INNOVATION IN E-LEARNING: Expanding the realm of the possible

New developments in information technology open opportunities for delivering and using educational content in new ways. Equally, existing technologies can be used in new ways to deliver innovative learning experiences. This report takes a look at a sample of innovative technologies and practices from the e-learning arena in both education and professional training, and then seeks to identify the areas in e-learning which are showing the most potential for innovative development.

The report contains seven case studies of innovative e-learning companies, projects and courses. These are:

• NESTA Futurelab - UK body funded by the Department for Education and Skills with the remit of supporting the development of innovative e-learning projects and bringing them to market;

• Cambridge-Hitachi - developer of content and software for interactive whiteboards;

• Caspian Learning - developer of 3D computer games with an educational focus;

• Swedish Net University - a central, government-funded e-learning university for Sweden;

• Fundamental Notions of Mathematics - e-learning course taking a ?P2P? approach to assessment;

• Giunti Interactive Labs - Italian company active in developing cutting-edge wireless and mobile technologies that enable location- and context-based learning;

• IBM Learning Solutions - developing learning practices that focus on integrating learning with workflow and on collaborative learning tools.

Together, these case studies highlighted the use of information technology to create particular innovation in the following areas:

• Community - providing students with the support, feedback and class social interaction which is such an integral part of face-to-face learning;

• Games - finding new ways to capture the attention of learners in interactive 3D environments;

• Assessment - involving students more fully in the assessment process and using feedback from assessment to help learners follow individual study parts addressing their own particular needs;

• Mobile - seen as the key medium for delivering education content in the future; understanding how mobile can be used to make e-learning part of the real-world educational environment and context;

• Learning Objects - allowing e-learning to be custom delivered to meet the specific needs of individual learners;

• Lifelong Learning - with information technology allowing easy and flexible access to learning materials, the concept of education is changing from being a one-off, finite event to an ongoing process which occurs throughout people?s lives.