Glossary

The process of planning, structuring and sequencing learning activities.

A software application used to plan, implement, and access learning content. An LMS can register users, track courses in a catalogue, record data from learners, and provide reports to management. An LMS generally includes software for creating and editing course content, communication tools, assessment tools, and other features for managing the course.

The specific intellectual and practical skills gained and tested by the successful completion of a unit, course, or whole programme of study. They take the form of statements which indicate what a learner should have achieved in respect of both knowledge and skills at the end of a given course or programme.

The ability to pursue and organize one’s own learning, either individually or in groups, in accordance with one’s own needs, and awareness of methods and opportunities.

All learning activity undertaken throughout a person's lifetime, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills, and competence, within a personal, civic, social and/or employment related perspective.

An online course designed for large numbers of participants that can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an Internet connection, are open to everyone without entry qualifications and offer a full/complete course experience online, for free.

E-learning through mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. More specifically, mobile learning activities can be designed to make use of a student’s immediate context and surroundings, for example offering information about an artist while visiting an art gallery.

Facilitating discussions in forums and other online systems, including ensuring acceptable behavior. Moderators have privileges that allow them to edit or delete messages that contravene a code of conduct. They may also have a role in guiding and shaping discussion, helping students to engage in useful and appropriate interactions.

A separate and coherent block of learning. Part of a modular programme of studies where the programme is divided into a range of similar sized segments.

Moodle is an Open-Source Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It has become very popular among educators around the world as a tool for creating online dynamic web sites for their students. It is also being used as the basis for one of the customisable learning environments.

Anything which incorporates more than one type of media, e.g., combination of text, audio, images, animations, video, and interactive content. For example, multimedia can be anything from a simple PowerPoint slideshow to a complex interactive simulation.

The informal rules of good behavior online that would not be covered by a formal code of conduct. Text-only media lack clues such as expression or tone of voice used in face-to-face conversation, so greater effort should be made to keep online conversations positive and constructive.

A course that is available to learners online. For example, a course where most or all of the content is delivered online (>80% of content is delivered online); or all course activity is done online - there are no required face-to-face sessions within the course and no requirements for on-campus activity.

An umbrella term used to describe any education or training that occurs via the internet. In online education, learning is a result of online-facilitated experiences that are not constrained by time and/or distance. The label “online” applies to both the delivery of course material and the teacher-learner and learner-learner interactions.

Teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others.