Search

Customer-Driven Development is a technique from the software development method called extreme Programming (XP) where customers (most importantly including end users of all levels) are closely involved in the software design and redesign process. This method of producing software suitable for customers has been adapted to help in the production of e-learning material, in particular, Assessment Learning Objects (ALOs) consisting of multiple-choice questions. Asking undergraduate students to produce multiple-choice questions as part of their formal assessment processes facilitated this. The outcome shows two distinct benefits to this process. Firstly, the students who took part in this project benefited from the encouragement to participate in reflective learning, both on the specific topic on which they chose to produce a multiple choice question, and in the methods and purposes of multiple choice questions (which form a significant part of their self-assessment regime and summative assessment exam). Secondly, of the questions produced by students a significant number of them were of suitable quality to be used for future cohorts and to be made available to the wider community. This gives two important benefits to staff: developing a wide range of questions is difficult and time consuming; student insight into misunderstandings of material can often be greater than that of staff. Resources for the development of ALOs are scarce and given that students benefit directly from being asked to develop their own questions, the year-on-year expansion of a question set produced by students can be a very useful resource.

Copyright of European Journal of Open, Distance & E-Learning is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Millions of users around the world have registered on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by hundreds of universities (and other organizations) worldwide. Creating and offering these courses costs thousands of pounds. However, at present, revenue generated by MOOCs is not sufficient to offset these costs. The sustainability of MOOCs is a pressing concern as they incur not only upfront creation costs but also maintenance costs to keep content relevant, as well as on-going facilitation support costs while a course is running and re-running. At present, charging a fee for certification seems to be a popular business model adopted by leading platform providers. In this position paper, the authors explore possible business models for courses, along with their advantages and disadvantages, by conducting a literature study and applying personal insights gained from attending various MOOC discussion fora. Some business models discussed here are: the Freemium model, sponsorships, initiatives and grants, donations, merchandise, the sale of supplementary material, selective advertising, data-sharing, follow-on events, and revenue from referrals. This paper looks at the sustainability of MOOCS as opposed to the sustainability of MOOC platforms, while observing the tight link between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with British politician Shirley Williams is presented. Topics discussed include the connections between the perceived failures of the Labour Party of Britain, Williams' status as a Social Democrat, and her belief that society is moving to a period of plenty to a period of scarcity as of September 2010. How the Labour party dealt with the gap between the poor and the wealthy between the years 1997 and 2010 is reviewed.

The article examines Great Britain within the context of the European Union (EU) and argues that future continuation within the international body will create political challenges within the nation. It is attested that the unity of the country’s Conservative party depends upon the Prime Minister opposing any further progress toward European integration. At the same time, the paper alleges that the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats both support further European integration, particularly the strengthening of the European Parliament. Options relevant to these varying political doctrines are presented.

This paper reports on a debate about The Current and Future Directions of the political relations between the UK, USA and Europe held in March 2005 for the Academy of the Social Sciences. A panel of four social science practitioners and academics, chaired by Philip Davies, addressed the question of the real nature of these relations and their written comments are presented with a commentary by Davies. Dumbrell explored the way that ‘both the US-UK “Special Relationship” and the entire Atlantic alliance were struggling to come to terms with the removal of the cold war, “common fate” glue, much less the Great Rift over Iraq’. Meehan drew attention to ‘a flurry of efforts on both sides of the Atlantic to repair the relationship between the EU and the US and, hence, the UK's relationship with European partners’, concluding that ‘the good intentions to understand common real interests and act upon them through common Enlightenment values may yet pave the road to hell’. In revising her analysis for publication she moderated her earlier scepticism ‘about the strength of good intentions on both sides not to allow such continuing differences to stand in the way of the co-operative pursuit of real interests’. Hames argued that Britain should be more relaxed about its relations ‘rather than hands being wrung about whether we are insufficiently “pro-European” or not close enough to becoming the 51st state of the United States, those interested in maintaining or extending British power should ask themselves what we need to do to keep our present privileged position’. Williams made the case for a more sophisticated understanding of the domestic political dynamics of the USA by those on the European side of the Atlantic, and for a greater recognition ‘that the political achievement of the European Union is a staggering one’. In all, the debate acknowledged the ‘grinding reality of realpolitik’ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shares views on the 2005 general elections in Great Britain, Lack of an obvious alternative to the New Labour party; Criticisms against the integrity of Prime Minister Tony Blair; Dominance of arcane debates on taxation and spending during the campaign period.

Discusses the policy options for Great Britain in relation to the European Union. Focus on the European integration at the intergovernmental conference (IGC) in 1996; Comments on former Chancellor of the Exchquer Norman Lamont at the Conservative Party conference concerning European integration in 1994.

The weakness of the unwritten British constitution lies in its being little more than a set of conventions and customs, conventions which enjoined self restraint in the use of power, respect for Parliament and for minority opinion, and recognition of the rights of individuals. Those conventions and customs have been underwritten by common law and case law, to which have been added more recently the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights. A plurality of ideas has flourished because the autonomy of a number of institutions has been respected by those conventions and customs, universities, churches, broadcasters, newspapers, judiciary and local government.

Interviews feminists Elizabeth Holtzman and Shirley Williams. Focus on the experience of politics for women; Factors hampering women's access to political office in America and Great Britain; Public's difficulty in imagining a woman in public office; Gains made by women in elections to lower levels of government; Need for women who hold office to use their position to better the condition of other women.

The article discusses the decline of Great Britain's international power in the early- and mid-20th century and its impact on the British Labour Party's foreign policy. The author explains how British weak post-World War II economy forced the country to curtail its aid to nation such as Greece and Turkey and decrease foreign investments, and notes British economic relations with Commonwealth nations, the U.S., and Western Europe.