Learning Technologies

This section aims to provide an overview of new and emerging technologies that are being adopted for educational purposes and considered to be breaking into mainstream activities.

Hardware

Interactive Whiteboards
Mobile Technologies
Voting systems

Software

e-Portfolios
Materials Creation Applications
Repositories
Simulation and Games Based Tools
VC over IP & Voice over IP
Virtual Learning Environments
Virtual Worlds
Web 2.0

Digital Rights

The term digital rights is an umbrella term which refers to restrictions associated with using specific instances of digital works. The following section provides links to sources of information on the most relevant aspects of managing digital rights in education.

Copyright

The JISC Legal service, based at Strathclyde University, is a free information service offering high quality legal information to further and higher education relating to the use of information and communications technologies. The section of the JISC Legal website that deals with intellectual property rights covers copyright and explains the landscape of copyright law and its application to Further and Higher Education. In March 2006, JISC Legal delivered a web-cast on the subject of copyright in the development and delivery of eLearning materials and online content and is archived on the JISC Legal website.

CLA Scanning Licence

The Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd. (CLA) is the UK's Reproduction Rights Organisation and is a non-profit making company formed to encourage and promote respect for copyright. In 2003 CLA introduced a trial blanket licence for the state FE sector offering scanning and digital copying rights in addition to the existing photocopying and acetate rights. The CLA website will provide more general information about copyright and licence arrangements for both Further and Higher education sectors. Part of the web-cast on the subject of copyright from JISC Legal is focused on the trial CLA scanning licence and provides good practical direction of do's and don'ts with regard to digitising materials.

Creative Commons

The Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organisation established a few years ago aimed at expanding the range of creative work available for others legally to build upon and share. The organisation has released several licence types which an author of work can assign at the point of publication. This means that there is a proactive statement of how the works can be used, rather than the automatic copyright restrictions that would apply if no CC licence was authorised.
There are 4 different types of licences, ranging from: Yes, you're free to use the material as long as you acknowledge that it's mine, to: No, you can't use this under any circumstances unless you ask for my permission. Now there are creative commons jurisdictions for most countries in the world, a creative commons licence generator add in to Microsoft office applications and advanced searching options in a number of browser applications that allow you to search for materials that have a creative commons license applied.