The Open University
The Open University is the UK's largest university, with more than 200,000 students per year studying its courses. This number includes 22% of all part-time higher education students in the UK. The Knowledge Media Institute was set up by the Open University in 1995 in recognition of the need to be at the forefront of research and development in a convergence of learning technologies and new media. Study at the institute encompasses a number of technologies, including Internet-enhanced collaboration media, multimedia environments for disabled learners, intelligent agents, organisational memories, digital documents, scientific visualisation and simulation tools, and representations of knowledge of both a formal and informal variety. The Knowledge Media Institute has around 70 staff who work on E-Learning technology projects all of whom are housed together in a purpose designed new media laboratory in Milton Keynes in the UK. The role of KMi as a proof-of-concept and prototype development laboratory means that all of our projects (over 80) are critically relevant to the e-learning agenda. KMi is closely involved with the Hewlett funded OpenLearn project and has 4 full-time OpenLearn researchers working on developments within the "LabSpace" area which is designed to be a showcase for our tools and technologies that are embedded into the open content work.
Our experience with the Prolearn Network of Excellence is the most relevant to this bid. The Knowledge Media Institute have lead the Interactive Media strand of this successful pan-EU Network, providing leading technical innovations such as live webcasting and social community services to this large group. In particular FlashMeeting now provides audiovisual communication and syndication services for over 40 major EU initiatives who were in concert with the Prolearn Network; now transferred to EATEL.