Ebook: Virtuality and Education: A Reader (At the Interface Probing the Boundaries 34)

The main common themes of an earlier book in this series, Virtual Learning and Higher Education, were: the extent to which education should become ‘virtual’, the actual cost and value of such innovation and to what degree such education suits its stakeholders. In order to further engage with these important issues a conference was held in Mansfield College, Oxford in September 2003. An edited selection of the papers from that event along with relevant papers that developed as a result of the conference’s subsequent correspondences are the contents of this book. The chapters cover a spectrum of practical issues from ‘at the e-chalkface’ experimentations with virtual technologies via those who consider the consequences of establishing such systems through to those interested in developing long-term strategy or policy in the area. This stimulating and important book is aimed at researchers of topics such as technology-driven education, philosophy, innovation and cultural studies. It is also meant to appeal to anyone with an interest in the ‘virtual’ world of education. Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: Mark STILES: Embedding E-learning in a Higher Education Institution Chapter 2: Adrian BROMAGE: Students ’ approaches to learning and their use of and feelings about a VLE Chapter 3: Simon P.BATES and Judy HARDY: An Evaluation of an E-learning Strategy: Watching the e-Learners Learn Chapter 4: Justin MACKLIN and Audrey BLENKHARN: Out of University and Into Intensive Care: A Case Study of the Development of a Distance Learning Course in Intensive Care Nursing Chapter 5: David CATTERICK: Supporting non-native English-speaking English-speaking students in an online postgraduate degree Chapter 6: William W. BOSTOCK: The Challenge of the Paperless Thesis: Issues in the Implementation of a Regime of Electronic Theses and Dissertations Chapter 7: Loykie Lo?c LOMIN?: ‘I ’m a virtual lecturer but I need real help ’ Chapter 8: Peter J WILLIAMS: Plotting Virtuality: dimensions of E-learning space Chapter 9: Jenny PRIOR: Computer Aided Learning in midwifery: Panacea or Pandora ’s box? Chapter 10: Godfried WILLIAMS & Hossein JAHANKHANI: Authenticating E-learners and Virtual learning systems Chapter 11: Lynda R. ROSS, Peter HOLT and Julia JOHNSON: Invisible Barriers: Understanding Women’ s Experiences in Computing and Information Systems in a Distance Education Environment Notes on Contributors Index