News Story

Visit of the HE Strategy Chief

KMi Reporter, Thursday 15 July 2004 | Annotate

Ms. Ruth Thompson, the newly appointed Director of the Higher Education Strategy and Implementation Group visited the OU today for in-depth discussions with OU Vice-Chancellor Prof Brenda Gourley and most of the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Team. Ms. Thompson visited KMi to have a first-hand look at OU innovations in learning and knowledge technologies. Dr. Paul Clark (PVC Learning and Teaching) introduced this theme, and KMi Director Prof Enrico Motta then explained the positioning of KMi as an R&D Centre. Prof Marc Eisenstadt, KMi’s Chief Scientist, described and illustrated a range of learner-focused technologies conceived in KMi, such as Lyceum, BuddySpace, and Magpie – the latter shown in the context of ClimatePrediction.net and associated OU course S199. Prof Jim Coleman of the Faculty of Education and Language Studies then took Ms. Thompson through a hands-on ‘Lyceum experience’, wherein she was tutored briefly by colleagues Regine Hampel and Fernando Rossell-Aguilar, ‘beamed in’ via the Internet specially for this event! Photos show (top) Enrico and Marc demonstrating Lyceum and (bottom) Marc showing Hexagon on a wireless computer.