self-directed learning contexts

Copyright wars and learning objects

Learning object developers need to understand that presently there are powerful organizations of “intellectual property” owners, and vendors of music, videos, books and software that are making a concerted attack on copyright, attempting to convert it from a law to promote knowledge and the useful arts into a mechanism to protect and serve their special interests. This paper represents an attempt to overturn the misconception that copyright is simply about protecting the rights of authors and re-introduce an understanding of the original foundational role of copyright in “promoting science and the useful arts” and inform U.S. and international readers of the concerted assault on our “fair use” copy rights as educators in the digital environment. The paper argues for the need to put an end to the “quasi-copyright” laws that have severely curtailed the traditional rights of educational institutions and passed on responsibilities that previously were the purview of the copyright owners. It calls for a restoration of the balance returning copyright to its original educational focus

TeleEducation NB and the Telecampus online course database: Building the learning industry in New Brunswick

The TeleCampus online course database (http://database.telecampus.com) is a project of TeleEducation NB. It has implemented as a comprehensive online course database sponsored by Industry Canada, the World Bank, the Commonwealth of Learning, Le centre international pour le développement de l’inforoute en français, and other organizations. The online course database is a central repository of course information for students. Prior to the existence of the online course database, students wishing to access courses had to do some sophisticated searching. The on-line course database is the focus for any students wishing to take on-line courses as well as for any institutions and companies that wish to make their courses accessible

The need for Open Educational Resources for ubiquitous learning

Open Educational Resources (OER) are important for the expansion of ubiquitous learning. Open licensing of learning components is a precondition for supporting anytime, anywhere learning, whether the lessons are arranged as text, multimedia, videos, applications, games or in other electronic formats. The obstacles presented by proprietary materials impede ubiquitous sharing of knowledge with the use of technological protection measures such as DRM (digital rights management), prohibitive licensing, and restrictions on format shifting, localization, content sharing and other activities considered essential in ubiquitous learning

Technologies of online learning (elearning)

This chapter includes an examination of some of the most exciting technologies and features used in online instruction today, and those we may use tomorrow. Education is one of the fastestgrowing economic and social sectors in the world, and the use of new technologies is an integral and driving component of that growth

E-learning in Canada

Any view of elearning in Canada must be informed by the uniquely Canadian feature of provincial jurisdiction over education. Canada is the only country that does not have a national department/ministry of education. Therefore any investigation of elearning in Canada must focus more on specific provincial initiatives in technologically enhanced learning rather than a Canadian overview. A distinctive “Canadian” model cannot exist (unless one views disparate models as evidence of a uniquely Canadian archetype!). The provinciality of Canadian elearning serves to highlight the inability of Canada to sustain national strategies and focus such as implemented in many other countries due to the fractious nature of federal/provincial relations particularly in education

Introducing MOOCs to Africa: New Economy Skills for Africa Program

MOOCs as a type of globally-networked learning environment (GNLE) could become a very useful delivery model in the developing world – but not necessarily when tied to a specific platform like Coursera. If developing countries allow themselves to be locked in to a certain MOOC platform, they may have to adhere to the foreign values put forth by the platform owners. As a result, developing nations may lose some of their autonomy and exclude potential local partners who may not be a part of the same platform (Siemens, 2013). This exclusivity will make developing countries vulnerable to the effects of cultural imperialism, and prevent true collaboration with other developing countries that may be facing similar issues

"Mobilising" web sites at open university: The Athabasca University experience

This mobile implementation study provides a general idea of how existing Athabasca University sites work with the tested mobile devices and identifies the underlying issues as to why they work that way. Factors considered in the implementation include screen size, the use of advanced features, the display of large images, file formats and linking to embedded objects. In the effort to make the sites as mobile-friendly as possible, it is also important to consider what some possible solutions are. Redesigning all those sites carefully, with due consideration to mobile devices, is one possibility considered. This creates a huge burden of site maintenance, as we need to maintain multiple versions of the same page for different devices. Another problem with this approach is that as the capability of mobile devices changes, those sites need to be updated accordingly to reflect the device’s capability. This issue is addressed to some extent by creating template-based dynamic pages, and rather than redesigning the pages whenever the device capability changes, one could change the profile of the device