University education continues to be revolutionized by the use of Web-based teaching and learning systems. Following on from "The Digital University: Reinventing the Academy", this book provides a fully up-to-date and practical guide to using and implementing this important technology. Looking specifically at asynchronous collaboration, it covers: - policies - management of collaboration - distance learning - support for authoring - course design - educational metadata schema and will be an essential buy for managers, lecturers, administrators, department heads and researchers. It includes a foreword by Ben Shneiderman, Director of the HCI Laboratory at the University of Maryland, USA.

Ben Shneiderman The turbulence generated by the integration of information technology into higher education provokes more conversations than the weather. The hot winds of hyperpromises and the cold front of angry skeptics are clouding the judgment of administrators, faculty members, and national planners. A clear forecast is not likely to appear until implementations are in place and thoughtful evaluations are conducted. This edited collection points the way towards more clear thinking by presenting detailed reports about promising projects and a hint of the thoughtful evaluations that will be so important in the coming years. Multi-level evaluations will be necessary for developers to refine their user interfaces, for professors to adjust their teaching, and for administrators to understand how university life is being changed. The changes implied by the digital university are nicely categorized by the Dearing Report's four areas of activity: teaching, research, systems support, and administration. First generation collaborative software tools are already being applied in all four areas, and they are likely to become more sophisticated, integrated, and ubiquitous. Evaluating the impact of these tools in each area will be a prime occupation for several decades.

The only book to provide a broad overview for anyone using, or thinking of implementing, a Web-based system

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Universities, Dearing, and the Future.- 3. Managing Distance Learning: New Challenges for Faculty.- 4. Collaborative Interactions in Support of Learning: Models, Metaphors and Management.- 5. Managing Tertiary Education in a Global Virtual Environment: Networked Educational Management.- 6. Eclass.- 7. Learning Gains in a Multi-User Discussion System Used with Social Science Students The Comentor Experience.- 8. The Application of Business Groupware Technologies to Support Collaborative Learning With Face-to-Face Students.- 9. A Review of the Use of Asynchronous E-Seminars in Undergraduate Education.- 10. Support for Authoring and Managing Web-Based Coursework: The Taco Project.- 11. Using Lotus Notes for Asynchronous Collaborative Learning and Research.- 12. Quality of Use of Multimedia Learning Systems: Practical Considerations.- 13. Design for Motivation.- 14. Educational Metadata: Friendly Fire?.- 15. Learning Activities in a Virtual Campus.- 16. The Relevance and Impact of Collaborative Working for Management in a Digital University.- Acronyms.