Abstract. Several recent initiatives have been put in place by the CERN IT Department to improve the user experience in remote dispersed meetings and remote collaboration at large in the LHC communities worldwide. We will present an analysis of the factors which were historically limiting the efficiency of remote dispersed meetings and describe the consequent actions which were undertaken at CERN to overcome these limitations. After giving a status update of the different equipment available at CERN to enable the virtual sessions and the various collaborative tools which are currently proposed to users, we will focus on the evolution of this market: how can the new technological trends (among others, HD videoconferencing, Telepresence, Unified Communications, etc.) impact positively the user experience and how to attain the best usage of them. Finally, by projecting ourselves in the future, we will give some hints as to how to answer the difficult question of selecting the next generation of collaborative tools: which set of tools among the various offers (systems like Vidyo H264 SVC, next generation EVO, Groupware offers, standard H323 systems, etc.) is best suited for our environment and how to unify this set for the common user. This will finally allow us to definitively overcome the past antinomy between virtuality and efficiency. IntroductionIn 2007, the RCTF board (Remote Collaboration Task Force) was formed in response to recommendations of the LCG RTAG 12 Final Report [3]. The RTAG 12 has recommended several actions considered critical for the future of the collaborative tools in the LHC. Perhaps the most important one was to centralize the coordination of the remote collaborative activities under CERN IT, with oversight from the LHC experiments. Since then, RCTF has overseen the progress at CERN, effectively implementing most of the key recommendations. This has included the signing of servicelevel agreements by ATLAS and CMS and specifying the installation and support of conference facilities at CERN. Much of the deployment and installation work is now complete; the attention is shifting toward other challenges, including service and infrastructure consolidation and central application support by CERN/IT. The author will summarize a few of the successful implementations of the new policy and developments, before pointing out the new challenges and directions to focus in the near future.

This paper presents the results of a study done on an introductory mathematics course for engineering students at a university college in Norway, in which a web-based assessment and classroom response system called Peer Learning Assessment System (PeLe) was used to run multiple choice tests encompassing both formative and summative elements. Using a betweensubjects design and a mixed method approach, we have conducted both qualitative studies of students' attitudes towards combined formative and summative assessments, as well as quantitative studies of the effect of mobileenhanced learning on learning outcomes. Students perceive the combination of formative and summative assessment as highly beneficial to their learning and they identify key factors for how both formative and summative aspects of assessments should be carried out to maximise learning. We also present quantitative data that support the conclusion that mobile-enhanced assessment can improve learning outcomes, with effect sizes around 0.5.

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