Types of Resource
Several publishers are currently creating 'e-pack' materials for use within commercial VLE systems such as WebCT and Blackboard. These resources are created in formats that can be quickly uploaded into a new course within a VLE and include lecture notes, glossaries, animations, video clips and test banks; they can be repurposed or customized to suit the requirements of an individual course. Publishers producing content of this type include:
John Wiley and Sons
Jones and Bartlett
McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Pearson Distributed Learning
Thomson Learning
Resources on information on e-packs:
Another potential source of materials is through the JISC funded Resource Discovery Network (http://www.rdn.ac.uk). This is a collaboration of over seventy educational and research organisations. It consists of a central RDN Centre and eight independent service provider hubs:
ALTIS - Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism http://www.altis.ac.uk
Artifact - Arts and Creative Industries http://www.artifact.ac.uk
BIOME - Health and Life Sciences http://biome.ac.uk
EEVL - Engineering, Maths and Computing http://www.eevl.ac.uk
GEsource - Geography and Environment http://www.gesource.ac.uk
Humbul - Humanities http://www.humbul.ac.uk
PSIgate - Physical Sciences http://www.psigate.ac.uk
SOSIG - Social Sciences, Business and Law http://www.sosig.ac.uk
Resources can also be found within a growing number of national and international digital repositories and initiatives, including:
Jorum Service-in-Development - a JISC funded learning and teaching materials repository service for UK FE and HE institutions http://www.jorum.ac.uk
National Learning Network (NLN) - resources designed to increase the uptake of Information and Learning Technology in education http://www.nln.ac.uk
SCRAN - Scottish Cultural Resource images from museums, galleries and archives http://www.scran.ac.uk
Fine Arts Resources http://www.fineart.ac.uk
Stor Curam - a collection of resources for social work used across a number of Scottish Universities http://www.storcuram.ac.uk
Galileo - a repository in Canada that encourages the sharing of ideas on how to reuse resources http://www.galileo.org/
MERLOT - a North American collection of learning resources from a wide variety of subject areas. MERLOT offers quality control through a peer review system for learning objects http://www.merlot.org
SMETE - resources from the US in Science, Maths and Engineering http://www.smete.org
Britain in Print provides resources for history http://www.britaininprint.net/
