KMi Publications

Tech Reports

Tech Report kmi-05-01 Abstract


Heroic failures in disseminating novel e-learning technologies to corporate clients: a case study of interactive webcasting
Techreport ID: kmi-05-01
Date: 2005
Author(s): Peter Scott, Kevin Quick
Download PDF

In principle, it should be easier to disseminate novel learning concepts based in technology enhanced learning to companies. Unfortunately, many corporations seem to be extremely risk averse, and the challenges inherent in the new models seem to be very hard for them to accept. This paper uses the deployment of interactive webcasting systems to present a series of case studies of dissemination successes and failures. We will suggest that the key to successful deployment is in making critical innovation (and its risk) invisible to the client, whilst matching their expectations with an "appropriate" level of technology. This work has led to a new dissemination portal Prolearn.TV.

Publication(s):

Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Information and Communication Technologies, Cape Town, South Africa. Jan 3-6, 2005. ACM Press. ISBN 0-9544145-6-X
 
KMi Publications
 

Social Software is...


Social Software
Social Software can be thought of as "software which extends, or derives added value from, human social behaviour - message boards, musical taste-sharing, photo-sharing, instant messaging, mailing lists, social networking."

Interacting with other people not only forms the core of human social and psychological experience, but also lies at the centre of what makes the internet such a rich, powerful and exciting collection of knowledge media. We are especially interested in what happens when such interactions take place on a very large scale -- not only because we work regularly with tens of thousands of distance learners at the Open University, but also because it is evident that being part of a crowd in real life possesses a certain 'buzz' of its own, and poses a natural challenge. Different nuances emerge in different user contexts, so we choose to investigate the contexts of work, learning and play to better understand the trade-offs involved in designing effective large-scale social software for multiple purposes.