handbook

The Handbook: "Reviewing the Virtual Campus Phenomenon: The Rise of Large-scale e-Learning Initiatives Worldwide" has been published and is available for free download.

This handbook, one of the main outputs of the Re.ViCa project, provides a wealth of background on the Virtual Campus phenomenon as well as a snapshot of the current status of Virtual Campuses worldwide where you can find a description of current initiatives, market leaders and large-scale providers. It also includes a set of Critical Success Factors, aimed at those interested in setting-up sustainable Virtual Campus initiatives.

It was written by Paul Bacsich, Sally Reynolds, Theo Bastiaens, Sara Frank Bristow, Ilse Op de Beeck and Bieke Schreurs, the editor was Bieke Schreurs. Further information about Virtual Campuses is available from the project wiki.

ATiT provided its first training for Google Calendar aimed at small businesses on 8 April. Google Calendar is part of Google Apps Professional edition, a package of Google's communication and collaboration tools including Google Mail, Google Calendar, Google Documents and Google Sites and is a really useful tool for helping small companies and organisations manage and track their appointments and activities.

ATiT now offers a face-to-face customised training module including a manual and a handy "CheatSheet" on Google (Apps Pro.) Calendar which offers many features that SMEs, organisations and networks can benefit from. These include commonly known calendar features like the ability to share your calendar with your colleagues or viewing the availability of a colleague or guest when scheduling a meeting, to more advanced functions such as the availability of resources, online AND offline access to the calendar and the ability to synchronise with other calendar applications or smartphones.

A half day module for up to 20 people in either Dutch or English including the manual and cheatsheets costs 450 Euros. If you would like to find out more, do contact us.

The VENUS Handbook entitled 'Creating New Opportunities for Universities' has just been published. This handbook is based on the experience of the partners in the VENUS project who organised Virtual Seminars on a broad range of European subjects and a Summer School on the Use of Social Software in Business and Higher Education.

The handbook contains practical advice about how universities can set up these kinds of services and opportunities and provides plenty of guidelines, checklists and tips. With summaries available in French and German, this handbook guides the reader through the different steps involved in this process, from choosing a pedagocial approach, selecting a suitable topic to preparing speakers and supporting participants.

Edited by Sally Reynolds, Kamakshi Rajagopal and Bieke Schreurs, more information is available from the VENUS site http://www.venus-seminars.net/

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the creation and use of web-accessed digital video and audio throughout the education sector. The pedagogical vision is clear: only when video and audio have become routine components of education and e-learning will we have an educational environment that reflects the media-rich world in which we now live. The VideoAktiv Handbook on Digital Video and Audio in Education is designed to assist in creating and using audio and video material for educational purposes. This handbook is one of the products of the VideoAktiv Project, and available also from the VideoAktiv website, where you will find additional useful resources on the use of video in higher and further education. Print copies can be obtained by sending an email to videoaktiv@atit.be.