A highly competitive ESRC/EPSRC Technology-Enhanced Learning award for £1.5 million has been awarded to a collaborative research team led from Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies at the University of Cambridge to explore new ways of using the World Wide Web to enhance teaching and learning.

Research and technological development will be directed by Dr Patrick Carmichael of the Centre for Applied Research into Educational Technologies (CARET) at the University of Cambridge along with colleagues at four other UK universities (City University London, Essex, East Anglia and Stirling and several international collaborators.

The team will examine the potential benefits to teachers, learners and researchers of using emerging "Semantic Web" or "Web 3.0" technologies. The Semantic Web is a newly emerging extension to the existing World Wide Web which allows data and resources to be combined, aggregated and explored in new ways. For example, in a pilot study at the Department of Plant Sciences, staff have been able to use Semantic Web tools to integrate plant distribution data from different sources and then present them using an interactive interface that allows zooming, panning and annotation features.

Prof. Malveena McKendrick, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education stated: "This project will support the continuing development of high-quality teaching and learning environments at Cambridge by highlighting the role of new technologies in the enhancement of learners' experience across different disciplines. It will complement and extend other teaching and learning developments across the University."

John Norman, Director of CARET, added: "I am particularly pleased at this endorsement of the interdisciplinary work at CARET that brings research and practice closer together in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning. Effective interdisciplinary research is challenging and we hope to demonstrate real benefits from the application of semantic web technologies in practical learning settings."

For more information about the project, please visit the website the link on the sidebar.

For more information about the TEL programme, see the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme website via the link on the sidebar.

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