Iasi (RO), August 2010 - (by Elena Lita) The Red Point, a Romanian company, has recently extended its Academis integrated platform, which ensures complete and efficient management of the resources of higher education institutions. This was done by adding to it the Blackboard blended learning component. Alexandru Uglea, Chief Executive Officer of The Red Point, talks about the objectives of the partnership, as well as about the current goals of his company.

Telfod (UK), July 2010 - Catherine Dhanjal interviews two users about their views on the personal learning system PebblePad. In the enquiry, she explores the way that ePortfolios have evolved from being tools exclusively for personal development planning to sophisticated interactive portfolios. Her interview partners are Moira Savage, the University of Worcester's Senior Lecturer in Primary Initial Teacher Training and Primary Information and Communication Technology Coordinator and Julie Hughes, a Principal Lecturer PCE in the School of Education at the University of Wolverhampton.

Pretoria (ZA), May 2010 - Dr Mpine Makoe is Senior Lecturer in Open & Distance Learning at the University of South Africa (UNISA). At eLearning Africa 2010, she will deliver a talk entitled "Identifying Competencies Needed for Using Cell Phones for Facilitating Teaching and Learning in Distance Education". She has kindly shared her profound experience in an interview with CHECK.point eLearning.

London (UK), May 2010 - How can mobile phones add real value to students' learning experience? The varied components needed to ensure an appropriate educational design will be discussed at eLearning Africa 2010. Niall Winters from London Knowledge Lab will present a case study from Zanzibar: Veterinary Training with Mobile Phones.

Maastricht (NL), November 2009 - Dr. Bart Rienties is a researcher of the effective use of eLearning and project manager of several national and European eLearning innovation projects at Maastricht University. He leads a research and development team that has implemented and evaluated new tools which enhance learning in virtual groups. His topic at ONLINE EDUCA is "A Cross-Country Comparison of 120 Effective Online Courses: What Works?"

Pori (FI), November 2009 - Harri Ketamo, PhD, is a Principal Lecturer at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences and Adjunct Professor at Tampere University of Technology. His research focuses on conceptual learning, complex adaptive systems, machine learning, user modeling, and game AIs. Currently, Harri is developing teachable agents that can be used to help people to deal with information overload. At ONLINE EDUCA, he will let the cat out of the bag as to how this is done.

Paris (F), July 2009 - Supinfo - the International Institute of Information Technology in Paris recently decided to work with the collaboration solution Cisco WebEx. François Fanuel, Systems and Network Manager at Supinfo tells CHECK.point eLearning why a global network is crucial for students when it comes to working with tutors and other students distributed all over the world.

Sohag (EG), May 2009 - HDEA is a Human Development and Education Association in Upper Egypt. Its work is focused on developing the education frameworks in Upper Egypt and incorporating human rights in educational frameworks. Shaima Aly is the Gender and Education program manager in the Association and has been working with this NGO for more than nine years. She will present her activities at eLearning Africa 2009 in the section "ICTs - Widening the Gender Gap or Improving Chances for Women?".

Guelph (CA), May 2009 - Currently, cell phones are being used to assist instructors and students in scheduling their tasks and appointments. Over the past few years, however, research efforts have been aimed at enabling students to access course material from their cell phones. Qusay Mahmoud from The Centre for Mobile Education and Research believes this is a very limited vision of mobile learning. At eLearning Africa 2009 he will discuss why.

Ljubljana (SI), November 2008 - Creating and re-purposing content in a cost-effective and attractive manner is often top of the list when it comes to the challenges faced by eLearning providers - regardless of sector. Primoz Luksic, Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics (IMFM) in Ljubiljana, explained the difference between creating interactive and truly active content to CHECK.point eLearning.

Zagreb (HR), November 2008 - Recently, the University of Zagreb, Croatia, established a large-scale eLearning service integrating various learning-management systems including Moodle, WebCT, a Croatian LMS called AhyCo, and many other systems. Kristijan Zimmer, Head of Information Services and the e-Educational Unit, told CHECK.point eLearning about benefits, challenges, and synergies created by using integrated technological eLearning solutions like E-Campus.

Haarlem (NL), November 2008 - People engaged in business and management studies have long seen the value of using gaming to engage learners. Ton Muns, eLearning expert at INHOLLAND University of Professional Education, explains why gaming enhances learning programs for business students regardless whether these students are engaged in full-time studies or in in-service professional development.

Makuhari (JP), November 2008 - Learning across borders involves changes and adaptations in basic design methodologies as well as in management and support services. Dr. Kumiko Aoki, professor at the National Institute of Multimedia Education in Japan is convinced that cross-border learning provides unique opportunities. She explained to CHECK.point eLearning how the successful learning design of courses using ICT can promote intercultural dialogue.

Barcelona (E), November 2008 - Engaging the millennial generation puts a whole new set of demands on the learning provider regardless of the institution or organisation. Eva de Lera, Senior Strategist of the Office of Learning Technologies at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona told CHECK.point eLearning about the project ENJOY Guidelines: 12 Guidelines for Designing Engaging eLearning Environments.

Lublin (PL), November 2008 - Social networking and the use of Web 2.0 tools like blogs and wikis open up a rich variety of opportunities for the education sector. Dr. Andrzej Wodecki, professor at Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Poland, described how his institution is making use of virtual worlds like Second Life as a traditional university to CHECK.point eLearning.