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This article presents the approach the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto employed to modernize its methods of instruction by using online technologies. A small team of faculty, students, and content developers was assembled to work with individual faculty members to brainstorm and research ideas for innovative teaching practices in dental studies. The team was not content to simply post digital versions of the ubiquitous PowerPoint lectures in Blackboard, selected in 2006 by the University of Toronto as its sole platform for online course delivery, but rather set out to introduce interactivity with the course material. Consequently, a series of interactive applications was created, such as the virtual microscope in Oral Pathology, the 3D cavity preparations in Restorative Dentistry, and the Master Media Repository. During the summer of 2006, the Faculty of Dentistry made progress toward becoming one of the university's front-runners in online course innovation. The result of this collaboration between faculty members and the team was ten courses with interactive online presence, representing approximately 20 percent of the undergraduate curriculum. Since the summer of 2006, the Faculty of Dentistry has continued to pursue its goal of providing meaningful online instruction in all of its courses.Dr.

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study conducted by the author on the implications of e-learning programmes for the higher education systems of the member states of the European Union. The study takes a look behind the scenes of the eLearning Programme and other elearning actions within other European programmes by tapping into the perceptions of academics at universities in the European Union (in three principal countries -Germany, Portugal and Swedenand six secondary countries -Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom) who have participated in or have knowledge of the logistical and administrative burdens of European e-learning projects. Through a series of in-depth open-ended interviews conducted on location, via the telephone or over the Internet, the study investigates the interactions of academics and researchers with the European-funded programmes in e-learning. Several interviews with members of the European Commission offer an inside look at the dynamics of the programmes and confer a 'humanistic' perspective to the stern letter of the legal documentation. The personal accounts are used to build a 'composite picture' of common themes related to the processes involved in developing and conducting e-learning projects under the eLearning Programme and other European programmes, shedding new light on the levels of initiative that go into the actual preparation of e-learning projects.