Much research in recent years has focused on the introduction of virtual learning environments (VLEs) to universities, documenting practice, and

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Many new initiatives in Higher Education institutions choose to develop web sites to support their work, not least because web-based delivery of support materials from a central unit can help to deliver development materials via a single point of access, and 'on demand'. But this presents its own difficulties in terms of the selection and structure of generic material, and in making students aware of its existence. In this paper, the problem of designing a centrally managed web site (both in terms of structure and format) that adequately supports students across the institution will be discussed, and a strategy for developing a site that meets departmental needs will be presented, together with a discussion of the impact of this approach on the role of the developer. This is illustrated within the context of supporting Key Skills. 'Key' or 'transferable' skills are now recognised as being essential for most people in work and in life. Development of these skills is being encouraged at every level in education, and is demanded with increasing frequency by employers and professional bodies. Within Higher Education, the skills debate has prompted an examination of how students manage their own learning, and skills development initiatives encourage learners to seek ways of filling gaps in their knowledge and experience. However, at university level, it is frequently the case that explicit development of key skills must fall to students' spare time or to their extracurricular activities. This is partly explained by departmental traditions and experience, which may not encompass skills development. The UCL Key Skills site model, based on a 'core' website with customised departmental homepages, allows departments to make best use of central resources by 'personalising' the routes into these for their students. It also draws an important distinction in terms of the purpose of the web site, between management of information (for the central site) and pedagogy (for the departmental pages). The model helps to lay the foundations for graduates' lifelong learning by encouraging skills development, within a discipline-specific setting. The benefits of this approach-which included greatly increased levels of engagement and raised awareness amongst staff-are illustrated by a case study from the UCL Geography department, and wider applications of the model as a way of supporting centralised initiatives are discussed. #

This paper reports on the research findings from a national project examining the issues in creating, sharing, using, and reusing open educational resources (OER) in the context of the development of open education in Ireland. One important aspect of the research was to investigate the potential for using existing institutional research repository infrastructure for the purpose of ingesting, managing, and discovering OER produced by academics. This approach would imply a move from previous strategy around a centralised repository at the national level to a devolved model that relies on institutional research repositories. The opportunities and potential barriers to the adoption of this approach were explored through an online survey and focus groups with academics from a range of higher education institutions (HEIs). Also, a focus group of institutional repository managers was convened to discuss the potential of the institutional repositories with those leading their development. Analysis of the data indicates that the devolved approach to institutions would be possible if the right supports and protocols were put in place. It was acknowledged that research repositories could potentially also serve as repositories of teaching materials, fostering parity of esteem between teaching and research. However, a range of important challenges were present, and alternative solutions emerged, which are discussed in the context of the present and future of online OER repositories.

Faced with reduced numbers choosing to study foreign languages (as in England and Wales), strategies to create and maintain student interest need to be explored. One such strategy is to create 'taster' courses in languages, for potential university applicants. The findings presented arise from exploratory research, undertaken to inform the design of a selection of web-based taster courses for less widely taught languages. 687 school students, aged 14-18, were asked to identify a web site that they liked and to state their main reason for liking it. They were invited to include recreational sites and told that their answers could help with web design for the taster courses. To explore the reasons, two focus groups were conducted and student feedback on the developing taster course site was collected. Students nominated search engines and academic sites, sites dedicated to hobbies, enthusiasms, youth culture and shopping. They liked them for their visual attributes, usability, interactivity, support for schoolwork and for their cultural and heritage associations, as well as their content and functionality. They emerged as sensitive readers of web content, visually aware and with clear views on how text should be presented. These findings informed design of the taster course site. They are broadly in line with existing design guidelines but add to our knowledge about school students' use of the web and about designing web-based learning materials. They may also be relevant to web design at other levels, for example for undergraduates.