This article presents an overview of the development and use of analytics in the context of education. Using Buckingham Shum's three levels of analytics, the authors present a critical analysis of current developments in the domain of learning analytics, and contrast the potential value of analytics research and development with real world…

Learning does not stop when an individual leaves formal education, but becomes increasingly informal, and deeply embedded within other activities such as work. This article describes the challenges of informal learning in knowledge intensive industries, highlighting the important role of personal learning networks. The article argues that…

Arguably, the benefits of open educational resources (OER) are greatest in low- and middle-income countries, where they have the potential to increase access to learning for those who may otherwise be excluded. However, for OER to be truly useful to educators and learners they need to be adapted to suit the contexts in which they are to be…

Despite increased development and dissemination, there has been very little empirical research on Open Educational Resources (OER). Teachers and students involved in a large-scale OER initiative at eight community colleges across the United States were given a detailed questionnaire aimed at uncovering their perceptions of the cost, outcomes, uses…

The nature of openness in education has transformed from just relating to open access to encompass a wide range of interpretations. This paper explores the concept of an "open scholar" whose practice is shaped by digital and networked technologies. It is argued that openness represents an effective working method in this environment, and that…

The list of barriers and enablers that influence the use of open educational resources (OER) is extensive. Factors and influences relating to reuse may have been noted within projects, operating within a short time span, or within specific conditions which limit generalizability. Evidence of reuse in practice has often emerged as isolated examples…

The field of Social Research Methods is shared not only by the social sciences, but by many other disciplines. There is therefore enormous scope for the creation and re-use of open educational resources (OERs) in this area. However, our work with social scientists on a number of recent projects suggests that barriers exist to OER creation and use…

Open educational resources (OERs) are designed to be globally reusable. Yet comparatively little attention has been given to the cultural issues. This paper addresses the issue of culturally sensitive factors that may influence the design of reusable learning objects. These influences are often subtle and hard to manage. The paper proposes a…

The role of an educational technologist is difficult to define. This paper reflects on the experience of working on a range of technology enhanced learning in science projects to review a number of working principles which have proved effective in the practice of educational technology. It discusses how these principles relate to the theories in…

This paper focuses on some of the author's research studies over the past thirty years and places these in a wider context to reflect on research into affective issues in learning technologies over this period, and to consider whether and how the issues uncovered by research have changed as technologies have developed over time. Three issues are…

This article considers projects in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) that have focussed on designing digital tools that stimulate and support dialogue rich learning. These have emphasised collaborative thinking and meaning making in a rich and varied range of educational contexts. Technically, they have exploited AI, CSCL and HCI techniques, and…

Today's post-secondary students are technologically savvy and they expect faculty to use myriad web technologies for course delivery. This includes taking advantage of email, course web sites, and online learning communities. However, expectations now also include RSS, blogs, web- and pod-casting, extending the classroom experience to provide…

Two small studies, one an "eye-tracking" study and the other a "remote observation" study, have been conducted to investigate ways to identify two kinds of online learner interactions: users flicking through the web pages in "browsing" action, and users engaging with the content of a page in "learning" action. The video data from four participants…

This paper describes how digital talking books (DTBs) with embedded functionality for learners can be generated from content structured according to the OU OpenLearn schema. It includes examples showing how a software transformation developed from open source components can be used to remix OpenLearn content, and discusses issues concerning the…

"Elearning2.0" promises to harness the power of three of today's most disruptive technologies: social software, elearning, and Web2.0. Our own work in this disruptive space takes as a starting premise that social networking is critical for learning: finding the right person can be more important than "scouring the web for an answer" particularly…