Ireland And U.K. To Cooperate On E-learning

Education officials in the United Kingdom and Ireland have signed an agreement to work together in support of an initiative called the National Digital Repository, which is designed to support higher education e-learning. The repository, which started in January 2005, is to be a collection of components of higher education courses, allowing users to develop online courses in various fields by picking and choosing from among those components. Components can include images, multimedia clips, text, maps, and other elements that can support online learning. The repository is currently funded by the Irish Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Department of Education and Science.

Under the agreement between the HEA and the United Kingdom’s Joint Information Services Committee, the two countries will cooperate “in building a technology infrastructure that provides lifelong access to programs of study for learners in a manner that is flexible and convenient to their particular life circumstances,” according to Tom Boland, chief executive of the HEA.

Silicon Republic, 29 September 2005