Once again AU is demonstrating its leadership in online learning. A project known as eduSource Canada has received $4.25 million in federal funding, with matching dollars supplied by the participating partners. This money will be distributed to a consortium of learning institutions and private sector partners that are advancing the development of e-learning technologies.
Not only is AU the largest recipient of this funding ($650,000), but it is the only participant in the project operating without secondary partners. While AU is operating independently of outside partners (although all consortium partners are working together on the overall project), inside AU the story is one of collaboration and cooperation. Rory McGreal, AVP Research, and Terry Anderson, Canada Research Chair, are spearheading AU’s efforts that involve Educational Media Development, DEPTH, the Library, and various academic centres. The team is pursuing the development and implementation of the CanCore metadata profile.
Rory offers the analogy of the label on a can of soup describing the contents, just as the metadate profile will allow educators and students to search through the contents of learning object repositories.
This is the largest e-learning project in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. “It’s the next generation. In 10 or 15 years these developments will change the face of education and open up all kinds of possibilities for learning, both formal and informal,” Rory says.
Participants signed the agreement at the beginning of October and they have until March 31, 2004 to complete the project. However, Rory says they hope to finish by December next year so much will be accomplished in just over one year.
