The Internet and the World Wide Web are deeply affecting the way things are traditionally done. E-commerce is changing businesses; the stock market is accessible to individuals; digitized journals, up-to-date databases, and newsgroups are changing the lives of researchers. Is it reasonable to think that learning will remain unaffected? Nevertheless, universities, with their blend of teaching and research, have much to offer to those who wish to learn more than simple skills: judgment, initiative, and fair competition for research positions. Over the years, universities have acquired invaluable resources in the form of laboratories and libraries with specially trained staff. How can they evolve to take advantage of the many possibilities of the Internet and broadband communication? Many institutions of higher education are trying to integrate new information and communications technologies into current curricula or to develop new learning paradigms for learning. Because it is still so early in the game they are eager to compare their efforts and results to the achievements of others and are willing to learn from them. The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) is a multi national federation of professional and technical organizations, founded in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO, whose mission is to assist in the development, exploitation, and application of Information Technology for the benefit of all peoples. Given this scope of activity, IFIP seemed the appropriate body to give an international dimension to such a forum.

Building Powerful Learning Environments takes a close look at the trends of the Post-Digital Era through the prism of how systems of education can meet the needs of our times and offers a systemic approach to creating a different canvas for learning that aligns to these changes. At the center of the book are the concepts of a learning environment and a culture of partnerships. A learning environment has traditionally been viewed as something that educators created and sustained inside their schools. Building Powerful Learning Environments expands this understanding to embrace families, communities, other learning institutions, and businesses not as helpers, but as co-builders of a powerful learning environment. It demonstrates that schools have to take the first step in this direction by becoming the center of a new educational culture - a culture of partnerships. This book looks into various ways of creating this culture at district, school, and classroom levels. It provides practical guidance, strategies, and tips as well as some conceptual understanding of what can be done to create and support this culture at various levels of educational leadership.

El espacio, ya sea físico o virtual, puede tener un impacto significativo en el aprendizaje. Learning Spaces se centra en la forma en que las expectativas de los alumnos influyen en dichos espacios, en los principios y actividades que facilitan el aprendizaje y en el papel de la tecnología desde la perspectiva de quienes crean los entornos de aprendizaje: profesores, tecnólogos del aprendizaje, bibliotecarios y administradores. La tecnología de la información ha aportado capacidades únicas a los espacios de aprendizaje, ya sea estimulando una mayor interacción mediante el uso de herramientas de colaboración, videoconferencias con expertos internacionales o abriendo mundos virtuales para la exploración. Este libro representa una exploración continua a medida que unimos el espacio, la tecnología y la pedagogía para asegurar el éxito de los estudiantes.

Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include: Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community. Establishing a sense of presence online. Maximizing participation. Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection. Assessing student performance. Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authors many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

As e-learning has evolved into a global change agent in higher education, it has become more diverse in its form and applications. Now that many institutions have implemented e-learning programs as part of their course offerings, it is essential for these institutions to fully grasp how best to facilitate continued improvements and accessibility in online education. The Handbook of Research on Building, Growing, and Sustaining Quality E-Learning Programs highlights several significant elements of e-learning, including program planning, quality standards, and online course development, as well as institutional, student, and faculty support. Serving as a critical resource for online and hybrid learning programs, this publication is designed for use by administrators, educators, instructional designers, and doctorate-level students in the field of education.

This book addresses main issues concerned with the future learning, learning and academic analytics, virtual world and smart user interface, and mobile learning. This book gathers the newest research results of smart learning environments from the aspects of learning, pedagogies, and technologies in learning. It examines the advances in technology development and changes in the field of education that has been affecting and reshaping the learning environment. Then, it proposes that under the changed technological situations, smart learning systems, no matter what platforms (i.e., personal computers, smart phones, and tablets) they are running at, should be aware of the preferences and needs that their users (i.e., the learners and teachers) have, be capable of providing their users with the most appropriate services, helps to enhance the users' learning experiences, and to make the learning efficient.