Nine Irish-led projects have been shortlisted for approval under the Minerva programme, the EU’s open and distance learning (ODL) programme. This is Ireland’s biggest total since Minerva was introduced in 2000.
Minerva promotes European co-operation in the field of ODL and ICT in education and is open to all institutions and organisations working in this field. For this reason, both public and private sectors are found among the shortlisted projects.
The projects are: University of Limerick – online problem-based experiments in science, engineering and technology; Waterford Institute of Technology – the Assessment Electronic Support System Project; Waterford Institute of Technology – Continuing Professional Development for Construction Management; Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) – Physics Online Learning Activities to Improve Conceptual Understanding: DIT – Interface II: Integrating Theory and Practice in a Virtual and Real Learning Environment; IT Tralee – Mobile Active Participative Learning Environments for 21st Century Classrooms; IT Tallaght – Teaching Undergraduate Programming Using Learning Objects; Multimedia Instructional Design, Waterford – Pilot project on an eLearning design for multiple intelligences; and LM Ericsson, Dún Laoghaire – The role of mobile learning in education.
The successful candidates have until March 2005 to submit full proposals for final decision.
The Higher Education Authority is the national agency for Minerva.
By Brian Skelly
